Saracens vs Exeter match report: 14-man hosts salvage draw after Richard Barrington sees red

Saracens 13 Exeter Chiefs 13: Mark McCall's depleted men battled to turn the tables and deny the Chiefs a sixth straight Premiership win

Titi Lamositele's try helped Saracens on their way to salvaging a draw (Getty)

Injury-hit Saracens salvaged a morale-boosting draw after playing with 14 men for 70 minutes, as the early red card to the home side's prop Richard Barrington shone a glaring spotlight on the new laws relating to head-high tackles.

Amid universal concern over the increased incidence of concussion injuries, the global governing body World Rugby – with the support of the International Rugby Players' Association - last Tuesday introduced redefined laws concerning high tackles, with upgraded sanctions in a zero-tolerance approach to reckless and accidental contact with the head.

The powers-that-be have effectively lowered the acceptable height of the tackle - but the mid-season changes, plus the grey area in which a player may be penalised through no obvious fault of his own, have incited fervent criticism and debate, with worries expressed that rugby union might mutate into rugby league or maybe American football with its multiple referees and built-in stoppages.

Barrington was shown red early on for a high tackle on Geoff Parling (PA)

The match-changing incident at Allianz Park came as Exeter’s former England lock Geoff Parling – who has a history of head injury – took a short pass from a ruck and ran forward with a standard, stooping body position.

Parling was felled by a double hit as Saracens’ initial tackler, Brad Barritt, appeared to catch his opponent’s chin with his left arm then, as Parling fell forward, he had his head snapped back in a collision with Barrington’s shoulder and, after treatment, was substituted by Mitch Lees.

Referee Ian Tempest reviewed the double tackle with his video official Sean Davey and spared Barritt any card, but concluded his verdict expressed to Barrington, who had led Saracens out on his 100th appearance for the club, by saying: “It’s a red card, I’m sorry.”

Geoff Parling left the field on a stretcher after the collision with Barrington and Brad Barritt (Getty)

Ultimately the lawmakers' intention is to change the behaviour and mindset of players but there may be many controversial incidents along the way.

World Rugby statistics say 72 per cent of head injury assessments occur to the tackler, not the ball-carrier. And as an illustration of that, Saracens had already lost their centre Marcelo Bosch to suspected concussion after his head collided with the hip of Henry Slade as the Argentinian made a version of the “bent at the waist” tackle recommended by World Rugby. A similar fate befell another Saracens centre, Duncan Taylor, in the second half, while both Parling and his Exeter second-row colleague Ollie Atkins were removed for suspected concussion.

It gave Exeter partial excuse for their scrum and line-out gradually being dominated by Saracens, despite the absence of the hosts’ England forwards George Kruis and Mako and Billy Vunipola, as well as the rested fly-half Owen Farrell.

Still, Exeter will be savagely disappointed at their failure to achieve a club record-equalling sixth Premiership win in a row, as Saracens notched their fifth successive success in this fixture, including last year’s final at Twickenham.

In-form Exeter wing Jack Nowell scored a lovely try in front of watching England head coach Eddie Jones with a one-handed catch of Gareth Steenson’s equally delicate cross-kick with 14 minutes gone, exploiting the space out wide created by Sean Maitland’s withdrawal to cover for Barrington’s dismissal.

Nowell went over to give the visitors a 10-3 lead at half-time (Getty)

It helped the Chiefs built a 10-3 lead by half-time, but Steenson missed one penalty shot from medium range in each half, and Saracens – with Maro Itoje creating havoc in the Exeter line-out – were able to keep the gap at seven points going into the final 10 minutes.

And USA Eagles prop Titi Lamositele’s try from a line-out drive, converted by Farrell’s capable stand-in Alex Lozowski, deservedly drew the Premiership champions level.

Saracens’ forwards coach Alex Sanderson described the result as “the best two points ever”, while on the subject of the law variations, Saracens’ former England scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth said: “We’re not fans. We understand why they’re there, but Bazzer [Barrington] is the definition of not a dirty player; he’s just tough.

“I understand why it was a red card – I’m not going to say it wasn’t - but I think if we’re not careful we’re going to make the game worse, not better.”

Teams

Saracens: A Goode; S Maitland (rep T Lamositele 14th min), M Bosch (N Tompkins 5; D Taylor 53; B Spencer 70), B Barritt (capt), C Wyles; A Lozowski, R Wigglesworth; R Barrington, S Brits (J George 51), J Figallo (V Koch 49), M Itoje, J Hamilton, M Rhodes (W Skelton 51), K Brown (S Burger 61), J Wray.

Try: Lamositele. Conversion: Lozowski. Penalties: Lozowski 2

Exeter Chiefs: P Dollman, J Nowell, S Hill. H Slade (I Whitten 63), J Short; G Steenson (capt), W Chudley (J Maunder 65); C Rimmer (B Moon 49), L Cowan-Dickie (J Yeandle 53), G Holmes (H Williams 49), O Atkins (D Dennis 45), G Parling (M Lees 12), D Armand, T Johnson, T Waldrom.

Try: Nowell. Conversion: Steenson. Penalties: Steenson 2

Referee: I Tempest