Error-strewn Sarries wake up just in time
IF THEY are to be relegated by the odd point or two, Newcastle will look back on this game as one in which they squandered a golden opportunity.
Despite dominating the first half, they failed to take advantage of a Saracens side which can rarely have produced such an errorridden 40 minutes in their recent history.
Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards said: “We had three clear-cut tryscoring chances in 60 minutes and took none of them, they had three and took all of them.
“Our scrum was dominant for 50 minutes and our lineout functioned really well so I’m really disappointed to come away empty-handed.”
Against a lethargic home pack, Falcons bossed the first half played in a funereal atmosphere with the home fans wondering if they were watching the same team that had destroyed Glasgow 56-27 in a European Cup quarter final last week.
They were disrupted by making nine changes with Owen Farrell returning to play after a week’s paternity absence but in that first half, he looked as if he had been away for months.
Fellow stars, Maro Itoje and George Kruis were both largely anonymous and it was left to the attacking flair of Sean Maitland and Max Malins to raise Saracens from their slumbers and get them over the winning line.
To come away with nothing was rough justice on the Newcastle forwards with Logovi’i Mulipola and George McGuigan the leading lights in securing valuable possession.
This allowed Sonatane Takulua to have a welljudged game at scrum-half but, unfortunately, the Falcons’ backs lacked the creativity to break down a stubborn defence with Saracens giving them a huge lesson in taking chances.
Newcastle dominated the first quarter but it took them until the 23rd minute to take the lead with a Takulua penalty before, from nowhere, Saracens scored their first try.
Takulua lost possession on half-way and, for once, Farrell chose to pass. Ben Spencer made a neat break before a vital contribution from Malins sent Maitland over.
Farrell missed the conversion so a second penalty from Takulua was enough to give Falcons a 6-5 interval lead. After the restart, Far- rell found a good touch to ironic jeers from the crowd and it sparked an improvement from his side.
Skilful running from Malins put Maitland into space and, when the wing kicked ahead, Malins was on hand to pick up and score following fumbles from Chris Harris and Alex Tait.
Takulua kicked his third penalty but Saracens sealed victory when Tompkins joined a driving lineout to score before Takulua looked to have earned his side a valuable bonus point with a superb strike from halfway.
However that bonus was taken away with the last move of the match when a well-timed off-load from Farrell sent Alex Lozowski over the line after which the officials spent a lengthy period deliberating whether Alex Lewington had put a foot in touch before ruling in Saracens’ favour.
CLOSE-UP
OWEN FARRELL
Newcastle fly-half
TOBY FLOOD
Saracens fly-half
Farrell, after missing last week’s match to be with his pregnant wife, had a nightmare first half. He kicked three balls straight out and took wrong options. His second half performance was much improved, culminating in creating Saracens’ final try. Flood overcame a heavy early blow to give a polished performance but, like his team, he was unable to break down a stubborn defence.
