McCall calm as shine comes off Saracens' title
Saracens 15 Wasps 20
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Your support makes all the difference.As the nominal home team for the second of Saturday's London double header matches, Saracens took over Twickenham in the minutes before kick-off, engaging the public address to blare out the club's re-worded theme song, "Stand Up for the Champions". As indeed Wasps did in the scrum – the six-time title-winners stood up, knelt down, buckled and broke apart. But they also scored two tries to none to make a heartening start against their usurpers as the capital's and the country's top side. "The scrum is obviously a work in progress," said Dai Young, the new Wasps director of rugby, "and it is up to us to sort that out."
The former Wales and Lions prop joined in the summer after nine years coaching the Cardiff Blues, and sat watching an otherwise satisfactory first effort alongside Paul Turner, another Welsh recruit as a skills and attack coach. Meanwhile Wasps' English head coach Shaun Edwards is absent in New Zealand helping Wales at the World Cup, but significant assistance has arrived in the opposite direction. Jonathan Poff was playing for Tasman against Manawatu in New Zealand's ITM Cup just 10 days ago, but this was not the back-rower's first Twickenham appearance of the year: he turned out for the Crusaders against the Sharks there in the relocated Super Rugby match in March.
"The whole team played well," said Poff, who has studied at the feet (and hands) of the great Richie McCaw, and helped strip the ball from Saracens' Jackson Wray in the lead-up to Tom Varndell's clinching try in the 66th minute. "Saracens have got a massive pack and we wanted to fizzle them out."
Saracens had a 6-3 lead but their line-out misfired and they were outflanked by the flying Christian Wade's 19th minute try, even if Chris Bell's short pass to the wing might have been forward. Nicky Robinson, Wasps' Welsh fly-half newly signed from Gloucester, had a better time of it than his English opposite number, Charlie Hodgson. Two penalties, two conversions and no misses gave Robinson 10 points; Hodgson came on for Owen Farrell early in the second half and kicked two penalties but then missed his tackle on the try-scoring Varndell and hooked a penalty wide five minutes later.
"It's relatively simple," said Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby. "We lost all the collisions in the first half hour and Wasps were on the front foot. We have got to be calm. It's very disappointing but we had the same experience in the first game last season."
Scorers: Saracens: Penalties Farrell 3, Hodgson 2.
Wasps: Tries Wade, Varndell; Conversions Robinson 2; Penalties Robinson 2.
Saracens: A Goode; D Strettle, A Powell (D Taylor, 52), B Barritt, J Short; O Farrell (C Hodgson, 49), N de Kock (B Spencer, 69); R Gill (D Carstens, 58), S Brits, C Nieto (P du Plessis, 58-60), S Borthwick (capt), M Botha (G Kruis, 49), J Melck, A Saull (J Wray, 52), E Joubert.
Wasps: H Southwell; C Wade, C Bell, R Flutey, T Varndell; N Robinson, C Davies; T Payne (J Castex, 66), R Webber, B Broster (B Baker, 48), R Birkett, M Wentzel, J Launchbury, J Poff, J Hart (capt, B Vunipola, 38).
Referee: JP Doyle (London).
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