by Saracens 40 Exeter 22
In the week it was announced he was about to leave the StoneX Stadium – albeit not the Saracens – Owen Farrell grabbed a sensational performance against Exeter Chiefs to put the North London club back in the familiar top four territory of the Premier Division.
Perhaps understandably, Farrell has been struggling for his best form in recent weeks and although he wasn’t too imperious here, he had an impact at all the right times. Nothing more than the hour mark when he hit a peach of a drop target from 40 meters with the bare minimum set up. After coming off international duty, Farrell now has seven weeks to charge for his version of the Last Dance.
“Owen had a fantastic last half hour,” said Mark McCall, Saracens’ director of rugby. “At 22-22 we conceded a thunderbolt try and it was a big moment for the team about how it was going with Owen in charge.
“He came back from the World Cup and wanted to play for the club but obviously there was a lot going on. It really hasn’t had the chance to decompress properly but now it will.”
McCall, however, would not be drawn on Racing 92’s announcement that Farrell will be heading to Paris in the summer.
Shortly after that goal, hurler James Hadfield scored his second try to put Saracens at bay before, in the closing hours, Farrell headed in a wicked high ball that was spilled by Ben Hammersley, allowing Theo McFarland to score Saracens’ fifth try. to score.
Saracens remain the bookies’ favorites to reclaim the Premier League title. And for good reason. A fresh start can be made in seven weeks’ time with the international contingent and many of their injured absentees, particularly those in the front row, back in the saddle, however, although they are in the middle of their performances until the this point.
“We’re in the mix now, it’s going to be a six-game sprint for the line,” McCall added. “We kept ourselves in the fight. There are a few things that have happened in the last 13 days that have reminded us of what we are like when we are at our best.”
However stretching Saracens’ resources in the front row, the absences have given others opportunities to step up, such as hooker Hadfield who started the season making the Jersey Reds redundant. He opened the scoring here, tossing Theo McFarland before going into a textbook maul (if ever there was such a thing) to go down.
Exeter hit straight back, deploying their favorite weapon of the pick and getting into the Saracens 22. They eventually decided to mix up their repertoire of one-out runners as scrummer Stu Townsend finished off a long pass to Olly Woodburn finished his one. A one-up game against Rotimi Segun.
Neither team had to work particularly hard to engineer line breaks. Winger Andy Christie managed to clear the right wing but his offloaded effort went straight to Exeter flyhalf Harvey Skinner. He went one better the second time, streaking through the middle after Saracens had conceded a quick penalty. Due to the Scottish pop player’s pass from the floor, the player Ivan van Zyl ran under the posts.
Again Exeter drew level through a clever line which worked out where Jack Yeandle threw straight to Fisilau who went past barrelau. Farrell’s penalty was canceled out by Hodge’s long effort to leave the score at half-time. Any messages about reducing unforced errors were quickly rendered redundant as Townsend dropped a kick in the box, under pressure from Segun. The winger, Juan Martin Gonzalez, had a flash, kicking forward and taking advantage of a bounce to score.
“That was a big win,” said Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby. “It was a matter of comic errors to concede a try like we did. In our early days in the Premiership, we struggled against Saracens because we did what they wanted us to do. We learned how to get away from that but probably too many of this group didn’t.”
Exeter still remained fully in the contest thanks to Hodge’s excellent breaking and Saracens’ unexpected pursuit of kicks. Woodburn stayed on Hodge’s shoulder and fed Townsend who provided plenty of grass for Rusi Tuima’s strapping second row before Saracens pulled him over.
After exchanging scores throughout the game, Saracens were able to establish a bit of sustained momentum through Farrell’s penalty and a monster goal. Exeter then ran out of numbers, where McFarland took the opportunity to rampage down the touchline. Although he was brought down just short, Saracens recycled Hadfield to secure the bonus point.
