MATCH REACTION | Alex Austerberry (PWR Rd 5)

Director of Rugby Alex Austerberry was left disappointed, as his side suffered a first defeat of the season away at Exeter Chiefs.

Saracens had taken the lead midway through the first half, before the hosts turned the screw and Austerberry credited the Devonians for how they had performed against his side.

“First and foremost, Exeter deserved that win. Their scrum was very good, and they were more energised and clinical than us.”

Reflecting on what didn’t quite click in the West County, Austerberry admitted that his side were slightly off the standards they had been setting themselves, explaining that handling errors and discipline had proven to be the main Achilles heel.

“We had a lot of entries into the 22 but gave away a lot of penalties and had a lot of handling errors. There were a lot of chances that we gave away by not being clinical and I thought we were a little bit off throughout the match. Our speed to breakdown wasn’t where it normally is. We thought we’d managed to fix that and tidy it up at the start of the second half, but then we made some silly errors and that stunted any momentum we could have got back. We were just a bit off today and, in this league, there is very little margin for error. If you are a little bit off, there are normally pretty big consequences.”

Saracens had managed to manufacture a lead heading into the final few minutes of the first half, but the Chiefs scored 10 points in the final few moments to take the lead, with Austerberry admitting that the turnaround had stopped any momentum his side had been able to create.

“I thought we fixed some of the backfield problems that they had created for us in that second half but overall, I just felt we were a bit off it throughout the match. There was a moment just before half-time where we felt that we were on top, but we then gave away a try and a penalty and gave up that momentum really easily. We put ourselves in a position where we were chasing the game and we just never recovered from that.”

At the end of the first block of fixtures, Saracens sit in second place in the standings, with four wins from five. Austerberry highlighted that it was always going to be a challenging side to the season, but noted that nothing would be decided off the back of these opening five games.

“We always knew that it was going to be a fragmented start, but we’re on 20 points. It’s been a very difficult start to the season in terms of the fixtures we’ve had. If we had won here, I would be sitting here saying that it’s been an excellent start, but conversely, you need to look at the results we have picked up in some tough games against the likes of Bristol and Gloucester. The games we had against Sale and Trailfinders have been big challenges that we’ve come through as well. We’re in a good place at this stage in the season. In the aftermath of the battle, the defeat is always disappointing, and we know that the first five games won’t decide anything come the end of the season. We’ve got five more huge games coming up before Christmas and then another huge block after that. This result is obviously disappointing, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this has still been a good start to the season.”