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London Irish snap Saracens' unbeaten run in feisty encounter

By PA
Ben Loader (C) of London Irish celebrates with team mates. Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images

Newly appointed England coach Steve Borthwick watched on as Gallagher Premiership leaders Saracens lost their unbeaten record in a feisty 29-20 defeat at London Irish.

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It was Saracens’ first defeat in 10 league matches as a poor start and ill-discipline cost them dear.

Both teams had a player sent off in the first half and each side ended up scoring two tries, with Paddy Jackson’s five penalties proving the difference as the struggling Irish recorded a third league win of the season.

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London Irish captain Adam Coleman was first to be dismissed in the 16th minute as he thundered into the head off Saracens hooker Tom Woolstencroft, who appeared to be knocked out before receiving lengthy treatment and being carried off on a stretcher.

Saracens flanker Ben Earl was shown the first red card of his career 15 minutes later for a high tackle on Tom Pearson.

Ollie Hassell-Collins and Chandler Cunningham-South scored tries for Irish with Jackson converting both.

Kapeli Pifeleti and Sean Maitland scored Saracens’ tries, with Owen Farrell kicking two penalties and two conversions.

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Irish began strongly to secure a line-out platform in the opposition 22. From there, they secured possession to test Saracens’ defence to the full before Benhard van Rensburg’s pass gave Hassell-Collins the chance to brush past Farrell’s tackle to score.

Jackson converted but his side suffered an injury blow when centre Will Joseph hobbled from the field.

The hosts then received two setbacks in quick succession. First Farrell’s penalty put Saracens on the scoreboard to reward a period of sustained pressure before Coleman was sent off, leaving the home side seemingly with a mountain to climb.

However they still picked up the next points when Jackson kicked two penalties in quick succession as decisions by referee Matt Carley were continually questioned by Farrell.

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The Saracens skipper also queried the red card shown to Earl in the 31st minute with Jackson again on target with the resulting penalty.

But an out-of-sorts Saracens remained in contention when replacement hooker Pifeleti forced his way over.

Farrell converted but with the last kick of the half Jackson slotted over his fourth penalty, this time from the half-way line, to give Irish a deserved 19-10 interval lead.

Five minutes after the restart, Saracens scored their second try. A speculative chip through from Elliot Daly bounced awkwardly for Irish wing Lucio Cinti, with Maitland on hand to pick up the pieces.

The visitors looked set to take control but Jackson succeeded with his fifth penalty to temporarily keep them at bay, before Rory Jennings was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card for a high challenge on Billy Vunipola with 20 minutes remaining.

Worse was to follow for Irish when they went down to 12 players, with Rob Simmons sin-binned for collapsing a maul, but remarkably a ragged Saracens could not score in their absence.

On their return, Farrell kicked a penalty but Irish secured a thrilling victory when Cunningham-South finished off a flowing move to send Irish’s biggest crowd of the season home happy.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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