Saracens v Exeter Chiefs

[Teh Mite]

Saracens v Exeter Chiefs

30th October 2010, 15:00 Vicarage Road


​

 

[iWin]

Come on Exeter! PLEASE do this!
Current score is 20-9 to the chiefs. You have know idea how happy I will be if sarries lose to Exeter

 

[veux]

23-9 to Exeter. Wow. Have to say I'm proud of them, I just hope they don't peak too early

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Good on them!
Exeter have had a cracking start to the season, don't think many were expecting them to do as well as they have

 

[gingergenius]

for ****'s sake. how the **** did we lose to exeter at home?

 

[Gavin]

for ****'s sake. how the **** did we lose to exeter at home?

Because you played complete sh*t and break apart as a team when the opposition puts on the pressure.

 

[munstermuffin]

Can we assume Exeter are surely safe now. Great to see a club like them do well while not been all about forgetting players that got them there

 

[iWin]

I'm kind of assuming that they're safe. Now I'm backing them to get HEC qualification

 

[cyRil]

Why has no-one blamed Gav yet?
And where is saracenangel when you need her?!

 

[munstermuffin]

Ha ha. What was Venters excuse too.

 

[Teh Mite]

Venter in magnanimous comments shocker:

Brendan Venter hailed Exeter's first away victory in Aviva Premiership Rugby as a triumph for the underdog and a great example of what can be achieved with collective will.
The Saracens rugby director said after his high-flying team had been beaten 23-9: "From my point of view it's amazing what you can achieve with a collective will. They came here with a team of unknowns, got stuck into us and deserved to win."

Venter continued: "When you analyse the game we have created an unbelievable number of chances and had a few little things gone right I think we would have gone on to win. Their defence was excellent but the bottom line is they played as a team and today we played as individuals. Yet when I watch the video I think I'll find we were not as bad as I thought.

"Of course I'm disappointed but what do I do - kick a chair, shout, or throw water? No, you have to give credit where it is due."

To add to Saracens' woes they lost England squad member, centre Brad Barritt, who suffered a compound fracture of a finger and will be out for up to six weeks.

It was a great day for Exeter and their followers and for 24-year-old fly-half Ryan Davis who celebrated his first Aviva Premiership Rugby start for the Chiefs with 18 points from a try, two conversions and three penalties.

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter said: "We felt we needed to make a breakthrough versus a major team. We'd done well away from home but repeatedly come up short, so to see the job through is special.

"We're a confident bunch with self-belief. But you also have to work for what you achieve at this level and we had three separate periods when we had to defend for our lives. I was proud of the way the lads retained their focus.

"We have showed that when you want something badly enough and are prepared to work for it you can succeed. I've been asked on radio if I would have settled for a losing bonus point before kick-off. Hand on heart the answer is 'no'.

"You can't go out looking for losing bonus points before the kick-off because then you start playing like that and you never progress.

"Ryan joined us from Bath and while Gareth Steenson was first choice fly-half he worked hard and waited patiently. He's a sparkly individual and a fine goalkicker and I think he did a tremendous job against very fine opposition."

Goode kicked three penalties out of four attempts for Saracens, who never managed to get their noses in front.

Davis dummied the defence before scoring the game's first try on the stroke of half-time and although Saracens created chances that they failed to take the visitors clinched a deserved win seven minutes from time when loosehead prop Brett Sturgess pounced on a mistake and galloped up the left, just managing to crash over the line despite the attention of two tacklers.
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/premiership/news/24638.php

 

[gingergenius]

nice to see Venter being gracious for once. That doesn't hide the fact that we're a team who wants to win the ***le and we just failed to get a losing bonus point at home to a newly-promoted team. Not good enough. 5 wins from 7 isn't bad at all, but we're not getting bonus points where our rivals are and it could prove costly.

 

[iWin]

Great to see him actually taking the hit this time rather than blaming anyone and everyone else.

On another note - Venter commented on lack of teamwork and everyone playing as an individual. Now I may be wrong but this is the team that just signed Henson yeah?
Way to fix the problem guys

 

[munstermuffin]

He had a point though and it amazing the job Rob Baxter has done. He took a bunch of rejects from other clubs moulded them in to a team and well as a team they getting results

 

[cyRil]

On another note - Venter commented on lack of teamwork and everyone playing as an individual. Now I may be wrong but this is the team that just signed Henson yeah?

There is a difference between Henson the perceived personality and Henson the rugby player.

 

[iWin]

There is a difference between Henson the perceived personality and Henson the rugby player.

Fair enough. I guess we'll see when he gets there what effect he'll have.

 

[Teh Mite]

There is a difference between Henson the perceived personality and Henson the rugby player.

That's be "Henson the rugby" player who hasn't shown up for work in the past 18 months?

 

[cyRil]

That's be "Henson the rugby" player who hasn't shown up for work in the past 18 months?

No, I think that's Henson the personality.