Another match report that falls short of capturing the full spectacle. The players are to blame for continually raising the bar, even when surpassing the previous high seems an insurmountable task. The headline is simple: Saracens emerged victorious. They secured their win with a penalty, Alex Lozowski's third, which was the final kick of the match, resulting in a two-point victory amidst a total of 72 points scored. Lozowski did not miss a single kick, yet it's telling that he only ranked mid-table in any individual performance assessment.
Fitz Harding, Bristol's captain, notched a hat-trick; his teammate Gabriel Ibitoye, who was also a hat-trick hero last weekend, was omnipresent. Unfortunately, it was Ibitoye who conceded the decisive penalty at the end. This was a clash between two entertaining teams, but Saracens, being champions, know how to win. Despite missing key players like Ben Earl, they did not waver, even as tries were scored against them.
The match kicked off with a try within 106 seconds. In the past, this might have been seen as a remarkable early score to break open a tight game between the top two teams. However, a score in the second minute has become somewhat commonplace nowadays. In fact, this was only Bristol's third fastest try this season, and we're only in round five. Quite underwhelming.
Of the first half's five tries, the initial one was the most straightforward, with Harding driving over from close range after Bristol kicked a penalty to touch. When AJ MacGinty recovered from a missed conversion to extend Bristol's lead with a penalty five minutes later, some short-sighted observers began to wonder if Saracens' first defeat of the season last weekend hinted at deeper issues. Instead, the visitors scored a try on either side of another by Bristol within 10 minutes, briefly taking the lead early in the second quarter. This period was marked by a sin-bin spell for Ibitoye, one of the busiest wingers on the field.
Ibitoye couldn't resist taking Elliot Daly off the ball while Tobias Elliott was making a raid down his wing. Toby Knight then bundled the ball over the line from the penalty to the corner. Bristol responded swiftly with another brilliant try by winger Benjamin Elizalde, who replaced a player in the blood bin, breaking down the left and passing inside for Harry Randall's try, the best so far. Until the next one, Rotimi Segun's try for Saracens five minutes later. Hugh Tizard's defensive dash and quick hands left Segun with the ball and a lot of ground to cover, which he did effortlessly, standing up Toby Fricker and beating Rich Lane to the corner, where Lozowski converted.
However, Saracens' lead was quickly nullified around halftime. Harding's second try, just before the break, was another close-quarter effort, but his hat-trick try – just 45 seconds into the second half – was spectacular, involving a sweeping move with all the stars. Ibitoye broke through, Joe Jenkins and Randall kept the move alive, and the superb Joe Batley passed inside for Harding to run to the posts. Adding to Saracens' woes, Alex Goode's attempted interception was deemed worthy of a yellow card.
From the restart, Bristol scored again, this try even better. Batley nicked the ball off the ground deep in his own 22, Randall set Harding away, who linked with MacGinty, who feinted one way then turned the other to send Fricker to the line. It was breathtaking, and Bristol led 32-17. In a previous era, that would have sealed the match, but everyone knew Saracens would fight back, regardless of how many England internationals were missing or rested on the bench. Sure enough, two tries from Daly and a penalty from Lozowski brought Saracens back to within a point with eight minutes left, both tries showcasing the renowned pace and power of the Saracens full-back.
Then, with unyielding certainty, Saracens repelled attack after attack from a desperate Bristol side, before launching one final assault themselves. Bristol seemed to be holding firm just outside their 22, with Goode lurking at an unlikely distance for an attempted drop goal, only for Ibitoye to infringe. He couldn't resist making a play for the scrum-half over the top of a ruck. And so Lozowski had his shot. And so Saracens secured another epic victory.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
