MATCH REPORT | Saracens Men 43-0 Newcastle Red Bulls
Saracens Men made it back-to-back victories in the PREM Rugby Cup with an impressive 43-0 win over Newcastle Red Bulls at StoneX Stadium.
The Original Club of North London brought themselves back in contention for a semi-final spot when the competition resumes in January with a seven-try win at a soaking wet StoneX.
Both sides were looking to unlock the opposing defences in challenging conditions in the early exchanges. Sarries came close when Luke Davidson’s neat grubber in behind forced them in to touch, but from the lineout Charlie West spun wide to Brandon Jackson who couldn’t quite gather in the corner.
Angus Hall then thought he had intercepted and gone the length of the field, but the referee came back for an earlier infringement.
Charlie Bracken’s box kick in behind then bounced up to Olly Hartley who eyed up a free run to the line, but his offload back inside went to ground and the visitors cleared the ball.
Another chance followed on the 20 minute mark as a lineout in the 22 gave there young Sarries side a good platform, but Tayo Adegbemile was held up over the line and once again the Red Bulls cleared.
Jackson then took the next chance as Sarries opened their account for the afternoon. A scrum just outside the 22 then popped up to Louie Johnson whose lovely floated pass to the winger allowed him to race over the line in the corner. The conversion went wide, but the hosts now had a 5-0 advantage.
That lead then grew just five minutes later as another lineout in the 22 gave them striking territory, and a huge overlap went to Davidson who could mark his full debut for the club with a memorable try. Johnson’s conversion made it 12-0.
Then with the final play of the half Sarries took full control of the match, as Adegbemile picked a great line and showed impressive pace to break the line and dive straight under the posts. The conversion went straight through and made it 19-0 to the hosts at the break.
Newcastle put Sarries under pressure at the start of the second half as the heavens opened, and they got to within one metre of the line but some ferocious defence held firm.
That then gave the hosts a real boost and they then secured the try bonus point just five minutes later. A lovely one-two with West drew in the final defender and then Nathan Michelow strolled over to make it 24-0.
It got even better just two minutes later, a huge carry from Hartley took the ball up to the line and then Bracken carried from the breakdown to cross for try number five. Johnson’s conversion extended the lead to 31-0.
The bench was then emptied as more of the squad got some much needed game time, and Ivan van Zyl marked his return to action with a try as we entered the final quarter. A penalty was awarded in the 22 and in trademark fashion the Springbok tapped it quickly and ran over the line. Johnson’s fourth conversion made it 38-0.
Noah Caluori then made his trademark impact as he raced in to the Newcastle half, and offloaded to Kennedy Sylvester who charged towards the line but his wide pass to Hall went straight in to touch.
Hall didn’t let the next chance go though, Hartley ran from right to left and created an overlap, allowing the winger to stroll over for a deserved try.
Sarries then saw out the final few minutes as the weather somehow worsened, and a young Saracens outfit celebrated an impressive victory.
