Saracens Dispatch 14-Man Gloucester
Saracens went top of the Premiership on Sunday afternoon with an impressive 44-12 bonus point win over Gloucester at Allianz Park.
Things moved from bad to worse for Gloucester rugby in the second weekend of the Premiership, after the disappointment of losing to Sale Sharks in the opening weekend.
The result was partly a forgone conclusion from the off, as Gloucester got off to the worst possible start with one of the Premiership’s all time fastest red cards.
Gloucester prop, Nick Wood, was sent from the field in the game’s first minute after a disgusting double stamp on the head of Saracens flanker Jacques Burger. The incident was directly in front of referee Wayne Barnes who had no hesitation in issuing the maximum penalty.
However, after the disappointing start to the game Gloucester did put up a spirited fight and made the bonus point win difficult for the league leaders.
The Cherry and Whites even went into the half leading 12-10 thanks to four penalties from England fly half Freddie Burns.
Saracens committed far too many mistakes to be effective in the first half, with only a try from Joel Tomkins and a penalty from Owen Farrell keeping them in contention.
However, as the sides returned to the field for the second half the numerical advantage eventually told as Saracens managed to run in five unanswered tries.
A Farrell effort from the tee early in the half began proceedings as Saracens took the lead once again.
An excellent backs’ move ended in Dave Strettle touching down in the corner before Farrell added another three points.
Saracens become stronger as the half progressed, highlighted by a driving maul that moved almost 30 metres, that was eventually brought down. Gloucester’s Kalamafoni was sin-binned for the infringement, leaving Gloucester with only 13 men. The lead was then extended further as Sarries’s Schalk Brits crossed for a score.
Highly impressive recent signing Billy Vunipola managed to secure the London side’s bonus point as he charged over the Gloucester line from the back of a scrum. Finally, it was David Strettle who had the game’s final say with a chip ahead and gather making Saracens season 10 points from 10 so far.
Gloucester are now struggling after two losses in their first two games, and a horrendous red card added to their season. The club’s director of rugby, Nigel Davies, said that "In a bizarre way I'm a lot happier about the way we went about our business with 14 players today than we did with 15 last weekend,” when he spoke to the BBC.
"It was always going to be a tough ask to come here and we were in the right frame of mind and the boys showed that to carry on the way they did.
"We're not where we want to be after two games, but I'm confident this team will start winning sooner rather than later.
"Right now we're in a tough place, but the boys won't let their heads drop."
Gloucester will be looking for their first win of the season when they welcome Northampton to Kingsholm next weekend; whereas Saracens will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table with another win as they face Bath at Allianz Park next Sunday.
Line-Ups:
Saracens: Wyles; Ashton, Tomkins, Taylor, Strettle; Farrell, Wigglesworth; Gill, George, Stevens, Borthwick, Hargreaves, B. Vunipola, Burger, Joubert.
Replacements: Ransom for Taylor (79), Mordt for Farrell (79), Spencer for Wigglesworth (71), M. Vunipola for Gill (14), Johnston for George (56), Brits for Stevens (56), Botha for Hargreaves (57), Wray for Joubert (73).
Gloucester: Cook; Sharples, Trinder, Twelvetrees, Simpson-Daniel; Burns, Knoyle; Wood, Dawidiuk, Harden, Savage, Lokotui, Kvesic, Qera, Kalamafoni.
Replacements: M. Thomas for Cook (61), Tindall for Trinder (65), Cowan for Knoyle (60), Britton for Dawidiuk (61), Y. Thomas for Harden (55), Stooke for Lokotui (55), Murphy for Qera (7), B. Morgan for Kalamafoni (66).
