Match Fit Again

It was getting on for two months since I've seen any live rugby. My broken elbow is now well on the mend, and I'm able to drive again, so I booked up a few Saracens games the other day and enjoyed the Anglo-Welsh Cup game against Bristol at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

It was a bright sunny autumn afternoon, and not too cold for the spectators either. Sarries were on great form, and although things were a little slow in the first half, they lead 19-8 at the break. [Left, Lock Tom Ryder takes a lineout ball]

In the second half, the Men in Black really turned the screw, and ended up with a 45-15 victory. In scoring five tries, they earned themselves a bonus point to top their group after two matches. The best sign was the quick ball which they seemed to be getting - in no small part due to the phenomenal work of Mosese Rauluni. He had a great World Cup captaining Fiji, and seems to have returned to the team with all cylinders firing.

[A Saracen presents the ball quickly at a ruck]

The other thing I noticed was the way the whole team were passing out of the tackle, rather than going to ground with the ball. This speeded things up too, and made for some exciting to watch rugby. And an honourable mention must also go to 20-stone prop Cencus Johnston [leftt], who oustripped Bristol's winger to catch the ball down the left touchline, and set up a pass and try for Kameli Ratuvou, who touched down twice during the game. This, after Cencus had been down injured a few minutes before, holding his ankle and hobbling badly when he first got back to his feet! He's another player who had a good World Cup - and his colleagues in the Saracens Front Row were making mincemeat of the Brizzle boys for most of the afternoon. They even won a couple of scrums against the head, which doesn't happen that often these days.

Listening to the other fans' banter around me, I also picked up Dave Seymour's new nickname - apparently he's now known as My Little Pony, for obvious reasons! [See right]

I was also pleased to see some of the Saracens' replacements making a nuisance of themselves when they came on the pitch. Adam Powell did well in place of Andy Farrell, giving Alan Gaffney a potential selection dilemma for next week's Heineken Cup game against Glasgow. Neil de Kock was his usual scrum-bossing self, and No. 16 Andy Kyriacou was rewarded with 5 points when his forward mates drove him over the Bristol line from a close range lineout in the dying minutes.

[Andy Kyriacou crashes over after a driving maul]

It's good to be back at Vicarage Road, and I'm looking forward to seeing our Scottish friends next week. Meanwhile, you can see the rest of my photos from Sunday's game here. It was the 70th game I have photographed since February 2004 - how time flies!

Saracens Thump Bristol

Great game at Vicarage Road yesterday, Saracens maintained their winning streak at home by stuffing Bristol 36-5 and earning themselves a bonus point win. This means they're currently sitting at 4th in the Premiership table for the first time this season, just overtaking Wasps with a game in hand. That's due to the delayed game against London Irish coming up this Friday, so it's a must-win game for the Men in Black if they wish to consolidate their position in the table.

[Kris Chesney brings down Bristol prop Alex Clarke]

I have to say, there was some great passing from Saracens, who seemed to be offloading furiously before big tackles, and they really kept the ball moving. Kameli Ratuvou continues to impress with his speed on the wing, scoring a brace of tries. And the pack were going forward really well - especially with one maul which saw them make headway from their own 10m line to over half way and into Bristol territory. That got a great shout from the crowd. There were also plenty of crunching tackles, and good defence in the main - one slight error letting Bristol in for their only points of the game.

Kevin Yates also managed to canter over for a score in the second half, which pleased him no end. He's now scored five this season, not bad as the Front Row don't often get on the scoreboard from running play. You can see more photos from the game at rugbypix.com as usual.

There was certainly a festive atmosphere at the ground too. Saracens favourite supporters, the Fez Boys, were celebrating their 10th anniversary, featuring on the front of the programme with Yatesy, and also appearing with the Saracens Sensations in a special one-off performance before the game. I have the evidence [right, Bokke in a Bikini, with the Sensations, god help us all!]

Kyran Bracken was also on a high from having won the Dancing on Ice competition on Saturday. So he's proud to have won the club the first silverware of the season!

Looking Back & Looking Forward

I've had a stupidly busy few days, so haven't been able to write much until now. Saracens beat Sale Sharks on Sunday at Watford, in the pouring rain.

Thanks to some nightmare traffic, I only arrived in time for the second half, which annoyed me somewhat. But I had a new lens to try out at the game, and was keen to give it a spin despite the rain:

[Mates in Mud, Mark Cueto and Glen Jackson pick themselves up after a roll on the turf]

The second half saw no tries (Adam Powell having scored the only one during the first half), but Jackson kicked several panalties over. The rain let up a bit, but of course, the pitch was sodden and the players soon ended up filthy - it was quite easy to play "Spot The Subsitute" when they came on from the bench:

[Spot The Subs, Sale bring on fresh legs and fresh shirts in the front row]

Sarries took the game 22-9 in the end, leaving them fifth in the table, one point behind Wasps, with a game in hand. Another home win, which must be good for team spirit. Next up is Newcastle away, then Bristol at home on 18th. You can also see more photos from the Sarries/Sale game.

And talking of Bristol, they were nilled at Wasps on Sunday too - final score 28-0. Bit worrying to see Phil Vickery suffering concussion thanks to a wayward haymaker swung by Jason Hobson - who's already been suspended by Bristol for two weeks and faces an RFU disciplinary panel next week.

So where does that leave the current England Captain for the game against France? On the sidelines. The team will be lead by Mike Catt on Sunday, which is pretty much a crunch game for England. France have a few old faces back in their team, including The Seabass.

Brizzle Top The Table

Newly-promoted Bristol surprised everybody (and themselves!) by beating Wasps at the weekend, to go top of the Guinness Premiership.

And there they will remain for a couple of weeks while the clubs have a fortnight of Anglo-Welsh Cup hiatus during the next two weekends.

Saracens, meanwhile, are floating in 9th place, (a familiar position from last season), after their loss to the Sharks on Friday evening. :-(

They are away to London Irish this coming weekend, then host Cardiff Blues at Vicarage Road on 8th October. I plan to be at both matches, so there should be some new images on rugbypix.com in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, here's a photo from Saracens' home game against Bristol from last season, a bit of a muddy affair from memory.

Andy Gomarsall has also been on the move again, signing with Quins until the end of the season, after being unceremoniously dropped by Worcester, one year into a 3-year contract.

Here's a photo of him at the 2005 Scrum In The Park England training session, with Sevens coach Mike Friday.

And I forgot to add them earlier, but a small selection of my photos from the London Double Header are now on Flickr.

Double The Fun

The season kicked off in style on Saturday at Twickenham, with the London Double Header and 51,000+ fans shouting for their team. That's one thing I love about Rugby - get the fans of say, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham packed together all over a stadium, and there would be chaos. But the four Premiership London rugby clubs can enjoy a day out at HQ with friendly rivalry, banter, singing and some silly mascot challenges on the pitch, without a hint of aggro.

Anyway, on to the games. They were both close. Quins were unlucky to go down by one point to London Irish, 20-19. There seemed to be a lot of kicking going on in that game. The weather had threatened a downpour, but it didn't actually rain much at all. Just very windy - maybe their game plan had been biased for the wet and they were surprised when it stayed dry!

That's a taster for the game, you can see more from the Irish v Quins match on my dedicated rugby photography site.

As for Saracens vs Wasps, Sarries went down by 2 points in the end, after having lead by a point at the break. Another kicking-heavy game, but there were a few tries scored - sadly for me, too many by Wasps!

Saracens played some of our new boys, notably Argentinian Winger Tomas de Vedia and Italian Hooker Fabio Ongaro. Here's a photo of our new-look Fabio Front Row:

There's more from the Sarries vs Wasps match, plus loads of others, at rugbypix.com.

As for the other matches over the weekend, Bristol gave Worcester a walloping. Sarries are away at Bristol next weekend - eek! Newcastle went down to Northampton, and Bath lost to Gloucester. The positive out of that match was Danny Grewcock scoring two tries! He's obviously raring to go this season, which is great news for Bath and England.

Day Of The Devil?

I've just noticed it's 06/06/06 today, but thankfully so far nothing untoward has happened!

Not a lot to report in the rugby press of late, either online or in the papers. Shame England Saxons (aka England A) lost to Scotland A in the first round of the Churchill Cup, during a deadly damp game in Toronto. If Canada beat Scotland we're still in with a chance of going through to the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, Down Under, England Cap'n Pat Sanderson is singing the praises of Mr Catt (I read in today's Metro sport section). Robbo picks his team tomrrow, and Catt is tipped to pair up with Matthew Tait in the Centre for Saturday's game against the Wallabies. It's two years since Catty played for England, but everyone reckons he's had a cracking season and is at his best yet.

The other tidbit I read on the same page is England Saxons' head coach Jon Callard, raving about Dave Seymour. He says he's a natural No 7 and could be the replacement to Neil Back we've all been waiting for. Certainly, the golden-locked one has usually made a strong impression during his outings for Sarries, so here's hoping he can make the transition up to senior grade rugby swiftly - wouldn't it be great if he got his chance at next year's World Cup? You read it here first!

Here's a picture of Davy Boy eyeing up the opposition during a scrum against Bristol

Hiccups On And Off The Field

On The Field
Saracens suffered another home defeat in the Guinness Premiership at the weekend, and I was unfortunate enough to witness it first hand. I've no idea when the Club is supposed to be drafting in sacked Wallabies' coach Eddie Jones, but something is needed, and fast - they are just 4 points off the bottom of the table! And don't get me started about the alleged "saviour" for England and Saracens, a certain Mr Andy Farrell. The Wigan Pie Man has not been seen playing in anger this season in a black or white shirt. How long does a bruised toe take to heel, for heavens' sake?














Off The Field
And talking of hiccups, an Asian guy sat next to me on the tube on the way home from work last night. He seemed normal enough to start with, but after a few minutes it became clear he'd got a bad case of hiccups - thankfully the silent variety! He was playing Draughts on his mobile, body periodically convulsing, and I felt really sorry for him. We all know what its like when Hiccups strike, and I sat there for ages, debating in my head whether I should turn and shout "Rah" at him to surprise his Hiccups away. But then I thought that he (and the rest of the carriage population) would think I was completely nuts. So I kept schtum, and left him at Liverpool Street, jiggling away in the corner of the carriage, like he had a case of St. Vitus' Dance.