European rugby returns this week but only one of these sides looks ready to embrace the onrushing challenge. For Saracens, the defending champions and domestic table-toppers, their opening pool encounter in Northampton should hold few fears on the evidence of this lopsided warm-up. For Wasps, now enduring their leanest Premiership spell for three and half years, Friday night’s trip to face Ulster will loom horribly quickly. Even without Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell, a late bench withdrawal with a slight calf problem, Saracens had far too
Jonathan Quick Authentic Jersey much ammunition for their former capital rivals. Their Lions and England hooker, Jamie George, claimed a hat-trick of pushover tries and the outcome was not in doubt at any stage. It leaves Wasps third from bottom of the Premiership with only Worcester and London Irish beneath them and last season’s final memories fast receding. It does not always follow that sparkling league form guarantees a fizzing Euro campaign, or vice versa, but quite how Wasps are meant to go to Belfast and turn their fortunes round, given the relative shortage of recovery time and their current injury list, is not immediately apparent. ?? inRead invented by Teads ?? inRead invented by Teads Dai Young, their director of rugby, has his “fingers crossed” that Nathan Hughes and Jimmy Gopperth will be fit enough to play some part but the optimist in him is having to work overtime. “When your luck’s down everyone keeps kicking you in the nuts,” was his succinct retort on the subject of his side’s unenviable five-day turnaround. “If it was any less, we’d have to go straight from here.” Even his Saracens counterpart, Mark McCall, expressed sympathy for Wasps’ predicament, describing it as “grossly unfair” that the domestic and Champions Cup fixture lists have not dovetailed better. The first couple of rounds of Europe are all-important in setting the tone for a team’s knockout qualification prospects and, if things do not perk up over the next fortnight, Wasps’ challenge could be all but over before it has really begun. Advertisement At least the visitors averted the total disaster that looked highly possible
http://www.officialkingsteamstore.com/Kelly_Hrudey_Jersey in the opening quarter of an hour. Saracens were 15-0 up before Wasps had blinked, a craftily controlled chip from Alex Goode setting up Chris Wyles for their opening try before a quick tap and go ended with George rampaging through a huge midfield hole to add a second. With even props like Juan Figallo busting the line almost at will and Wasps struggling to cover for the absences of Hughes, Gopperth, Danny Cipriani and Joe Launchbury, it was hard to foresee anything other than a embarrassing thumping. To their credit, however, Wasps’ forwards dug in valiantly with the young back-row forward Jack Willis and his 18-year-old brother, Tom, showing up well in a doomed cause. To lose the last 55 minutes by only 23-19 after the start Saracens enjoyed was as good as they could reasonably have hoped. McCall made the point afterwards that his side have been “a bit patchy” in terms of finishing everything they start but there can be no doubting George’s readiness for the fray with a series of big autumn games looming. This was the first hat-trick of his career and, despite
Mika Zibanejad Jersey his obvious embarrassment at being named man of the match ahead of the team-mates who did the donkey work at the lineouts, he was not the Lions’ starting hooker in New Zealand by accident. Whether it will be enough to persuade the watching Eddie Jones to start him ahead of his established captain, Dylan Hartley, this autumn remains unclear but it does seem increasingly odd that the 26-year-old has still not started a Test for England. Given his familiarity with Mako Vunipola, Maro Itoje and George Kruis, three of England’s regular cogs, it will hardly weaken the collective effort if and when he does make the starting XV. Saracens have also made a couple of useful acquisitions in Calum Clark and Liam Williams while Farrell will be back soon enough with McCall stressing his injury was only minor. In his absence Alex Lozowski kicked 18 points, including the conversion of George’s third try, in the 66th minute, which secured a predictable bonus point. It ensured a suitably happy outcome for Saracens’ captain, Brad Barritt, on the occasion of his 200th club appearance, and stretched their unbeaten home league run to 18 games. Advertisement There was certainly no resemblance to Wasps’ 64-23 win at the same venue in
http://www.rangersteamonline.com/Mike_Gartner_JerseyFebruary 2016, when the visitors ran in eight tries. Young was keenly aware of the need to crank things up with ball in hand, injuries notwithstanding. “We’ve got to be more direct and get over the gain-line,” he acknowledged. “It would be too easy to use injuries as an excuse. We’ve got to get more out of this group of players
