Two games into the season, two wins and a rebuilt Saracens team embarks on a new era. It took a while to get going, but a notable contribution from center Alex Lozowski, who scored 22 points and provided a fine try assist to fleet young winger Tobias Elliott, ultimately led to a big-money win. His shooting separated the hosts from a weakened Sharks team. A series of injuries.
Sale were hoping for a repeat of last June's Premiership semi-final, when they shocked Sarries on their own pitch and abruptly cut short Owen Farrell's Saracens career, but George Ford suffered a thigh muscle injury. They lost early and lost their best player and two players. Elliot Daly's try tally in the last quarter made the home attack increasingly dominant, earning him a late try bonus point.
Ford will now undergo tests to see if he is affected on the sidelines in the run-up to England's November Test opener against New Zealand. New Sarries captain Maro Itoje was also seen limping just after half-time with a bag of ice pressed against his knee in the dugout. Sarries director of rugby Mark McCall suggested the injury was not too serious. “He hit his knee and it's rough, so we took him out right away to keep it that way. He'll be fine, but we don't know if he'll play next week.”
McCall also said Saracens had retained general manager Phil Morrow, who had been appointed by England head coach Steve Borthwick as part of the latest round of behind-the-scenes changes following the departure of fitness coach Aled Walters. I made it clear what I ideally wanted. Coach McCall wants Morrow to split time between club and country, but he wanted to focus more on his performance in the second half, when his team scored 33 points in the second half to extend their unbeaten start. “Our energy and physicality wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be, but I thought we improved a lot in the second half,” McCall said.
Wearing eye-catching tangerines, the Sharks will look back and wonder if this day was destined to come. Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson set the tone for an injury-riddled afternoon after breaking two ribs in a collision with Tom Roebuck on the training ground in midweek.
Smith scored eight points to propel Quins, who had fallen behind due to an early try from John Hawkins, to a comfortable victory with goals from Nathan Gibble, Will Evans, Leigh Halfpenny and Will Porter.
Diamond believes Smith, starting in Quins' first game since returning from England's tour of New Zealand, will make the biggest difference between the visitors being rewarded for their efforts or going home empty-handed. Ta.
“Smith is a class player who looks cool. Every time he gets the ball, he's not under pressure, he's in command and he's a world-class player,” the Falcons' director of rugby said.
Quins head coach Danny Wilson also had special praise for his star player, number 10, saying: “I just told Marcus it was a pre-season friendly, because he hasn't been able to put on the Quins jersey and boots for a while.”He was furloughed for a long time but came back It's a testament to this man that he can be as influential as he was before. ”
Former Wales international Halfpenny was also outstanding on his home debut for Quins after being scouted in the summer after playing Super Rugby for the Crusaders. The 35-year-old full-back, who plays for a fifth team in four different leagues, is likely to be a useful addition to the squad. Wilson says: “He's very tough and brings a lot to the club” with his wealth of experience, knowledge and skillset. ”
Newcastle last tasted victory in the Premiership 554 days ago, but Diamond is optimistic that Newcastle can eventually correct their dismal record. He said: “It may have been a cricket-like score at one stage, but the players did a really good job holding tight and getting back on track almost immediately. At least we put in a good performance. , we will seize the victory that is at hand.” Quins have been a good team so far and were better than us on the day, but the spirit of the players is strong. ” PA media
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Harlequins 28-14 Newcastle
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Steve Diamond says Newcastle team will deal with 'world class' Marcus Smith after England fly-half produced another quality performance in Harlequins' 28-14 win at Twickenham Stoop He admitted that he had a hard time.
Smith scored eight points to propel Quins, who had fallen behind due to an early try from John Hawkins, to a comfortable victory with goals from Nathan Gibble, Will Evans, Leigh Halfpenny and Will Porter.
Diamond believes Smith, starting in Quins' first game since returning from England's tour of New Zealand, will make the biggest difference between the visitors being rewarded for their efforts or going home empty-handed. Ta.
The Falcons' director of rugby said: “Smith is a class player who looks cool. Every time he gets the ball he's not under pressure, he's in command and he's a world-class player.”
Quins head coach Danny Wilson also had special praise for his star No. 10, saying: “Marcus hasn't been able to wear the Quins jersey and boots for a while, so we've had him play in a pre-season friendly. I just told them it was a game,” he said. He was laid off for a long time, and it's a testament to this guy that he was able to come back and be as impactful as he was before.”
Former Wales international Halfpenny was also outstanding on his home debut for Quins after being scouted in the summer after playing Super Rugby for the Crusaders. Wilson said the 35-year-old full-back, who plays for a fifth team in four different leagues, is likely to be a useful addition to the team: “He's very tough and he owes a lot to the club for his achievements. We bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and skill sets. ”
Newcastle last tasted victory in the Premiership 554 days ago, but Diamond is optimistic that Newcastle can eventually correct their dismal record. He said: “It may have been a cricket-like score at one stage, but the players did a really good job holding tight and getting back into the game almost straight away. At least we put in a good performance. , we will obtain that elusive victory.” Quins have always been a good team and on this day they were better than us, but the spirit of the players is strong. ” PA media
The influential Ford appeared to fumble something on his thigh as he tried to take an early penalty from long range, while the athletic and hard-working Jean-Luc du Preez suffered a blow to the head. He received a severe blow and was sent off after just 10 minutes.
However, the Sharks were the more lively team to begin with and Saracens only managed to deal with four penalties in the first half, from Rozovski and Daley. Great try from Rob du Preez, a good direct run and Sam Bedreau who allowed Gus Wall to go under the post despite a yellow card for the busy Sam Dugdale. And it was Sale who led 13-12 at the break. Up-and-coming Asher Opuku-Forjour also had a good showing against the heavier Lis Carre, and at one point it looked like a tight finish was in the offing.
But there's a limit to how many big-name players a team can lose before cracks start to show. Ben Currie and the tall Hyron Andrews also had to leave the field just after half-time to be diagnosed with a head injury, and with Dugdale still off the field, reserve hooker Ethan Kane was forced into the back row as an emergency measure. had to be placed in
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In a back-and-forth situation, Sarries exploded belatedly as Rozovski converted two more spectacular penalties to make it 18-13. Rozovski, who broke clean through midfield, played a luxurious long ball that gave Elliott enough time and space to beat Tom O'Flaherty and dive into the right corner.
From that moment on, it became a different game. Salemaul's try was scored by Luke Cowan-Dickie, but Sarries had too much energy and great skill from Alex Goode set up Daly's first goal within seconds of coming on.
England captain Jamie George also got on the scoresheet, with another excellent long ball coming for Daley after Dugdale was shown a second yellow card in the dying minutes to compound the battered Sharks' woes. It gave Sarries a chance for their fourth try. With the Argentina international still a long way from returning and new fly-half Fergus Burke also settling into Farrell's position, those who expected Sarries' rebuilding season to be a monotonous one were badly mistaken. It may yet be proven that
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