MATCH REPORT | London Scottish 0-20 Saracens Men

Saracens Men got back to winning ways with a hard-fought 20-0 victory over London Scottish at a wet and windy Richmond Athletic Ground.

In a game that was designed for the purist of purists, free-flowing rugby was a rarity but a brace of tries from Oscar Wilson either side of the break and then one score from Hugh Tizard ensured the Men in Black would head back to West London with the points.

The truly terrible conditions meant that Sarries were relying on Charlie Bracken’s box-kicking to get them up the field in the early exchanges with a kick chase full of intent.

Tobias Elliott might have jumped on the end of an Alex Goode grubber with just three minutes on the clock but the young winger couldn’t quite gather, and then two minutes later Brandon Jackson found space on the left wing but the ball, which resembled a bar of soap popped out of his grasp.

Sarries did edge in front with nine minutes gone, a string of penalties took them up to the line and then Louie Johnson kicked straight through the posts to open the scoring with a simple penalty.

The aerial battle was becoming integral as the conditions worsened, with both sides looking to play without the ball to eliminate any risk.

Nathan Michelow was leading by example and made a catalogue of thunderous hits, with teammate Kaden Pearce-Paul capitalising and turning the ball over at will.

Jackson and opposite number Noah Ferdinand were having a particularly eventful battle of the skies with the referee keeping an eye on their competition which threatened to boil over on multiple occasions.

The ball continued to be kept under the jumper as even a lineout to the front jumper was proving to be a struggle. The hosts almost opened their account for the night when Will Talbort-Davies chased a kick in behind, but Jackson did brilliantly to scramble back and clear the danger.

After soaking up a fair amount of pressure, Sarries deservedly extended their lead with just one minute until the break with the first try of the match.

Some neat hands in the backs released Oscar Wilson down the wing, and he slid home from 10 metres out in the corner to the delight of the visiting fans. Johnson’s excellent touchline conversion made it 10-0 as both sides headed down the tunnel at half time.

The start to the second half might not have won any prizes for match of the season as both sides reacclimatised with the baltic conditions.

James Hadfield almost crept round the front of a lineout when he played a neat one-two with Michelow, but he was dragged in to touch and the Scots could clear.

Elliott then countered from halfway and broke the line of defence but his pass inside to Gareth Simpson didn’t go to hand and once again the hosts survived.

Scottish then had a huge chance to get back in to proceedings with a five metre lineout and they had phase after phase within striking distance, but then a huge hit from Josh Hallett forced a fumble and he hacked the ball back up to the halfway line.

Wilson then scored his second with 65 minutes gone to put the result beyond doubt. A lovely chip over the top from Simpson was gathered by Elliott who took the ball up to the line, and then Olly Hartley spun it wide to Wilson who stepped back inside to score in the corner and put his side 15-0 ahead.

Wilson could have completed his hat-trick with five minutes to go when the ball came loose from a tackle and he looked to break clear, but he opted for Johnson on his shoulder who grubbered the ball ahead and it just dribbled out of the dead ball area.

A last gasp bit of gloss was added to the scoreboard when Tizard drove over for try number three with the last play of the game as he latched on to the back of a maul, and that signalled an end to proceedings as Sarries got back to winning ways with a well deserved victory.

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