Saracens
It?s here ? Premiership Rugby TV: 14 day trial for just 99p!
A new season, a new sponsor and now a new way to watch Aviva Premiership Rugby, Premiership Rugby TV is your new companion to the 2010-11 season.
Launched last week, Premiership Rugby TV will be first for match highlights and the only place to find live audio commentary from all 12 Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs online; keeping you up to date with all the twists and turns of another exciting season.
But, viewers to Sarries TV can still enjoy all the behind the scenes action including exclusive post-match dressing room reaction, the Coach’s Cut, regular Inside Sarries features, team announcements and much, much, more. Keep a look out for new features in the coming weeks.
Premiership Rugby TV will then be your first stop for all match highlights which will include extended action not just from Saracens games, but also the rest of the Aviva Premiership.
Premiership Rugby TV features:
• Exclusive extended match highlights with skip functionality
• Live audio commentary with stats
• High quality flash video
• Compatible on PC’s and Mac’s
If you would like to receive a 14 day trial for just 99p or to find out further information visit www.premiershiprugby.tv
Storm beaten in opening A-League clash
Saracens Storm were beaten 25-18 by Harlequins at a wet and windy Old Albanians on Monday night in the opening round of the Aviva A-League.
An early Rory Clegg penalty was followed by a converted James Johnston try to give the visitors an 8-0 lead. But No.8 Josh Lezszcuk finished off a peel move from a 5m lineout to hit back for Sarries and two penalties from Owen Farrell gave the home side an 11-10 lead at the break.
The heavy rain continued throughout the second half and a Chris York try saw Quins retake the lead. But with 10 minutes remaining, Sarries piled on the pressure on the Quins line and it eventually told when Will Fraser made the most of an overlap out wide to score. Farrell's touchline conversion extended the lead.
But there was to be a string in the tail. A Clegg up and under wasn't collected by the home side and when it fell into the hands of the Quins forwards, it was quickly recycled to Tom Casson who ran home. Clegg's conversion put the visitors 22-18 ahead and when the fly half added a penalty with two minutes remaining, it sealed the game for the visitors.
Saracens Storm v Harlequins
15 Ben Ransom
14 Rodd Penney
13 Kameli Ratuvou
12 Owen Farrell
11 James Short
10 Nils Mordt
9 Luke Baldwin
1 Matt Parr
2 Jamie George
3 Richard Skuse
4 Tom Jubb
5 Hayden Smith
6 Don Barrell
7 Will Fraser
8 Josh Lezszcuk
16 Harry Allen
17 Alex Brown
18 Jared Saunders
19 Tom Gillings
20 Matt Hankin
21 Kevin Barrett
22 Sam Stanley
23 Henry Staff
Kick off now 3pm on Sunday
Please be aware that owing to Sunday’s game being televised on ESPN, kick off has now changed to 3pm. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Sarries miss out in Aviva Premiership opener
Saracens were beaten 33-16 by London Irish on the opening day of the Aviva Premiership season at Twickenham.
A record London Double Header crowd of more than 75,000 saw Sarries hold a narrow half time lead thanks to tries from Ernst Joubert and Schalk Brits, but four second half scores from the Exiles secured the victory.
The game saw four yellow cards, two for each team, but it was while Sarries were down to 14 men midway through the second half that Irish took control, scoring two tries in that period and building a sound lead.
The first half belonged to Sarries. Two kickable penalties were turned down by the Irish in favour of a lineout and a scrum within the first ten minutes of the game, but tight Sarries defence meant that they were unable to capatilise on their position, with the strong Sarries scrum turning the ball over after 3 minutes of relentless attack from the Irish.
In the 13th minute the Irish opted to kick for goal at the third time of calling, but a miss from Ryan Lamb meant that there was no score from either team until the 25nd minute. The first the yellow cards was shown to Delon Armitage after he held Noah Cato who was trying to support the ball carrier on his way to the tryline.
Sarries opted for a lineout and after recycling the ball well an overlap was created, and after sharp hands from Brits and Wyles, captain Ernst Joubert collected the pass and dived over in the corner for the opening score of the game.
London Irish hit back soon after with a penalty kick from Lamb which took the score to 5-3 after 28 minutes. In the 33rd minute Joubert was involved again when he broke strongly through the Irish midfield to take Saracens well inside the opposition half. Quick ball again allowed the Irish little time to reorganise their defence and hardworking hooker Brits managed to crash over the line despite attention from Delon Armitage trying to put in a tackle.
The unconverted try took Sarries to a 10-3 lead afer 32 minutes. Irish were again able to hit back quickly after a breakdown offence gave them 3 points ahead of halftime which meant that the teams went into haltime with the score at 10-6.
Saracens went down to 14 men after Alex Goode was sinbinned for offiside inside the Sarries 22 in the fourth minute of the second half and Lamb kicked the accompanying penalty which took the Irish to within one point of the Saracens with a 10-9 scoreline. Passionate Saracens defence kept the Irish at bay for the next five minutes, but the pressure ultimately led to an overlap and try for Irish fullback Armitage. Lamb failed to convert.
Lamb was called upon shortly after when a crossfield kick was collected by Sailosi Tagicakibau and the winger dived over in the corner for a converted try that took Irish to a 21-10 lead.
Derick Hougaard was brought on the field with 25 minutes remaining in the game and his first action was to kick a penalty that was awarded to Sarries just inside the opposition half. The successful effort meant that Saracens were 13-21 down. Sarries then broke forward and it was then the turn of scrum half Paul Hodgson to be sent to the sinbin for a professional foul when he slapped down a pass from Brad Barritt that looked sure to lead to a try. Saracens took the opportunity for points and closed to gap to 16-21.
The Irish defence held firm while they were a man down and the score remained unchanged until seven minutes from time when referee Andrew Small ruled that Kevin Barrett had impeded Topsy Ojo as he collected his own kick through on the tryline. Barrett was sent to the sin bin for the rest of the game.
With the Exiles pushing forward for a bonus point, brave Saracens defending held them at bay until the final action of the game when with numbers out wide, Ojo went over in the corner to finish the match.