This was a beautifully ugly encounter. Two of the Premiership’s heavyweights slugged it out, matching each other for blows, before a moment of mindlessness by the Northampton prop Alex Waller gave the initiative to Saracens, who had until then, despite their pedigree and experience, looked distinctly uncomfortable, having been stared down.
Northampton were the last side to win at Saracens, back in March, and they have the best record of any visiting team to Allianz Park, successful on three of their last four league visits and responsible for half of the six defeats the champions have suffered since moving here four seasons ago. The Saints looked to get on the front foot from the outset after opting to play into the wind, unyielding in defence and varying their angles of attack.
The England coaches Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick were among the spectators and they would not have enjoyed the mastery Louis Picamoles had over Billy Vunipola at No8. The Frenchman’s ability to make ground from a retreating scrum, once contemptuously shrugging off the challenge of Schalk Burger and leaving the South African on the floor, contrasted with the England forward’s more peripheral vision.
Where Picamoles looked straight ahead of him, took out his targets and kept hold of the ball, Vunipola tried in vain to find space in congested corridors and the nine handling errors they made in the opening half, together with the five turnovers they conceded, were down primarily to Northampton’s line speed and focus on the ball. Alex Goode and Schalk Brits were both twice stripped of possession as Sarries looked to run rather than use the wind to achieve position, a tactic the Saints reversed after the break.
If Saracens lacked ideas, they matched Northampton physically in a game that from the start was a test of strength. Neither tryline was threatened in an opening period in which Stephen Myler and Alex Lozowski each landed three penalties out of three, the lead changing hands twice after Myler’s 30-metre kick opened the scoring after four minutes. The Vunipola brothers had been lauded in the week by Jones for their strong start to the season but Billy struggled to hold on to the ball and Mako was twice penalised in the scrum, costing his side three points.
Saracens lost only one match last season when they had their internationals available and their last two defeats at home to Northampton had come during Test windows. They are used to dictating matches but Northampton rattled them and when Richard Wigglesworth, one of his side’s most experienced players, reacted to being shoved by Waller after making a kick downfield, he responded in kind and cost his side three points.
Waller played on the edge all game, warned by the referee that he faced a review after his hand made contact with the face of Chris Ashton, who earlier had got away with a high challenge on Myler that left the outside-half with a bleeding nose before his over exuberance after 55 minutes tilted the game decisively towards Saracens. Waller later claimed that Ashton had bitten him on the hand.
Waller responded indignantly to being scragged at a ruck by Jamie George, driving the replacement hooker into the ground and then, after a tussle, appearing to drop his head on him. When Dylan Hartley did that to George last year, with even less force, his subsequent ban kept him out of the World Cup. The referee was going to punish Waller for the first offence before the television match official told him to look again at the movement of his head. A yellow card resulted for the tackle but the outcome could be a multiple citing.
Waller had barely found space in the dugout when Saracens created the first try of the game, scored by George after the penalty for the yellow card was turned into a five-metre lineout. Maro Itoje caught the throw, quickly smuggled the ball to Billy Vunipola and George was free out wide to take the scoring pass.
It had taken Waller’s departure for Saracens to find space and once ahead they did not look back, kicking Northampton to the corner. Waller was preparing to come back on when Saracens drove another lineout. Backs joined in and when the maul collapsed before George was able to touch down on the line, the referee awarded a penalty try. Lozowski added a penalty when Sam Dickinson, who had only been on the field for eight minutes, saw yellow for not rolling away, and added his fifth after Luther Burrell had been helped off in a daze. Saracens wobbled but they did not fall down.
