By Matt Hardy
Having started their rugby campaign with a bye weekend, Saracens got their season underway with a superb 27-30 win over Harlequins in south London at the weekend.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, though. Saracens are the team of solid defence and non-negotiable lines which are difficult to breach – they’re not the running type.
Harlequins on the other hand can score from anywhere – proved in their round one try which clocked over 100m – and their ability to consistently stay within striking distance has seen them compete right until the very end of games.
But at the Stoop on Saturday, and despite Harlequins going 17-0 up early on, it never really looked like a game Saracens would lose.
That’s testament to how the north Londoners have evolved, developing into a potent attacking threat as well as a rigid defensive side.
And further to this, Quins looked like a side with a Plan A but little else. When it wasn’t working for the Twickenham-based team they looked genuinely lost – even if they were in their home stadium.
Quins’ scrum-half duo of Lewis Gjaltema and Jack Stafford appeared off the boil in comparison to their usual starter Danny Care, they lost their attacking intent whenever Alex Dombrandt wasn’t involved and they failed to make the most of space on the flanks after the opening quarter.
Saracens, on the other hand, were incredible. Owen Farrell was unplayable at times when bringing in the Johnny Sexton-style bomb kicks and Billy Vunipola oozed class. Furthermore the Saracens 23 man for man simply played better than their opposite numbers with and without the ball.
Before the start of the season there was a sense that Harlequins could struggle to make the top four again, having been the only side to reach the semi-finals in successive years last term, and it looks as though that could be the case.
It’s not so much that they have dropped off, but it looks as if perhaps they have been found out to a degree. Some sides will struggle to play them despite knowing their style but others will be able to close it down and develop a plan to counter their strengths.
Saracens, despite it being just one game into the season, seem to have developed both on and off the ball. Mark McCall’s men offloaded 17 times to Harlequins’ once.
They’ve always had the talent but have often looked blunt in attack and less concerned with being expansive, but in the short 80 minutes of viewing on Saturday it does seem as if the club have become even more rounded.
Saracens have a shot at finishing top of the bunch this year and it would be stupid to count Quins out so early. With both teams now boasting exciting styles, it’s good news for the neutral viewer.
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