Late Doncaster hits can't stop cool headed Owen Farrell - McCall
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall saluted Owen Farrell after his return to action in a hefty 50-15 Greene King IPA Championship win at Doncaster.
England captain Farrell made his first Saracens appearance since they were relegated to the second tier and helped orchestrate an eight-try rout of their title rivals.
Farrell, concussed in England’s final Guinness Six Nations match last month before sustaining a calf strain, was last in action for Saracens in September.
“It didn’t look like that today,” McCall said. “He was in control of everything out there. He actually got hit late a couple of times and reacted brilliantly I thought.
“He didn’t get frustrated, moved on to the next thing pretty quickly and played beautifully at times.
“There was a couple of kicks he doesn’t normally miss, but I thought he played really well.”
Saracens slipped to a shock opening-day defeat at Cornish Pirates and despite three bonus-point wins since, they could ill-afford another loss at Doncaster, who had won all five of their previous matches.
“It was a good performance,” McCall said. “It was probably an improved performance from last week (54-13 winners against Bedford), which is what we want to do, we want to get better in every game.”
It was the first time this season that McCall was able to name all six of his England players in his starting XV.
Maro Itoje, Mako and Billy Vunipola, Elliot Daly and Jamie George also lined up alongside Farrell and helped provide too much pace, precision and power for Doncaster to handle.
“I thought our senior players were magic today,” McCall added. “I’ve said the last couple of weeks, they’ve really come back and embraced this new challenge.
“You saw by those performances today just how good they are and the influence that they have.”
Tries from wingers Alex Lewington and Sean Maitland, Itoje and flanker Michael Rhodes gave Saracens a 22-3 half-time lead.
Two brilliant second-half touchdowns in quick succession from scrum-half Aled Davies, plus replacement Tom Woolstencroft’s close-range effort – all converted – put the visitors out of sight.
Doncaster were rewarded for their wholehearted physical commitment with two converted tries from Jack Davies and wing Jack Spittle in the final quarter.
Saracens replacement Tom Whiteley went over for the last try in the closing moments, but Doncaster head coach Steve Boden said he was proud of his side.
“We competed and matched them physically for large parts of the game, contact-wise” Boden said.
“We kept on going with repeat sets of defence, very good sets, but eventually the dam burst. They have a lot of quality and you can’t keep them out for long.”
Boden added: “I was proud of the players’ effort. Their desire, work rate and effort, it’s something we’re really changing round at the club and I thought it was outstanding.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Always reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
1 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
4 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
4 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to comments