RugbyRebels

Great try from Billy. Almost unstoppable from that range.

Bravo Saracens. Massive all round effort and they emerged deserved winners. Showed tremendous character to come back from 0-10 down after being severely tested in defence.
Their England players all stood up, but kudos to Wray for a terrific game. Barrington did a sterling job when he came on early too.

#impressive

Was Spencer good?

Satisfactory.

Mr Mwenda wrote:Was Spencer good?

Mells has it right - he was solid enough with only one real mistake against him (a box kick that went straight up) and went off after 50 for Wiggy.

Basically, if you already had it in your mind that he should start for England, he didn't dissuade you, but if you were looking for proof that he ought, he probably didn't do enough.

Puja

Bloody brilliant! Intense, brutal and entertaining. Brad put in one feck of a shift, as did Kruis and (can’t believe I’m saying it) so did Farrell.

Both replacement props were excellent and Wray proved yet again how important he is to Sarries. Billy and Loz were class.

Numbers wrote:Saracens by 10.

Right Numbers...any dough from this ??

p/d wrote:Bloody brilliant! Intense, brutal and entertaining. Brad put in one feck of a shift, as did Kruis and (can’t believe I’m saying it) so did Farrell.

Best 5, 6, 7 combo in Europe!!

p/d wrote:Bloody brilliant! Intense, brutal and entertaining. Brad put in one feck of a shift, as did Kruis and (can’t believe I’m saying it) so did Farrell.

Both replacement props were excellent and Wray proved yet again how important he is to Sarries. Billy and Loz were class.

If England want a tough, hard-running, line-straightening, ball-carrying, defensively sound 12, with some dog and leadership qualities, then Barritt still has much to offer (and he can do more than that too). Especially since he would be playing outside his clubmate Farrell. I'd have him in the squad ahead of Te'o any day (yes - I don't know if Jones sees Te'o as a 12 or 13 ; don't know if Jones knows either.)

p/d wrote:Bloody brilliant! Intense, brutal and entertaining. Brad put in one feck of a shift, as did Kruis and (can’t believe I’m saying it) so did Farrell.

Both replacement props were excellent and Wray proved yet again how important he is to Sarries. Billy and Loz were class.

George put in a hell of shift too. Barritt's stats are pretty astonishing in defence- 28 tackles, none missed, has to be some sort of a record for a centre. Carried pretty well, and is a top skipper.
Faz was everywhere in defence- fair play.
The tackle count for some of the Sarries players, including missed, demonstrates how much they worked for each other. Great game I thought, despite handling errors.

I thought Williams was the classiest player on the pitch. It mattered a lot that in the engine room Saracens second row outplayed the opposing pair which is a major achievement. Above all, though, Saracens are probably the best club team as a unit since the game went professional. And, when it comes fown to the finer margins, they won because their bench was significantly superior to Leinster's.

It was a superb win.

I knew Brad put in some tackles but those stats are amazing.

Agree with Spiffy regards what he could bring to the Work nand team, the rock for the rest to play off. Ain’t going to happen.

Yep George was good as was Goode

I still maintain Itoje put in a great performance as a lock and Saracens looked like they were missing a backrow. It worked cause they overpowered Leinster, but they looked vulnerable at the breakdown, especially in the first half. He's not a 6, but a third lock that happens to be packing down on the side of the scrum.

Puja

Oakboy wrote:I thought Williams was the classiest player on the pitch.

Agreed. It close between him and Penaud for my favourite player.

Oakboy wrote:I thought Williams was the classiest player on the pitch. It mattered a lot that in the engine room Saracens second row outplayed the opposing pair which is a major achievement. Above all, though, Saracens are probably the best club team as a unit since the game went professional. And, when it comes fown to the finer margins, they won because their bench was significantly superior to Leinster's.

It was a superb win.

Fair point on Williams, what he did was classy. Also agree with Puja on Itoje, but the tackle count and breakdown work of the whole team kinda compensated for being a backrow down- pretty sure Rhodes would have started if fit. Losing Mako looked like it would be huge in that context, but they all reacted brilliantly.

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:I thought Williams was the classiest player on the pitch. It mattered a lot that in the engine room Saracens second row outplayed the opposing pair which is a major achievement. Above all, though, Saracens are probably the best club team as a unit since the game went professional. And, when it comes fown to the finer margins, they won because their bench was significantly superior to Leinster's.

It was a superb win.

Fair point on Williams, what he did was classy. Also agree with Puja on Itoje, but the tackle count and breakdown work of the whole team kinda compensated for being a backrow down- pretty sure Rhodes would have started if fit. Losing Mako looked like it would be huge in that context, but they all reacted brilliantly.

I think Itoje at 6 is not ideal but rate him in the shirt. Saracens' management team don't do sentimental so picking him in the backrow ahead of Burger must mean he is the better of the two currently. I also think there was no question of trying to squeeze both Skelton and Itoje into the XV for any other reason. Let's face it, they have been ruthless with Isiekwe recently. He does not make the bench if everyone is fit yet he'd walk into the starting second row of most clubs.

Oakboy wrote:

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:I thought Williams was the classiest player on the pitch. It mattered a lot that in the engine room Saracens second row outplayed the opposing pair which is a major achievement. Above all, though, Saracens are probably the best club team as a unit since the game went professional. And, when it comes fown to the finer margins, they won because their bench was significantly superior to Leinster's.

It was a superb win.

Fair point on Williams, what he did was classy. Also agree with Puja on Itoje, but the tackle count and breakdown work of the whole team kinda compensated for being a backrow down- pretty sure Rhodes would have started if fit. Losing Mako looked like it would be huge in that context, but they all reacted brilliantly.

I think Itoje at 6 is not ideal but rate him in the shirt. Saracens' management team don't do sentimental so picking him in the backrow ahead of Burger must mean he is the better of the two currently. I also think there was no question of trying to squeeze both Skelton and Itoje into the XV for any other reason. Let's face it, they have been ruthless with Isiekwe recently. He does not make the bench if everyone is fit yet he'd walk into the starting second row of most clubs.

It was a compromise that worked in the end. Burger is pretty average these days, but Rhodes would have been starting for sure. Saying Itoje is a better option than Burger in the back row (and indeed starting Wray at 7) is more a comment on Burger than anything else, that and Sarries back row options being limited by injury.

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:I thought Williams was the classiest player on the pitch. It mattered a lot that in the engine room Saracens second row outplayed the opposing pair which is a major achievement. Above all, though, Saracens are probably the best club team as a unit since the game went professional. And, when it comes fown to the finer margins, they won because their bench was significantly superior to Leinster's.

It was a superb win.

Fair point on Williams, what he did was classy. Also agree with Puja on Itoje, but the tackle count and breakdown work of the whole team kinda compensated for being a backrow down- pretty sure Rhodes would have started if fit. Losing Mako looked like it would be huge in that context, but they all reacted brilliantly.

Williams is an interesting player. He is not particularly fast but has a knack of getting around his man, with footwork, timing and some great lines. He is not big, but agressive in defence and superb in the air. His rugby intelligence/game reading/anticipation/ball use, are a big part of his success. A nose for the line too, and always seems to rise to the occasion in big games.

Spiffy wrote:

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:I thought Williams was the classiest player on the pitch. It mattered a lot that in the engine room Saracens second row outplayed the opposing pair which is a major achievement. Above all, though, Saracens are probably the best club team as a unit since the game went professional. And, when it comes fown to the finer margins, they won because their bench was significantly superior to Leinster's.

It was a superb win.

Fair point on Williams, what he did was classy. Also agree with Puja on Itoje, but the tackle count and breakdown work of the whole team kinda compensated for being a backrow down- pretty sure Rhodes would have started if fit. Losing Mako looked like it would be huge in that context, but they all reacted brilliantly.

Williams is an interesting player. He is not particularly fast but has a knack of getting around his man, with footwork, timing and some great lines. He is not big, but agressive in defence and superb in the air. His rugby intelligence/game reading/anticipation/ball use, are a big part of his success. A nose for the line too, and always seems to rise to the occasion in big games.

Brilliant under the high ball and fights for the ball.

Banquo wrote:

Spiffy wrote:

Banquo wrote: Fair point on Williams, what he did was classy. Also agree with Puja on Itoje, but the tackle count and breakdown work of the whole team kinda compensated for being a backrow down- pretty sure Rhodes would have started if fit. Losing Mako looked like it would be huge in that context, but they all reacted brilliantly.

Williams is an interesting player. He is not particularly fast but has a knack of getting around his man, with footwork, timing and some great lines. He is not big, but agressive in defence and superb in the air. His rugby intelligence/game reading/anticipation/ball use, are a big part of his success. A nose for the line too, and always seems to rise to the occasion in big games.

Brilliant under the high ball and fights for the ball.

Overall, especially with so much kicking in the modern game, I think Williams is arguably the best back three player in the world. Shame he's Welsh.

Oakboy wrote:

Banquo wrote:

Spiffy wrote:
Williams is an interesting player. He is not particularly fast but has a knack of getting around his man, with footwork, timing and some great lines. He is not big, but agressive in defence and superb in the air. His rugby intelligence/game reading/anticipation/ball use, are a big part of his success. A nose for the line too, and always seems to rise to the occasion in big games.

Brilliant under the high ball and fights for the ball.

Overall, especially with so much kicking in the modern game, I think Williams is arguably the best back three player in the world. Shame he's Welsh.

quite a big argument, that.

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:

Banquo wrote: Brilliant under the high ball and fights for the ball.

Overall, especially with so much kicking in the modern game, I think Williams is arguably the best back three player in the world. Shame he's Welsh.

quite a big argument, that.

No, he's definitely Welsh. They've checked this time.

Puja

Cuthbert will requalify on residency soon won’t he?

Well, except for the fact he's obviously capped... Does the 7s loophole still exist? Do we want it to?