Saracens 29-32 Leicester Tigers: Visitors edge out narrow victory despite second-half Sarries comeback
Yesterday at 07:29 AM
Leicester Tigers edge past Saracens to hold on in a tense 32-29 win at the StoneX Stadium. The game started slowly with both teams trading knock-ons, but the game then took to life as three tries in the first half saw the Tigers lead 22-17 with Saracens reduced to 14 men.
The second half seemed to go the same way, the visitors the quickest out of the blocks but it would be Saracens to make the statement as they scored three unanswered tries as well as holding the visitors out. The hosts take the two losing bonus points with the visitors taking all five from North London.
Match Report
A scrappy opening 15 minutes would see both sides trade knock-ons, but Handre Pollard would kick a penalty to break the deadlock as the hosts were penalised for being offside.
Saracens would react instantly to the visitor's penalty despite a slow start, Hugh Tizard got the better of a kick chase before offloading to Nick Tompkins who ran in unchallenged. Tim Swiel converted the kick in front of the posts.
The visitors would go back ahead soon after, Ollie Hassell-Collins latching onto the end of a grubber kick to score in the corner, Pollard made no mistake from the touchline.
Tigers extended their lead despite calls of a forward pass, Izaia Perese running onto a Pollard pass before bumping off a Saracens defender to score, but Pollard failed to convert.
The game would take another twist this time the home side Juan Martin Gonzalez breaking the line before finding Tim Swiel, the fly-half finishing off the score brilliantly and then adding the extra two from the tee.
Sarries would take the lead just before half-time as Tim Swiel made the visitors pay for a penalty at the breakdown, Rotimi Segun chasing the box kick to put the Tigers under pressure.
The Midlands side would however go in ahead, Hassell-Collins finding a 50/22, Tigers would drive the ball over, but the referee deemed it was illegally held up, Alec Clarey was yellow carded, and a penalty try was awarded.
The visitors would add their bonus point score shortly after the break, Julian Montoya going over at the back of a rolling maul, Tigers making the most of the man advantage, Pollard would convert to make it 17-29.
Hassell-Collins thought he had his second of the contest as he picked up the ball and ran into the corner, but the referee pulled the visitors back for an offside in the run-up.
Sarries thought they had their third through Tizard, although after a TMO check, it was adjudged to have been knocked on by the lock over the line.
Pollard would extend the lead further from the tee, Sarries penalised at the breakdown allowing the South African to add three from the tee.
The hosts would get their third with around 15 minutes to play Tom Willis making the burst through the middle before he was stopped on the line, Juan Martin Gonzalez picked the ball up and scored.
Replacement hooker James Hadfield would make an instant impact as he would go over from close range, Tigers warned about the number of penalties as Saracens narrowed the score to just three.
A couple of lineout turnovers from Theo McFarland gave the hosts hope but it wasn't quite enough as the Tigers were able to hold out to take all five points back to the Midlands.
Saracens
TRIES: (Tompkins 18' Swiel 27' Gonzalez 66' Hadfield 71')
CONVERSIONS: (Swiel 18', 27, 71')
PENALTIES:
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS: (Clarey 40')
RED CARDS:
15. Tom Parton 14. Tobias Elliot 13. Lucio Cinti 12. Nick Tompkins 11. Rotimi Segun 10. Tim Swiel 9. Ivan Van Zyl © 1. Eroni Mawi 2. Kapeli Pifeleti 3. Alec Clarey 4. Theo McFarland 5. Hugh Tizard 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez 7. Toby Knight 8. Tom Willis
Replacements
16. James Hadfield 17. Phil Brantingham 18. Alec Clarely 19. Harry Wilson 20. Nathan Michelow 21. Gareth Simpson 22. Josh Hallett 23. Brandon Jackson
Leicester Tigers
TRIES: (Hassell-Collins 19, Perese 24' Penalty 40' Montoya 47')
CONVERSIONS: (Pollard 19, 47')
PENALTIES: (Pollard 14', 57')
DROP GOALS:
YELLOW CARDS:
RED CARDS:
15. Mike Brown 14. Anthony Watson 13. Izaia Perese 12. Joseph Woodward 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins 10. Handre Pollard 9. Tom Whiteley 1. Nicky Smith 2. Julian Montoya © 3. Joe Heyes 4. Harry Wells 5. Tom Manz 6. Hanro Lienbenberg 7. Tommy Reffell 8. Olly Cracknell
Replacements
16. Charlie Clare 17. James Cronin 18. Will Hurd 19. Come Joussain 20. Matt Rogerson 21. Ben Youngs 22. Jamie Shillcock 23. Will Wand
Talking points
A number of talking points as Saracens are edged out by Leicester Tigers:
The battle at 10:
The battle between Handre Pollard and Tim Swiel ultimately determined the result, both were influential in their teams’ offensive performances with Pollard just coming out on top. Questions about whether Tim Swiel could step up in the absence of Alex Goode, Fergus Berke, Alex Lozowski were truly answered as on his return he bagged himself a try. It will be interesting to see if this could be a regular change in the future.
Theo McFarland:
The Samoan was outstanding yet again, from his ball carrying to his lineout work he really stood out in a young Saracens squad. Theo took control of the game and when the Tigers were pressuring the host line made really important interventions to keep his side in the game.
Tom Willis:
The question on everyone's lips is, how is Tom Willis not in Steve Borthwick's England squad? The No.8 showed his experience and took the lead in the Saracens scrum. He carried hard and was rewarded with a try to his name. With players like Ben Earl and Andy Onyema-Christie missing it could be his shirt to lose.
Premiership Cup:
Both teams now head into a run of Premiership Cup games with the Autumn internationals and with a number of missing players on both ends it could be the perfect chance to get some younger, development players some minutes in the first team. Both Michael Cheika and Mark McCall saying the next couple of games will help them access where the wider squad is at for the rest of the season.
Iazia Perese:
The Leicester centre was electric. Scoring a try and setting up another he was a handful for the Sarries defence. His strength and speed made him difficult to tackle was brilliant in covering the role that Solamone Kata has left through his suspension.
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