Exeter were the ones who came away with the points in the clash between English Rugby’s new titans. Saracens rightly or wrongly the champions and kings in England defeated, admittedly at home, and unsettled by an Exter team who defended doggedly and survived vindicating their position as leaders with their title credentials surviving a serious test.
But while Exeter won the game how much of a case was it that Saracens were off the boil and how did they find an advantage against the Chiefs suffocating defence?
Using 3 examples from the First Half we can clearly see Saracens being rattled and out of sorts, before the final charge which was almost rewarded but for the desperate and outstanding work of Joe Simmonds.
The first example begins in the 22nd minute. Saracens are attacking from a lineout and look to play a set pattern. First they throw to the tail of the lineout, slightly crossing the 15m, allowing Spencer to come running onto the ball and kick start the motion of the backline. Barrit receives the ball attacking directly at the joint between the lineout and the Exter defensive line. From this position Saracens can get quick ball. While allowing their forwards to know their jobs and follow a strict plan. Mako Vuinopola is able to move directly from the tail to the ruck rather than having to predict where he needs to be.
This pattern is also reinforced by his brother Billy. Having run alongside Taylor he can realign allowing the full 2 phase play to be completed. Billy carries allowing Saracens to reach the centre of the field of two strong carries. However, it is when they switch that they become confused and seem to lose their way.
Rather than setting up their traditional pod structure with Farrell hidden behind there is a disconnect unusual to Saracens. This has been caused by 2 things. Firstly, they haven’t made as much ground as they would have wanted from the lineout. This means they have been unable to really gain momentum for their attack. This effect has then worsened because of how Exeter have defended. By placing 2 men in the ruck they have slowed it down significantly which allows the rest of the defense to fill the field. This means that Spencer is indecisive and has to switch back into the midfield a phase early. The problem manifesting itself in a ripple effect causing a stuttering attack.
The stutter is clear once you play the clip forward. While Farrell would normally be tight to the screen he’s now set further back. Had he placed himself in the blue circle he would then have been able to open up the sarries attack and identify the issues. However, he instead is found to be marshalling the next move rather than committing to his role under the situation.
This could have been a strong play by saracens and really opened up Exeter, instead it just ends in a total loss of momentum and a poor attack. The reason it could have been so strong lies in 3 things. Exeter have 3 defenders (Yellow Line) grouped ready to hit the pod and deliver immediate pressure. With Farrell too deep, all they have to focus on is Skelton and can easily perform another double tackle to stunt the momentum once again. However, had Farrell been tighter he could well have used the Saracens player on his shoulder. By targeting the space between the third and fourth defender he can pull exter to a more passive defence. This would have two effects depending on how Exeter react. Either Exeter will go man on man and the third defender on the Yellow line will turn to deal with this next threat or they continue with the current picture and aim to take Skelton ball and all.
This means Farrel by dropping deeper has allowed Saracens to be matched up and smashed rather than bringing it to a choice on the third defender. This continues the problem with their stuttering attack and has resulted in a poor attacking set.
The second example of their struggles with the ball comes from the 31st minute and particularly of their kick returns. Exter and Saracens both kicked 20+ times throughout the match meaning that a good kick return was crucial. However, Saracens were often caught narrow and unable to expose Exeter despite some oppurtunities.
Here Exeter have made a good kick chase with Olly Woodburn shooting to hit Malins while the rest form a wall. The strength of the chase comes from two things, the kick has isolated with Malins relying on a screen of Saracens players just to gather the ball. This screen has slowed Woodburn enough for Malins to gain possession but he’s immediately forced to take passive action falling at Woodburn’s feet rather than trying to break the Exeter line and gain ground. Secondly the chase relies on Woodburn being able to quickly close that space. Had Woodburn been caught languishing or stopped by the screen then Malins would have been able to counter attack. This individual moment then has massive ramifications for the rest of the attack.
As you can see in the image above, Saracens in the midst of their second phase with Billy Vuinopola carrying off 9. However, the carry is ineffective with the problem stemming from Woodburn’s work on the previous phase. Vuinopola is unable to break the gainline, drawn in pink, and as such it continues the backward movement of Saracens.
However, it is not the carry being hit behind the gainline that is the major problem. The lack of width should be a real worry for Saracens. The widest player is Brad Barrit, who himself is not spreading beyond the midpoint of the half. This is a truly limiting factor coming from Woodburn’s exploits. Daly (Blue Circle) should be Saracens widest player, however he had come to counter attack from the kick and offer a second playmaker option. Instead because of Woodburn’s immediate impact Daly is now forced to realign after the second phase having been forced into offering an alternative option. This completely restricts Saracens and means they are forced to run against a well organised defence. Yet again the attack ends with very little gain and Owen Farrell kicks the ball away.
However in the 32nd minute Saracens exhibit what they can do when they get width immediately. Whilst the attack comes from a turnover the premise is still the same, try and stretch the defence and attack the fringe.
Having the ball come from turnover means Exeter are not immediately organised and ready to defend. This allows Farrell to spread the ball immediately to Daly who had been covering the backfield. This added depth enables Saracens stretch the play and are not constricted by the Exeter defence. As well as this Sarries have no filled the pitch from one touchline to the 15m line. The effective attacks is still central but there is significantly more ground for Exter to cover.
As Exeter have to cover more ground they operate a drift defense aiming to push Saracens to the width. However they become disconnected. As you can see one Chiefs player has shot up with his hips pointing aggressively forward and across while inside he has 2 tight forwards who pulling inside to cover the space. This therefore is a clear issue with the shooter trying to close the space and push Daly, while on his inside they are allowing Daly to pull them conceding ground but narrowing Daly’s options. Daly then recognises the space and is able to kick through the space. This is helped by the work of Wray who offers a blocking line on the Exeter forwards.
Overall the above attack results in significant ground gained from Devoto pushing to aggressively and exposing the inside. From here, Saracens are able to gain momentum and really test Exeter for the first major time.
Having made the break and then offloaded Daly sits in the 15m Channel forcing Exter to put numbers there, however with Saracens now on the front foot Farrell now sits behind his pod. Where as previously the Chiefs had matched the numbers now they have 3 fringe defenders including a guard who have to focus on the close runners. This means Farrell considers himself open and is able to use more of the field.
While the pass is poor due to the double tackle from Exeter, Saracens are then running again at a mismatched defence. The impressive transition from unstructured individualism from Daly to the pods and structured running lines means Farrell can now guide the attack with ease. While yet again this attack ends with a kick, it shows 2 things. How Saracens were able to pick apart the Chiefs with an impeccable transition and the importance of the first tackle in stopping Saracens.
Finally I want to examine the precursor to the key moment of the first half. Saracens receive the ball from a long kick and attack using all their skills to win a penalty before that maul and Joe SImmonds moment of brilliance. However, while yet again the final result went in Chiefs favour it was Saracens who looked liked they had finally clicked.
From the kick Saracens receive the ball on their own 10 metre line. With Farrell taking the ball from Malins and finding the edge of the shortened kick chase from Exeter. By breaking this first line Saracens immediately gain the momentum. Farrell then offloads to Duncan Taylor dragging Saracens forward again until they have progressed up to the Exeter 10m line. While this may seem of very little importance it enables Saracens to shift straight into shape rather than build phases and momentum.
From Taylors carry Saracens begin to set up their structure. Exeter however, are yet again victim to a poorly organized defense which is disjointed. With Saracens on the edge of the 15m channel Exeter would traditionally operate a rush defence. This is because they can aim to shut off the Saracens attack. However, the inside fringe defenders having just come from a kick chase aim to push across the field with a passive defence. This, as shown by the black arrows, causes a massive array of slightly different movements in the Exter defense. This allows Skelton to run off the shoulder of Vunipola and make a break simply from a slightly disjointed defence.
This results in Saracen then being able to play wide and reaching the edge of Exeter with ease.
As you can see, having reached the edge Saracens have used the full width and can just run straight to eat up ground against a passive defensive. With this strong platform and easy ground Exeter end up having to kill the ball on the ground and attempt to stop any more advances. As a result Saracens get a penalty which they can kick to the corner.
So while Exter did survive, this showed how deadly Saracens can be with the ball, especially once they can go wide. However Saracens appeared in this game to rely on a cliche passed around at the grassroots level to the pro level. They were forced to earn the right to go wide against a suffocating defence. This really was the root of Saracens struggle. Instead of being able to dictate against Chiefs they instead were forced to create their own momentum something which more often than not came from Chiefs errors than individual brilliance.
In this clash of titans Exeter came through credentials intact while Saracens broke down in parts unable to settle into their normal formations and then convert when they had the momentum. While it was no classic the game has shown the key of first phase momentum and the ability to settle into your traditional shape in winning games.
The Analysis Guy 