Bath v Saracens - My Review

And so the final has passed us once again. A new champion has been crowned and another team has had to leave Twickenham disappointed but determined. There's been no doubt who the better team has been this season but today, when it mattered, Saracens delivered. All the talk of salary caps floated into the ether as two teams came to play rugby. 

The first half was not Bath's best. Their usually free flowing style, which excites crowds and puts tries on the board, seemed to struggle under the Wolfpack defence. The opening two minutes saw a high challenge from Owen Farrell on Antony Watson, which later saw the Bath fullback removed for a head injury assessment from which he never returned. It was an incident which Mike Ford reckoned warranted a red card, and many supporters around me thought at least a yellow, including the one Saracens fan I could find in the entire west stand. Admittedly, I only looked in the immediate vicinity but still! Having watched it back, the BT camera work could've shown it live, which might have helped! There might be a citing involved for a swinging arm, but I think the call was just. When questioned about it later, Farrell admitted he had apologised to Watson because, even though there was no intent, he still did it. A fair and mature comment, I thought from the man of the match. 

Aside from the moment in the opening minutes, the momentum was purely in the Saracen's favour. Bath's kicking from hand and handling coughed up possession to the Sarries, even though the overall possession turned out to be 50:50. Bath seemed to have a fully attacking side, but the want to put pressure on the Saracens seemed to force Bath into risky decisions. A fumble from Ross Batty opened the door for the new England camp inductee Jamie George to run in from about 30 metres to score the second try, and it seemed that that was something that Bath were not able to come back from. Semesa Rokodunguni tried, and so did Sam Burgess, making 85 and 52 metres respectively, and 12 and 13 carries. Rokodunguni had a great chance down the right wing, but an off the ball incident from Alex Goode meant the try turned into a penalty. There was no chance of a penalty try, but the risk Goode took showed the passion and commitment the Saracens wanted to make. 

A spirited Bath side looked to counter in the second half, and a Jonathon Joseph try, coupled with two George Ford penalties seemed to warm the crowd up for a classic comeback match. But the mean Sarries defence kept the boys in blue out. And so they rose the trophy after the final whistle blew.

I missed the interview with Ford after the match, the bowels of Twickenham are like a labyrinth with no directions, but listening to Mark McCall and Farrell, they sounded fairly humble. McCall emphasised that last year had been painful and it had been used to push them forward this season, whilst trying to emulate the Wasps of old, who were able to time their runs. He also praised Farrell as being exceptional and remarked that England are blessed with two very special flyhalves. Farrell added that the teams has had to struggle this year, and the fight for fourth place and now to beat Bath gave him and his teammates a huge sense of relief.

For me, I’m always looking out for something of the future. McCall pointed out that his pack is still very young, and they are developing, whilst some of the backs are older. I wanted to know if there was anyone that we should look out for, following the wins of the Under 18 finals and the LV cup earlier in the season. Much has been said about Maro Itoje, but Farrell praised the young lads who’d made the U18 side. “They will need to get used to what we do in the first team” he said, as the Premiership has to wait for the World Cup to finish, and the inevitable rest period for the internationals returning. Farrell highlighted Nathan Earle, a young winger who has struggled with an Achilles problem this season, but is of the same generation as Itoje. Farrell thinks that Earle could have shown what he can do this season, but he definitely will next year. Perhaps in the place of David Strettle, as McCall cryptically responded “no comment” to a query if this would be the last game we would see of Strettle and Chris Ashton. Although, he did say “definitely not of Chris,” which suggests an announcement is imminent.

But enough of the future, let’s look to the final, and another incredible epic that we have enjoyed for the Aviva Premiership Final. I think we could see somehting more from Bath. After all, the last few finals, the winners have been the losing finalists from the year before. Tigers lost to Quins before beating Northampton, who in turn beat Saracens last season. Now Saracens have done the same, beating Bath. Join us again next year, where I think we will see a change in the force. But for now, and as much as it pains me to say this, Congratulations Saracens, Aviva Premiership Champions 2015.