Martle's Place

SARACENS V OSPREYS



HEINEKEN CUP QUARTER FINALS

Saracens created history on Sunday to book a place in the Heineken Cup semi-finals with Welsh glamour club the Ospreys beaten 19-10 at Vicarage Road.

In front of a sell out crowd, it was Francisco Leonelli’s try and 14 points from the boot of Glen Jackson which clinched a famous victory in a game which the majority of pundits predicted would be a simple walkover for the Welsh side after they named 12 Grand Slam winners in their starting line-up.

But Saracens overturned the result between the two sides at the Millennium Stadium in some style and make the last four of the European competition.

“That’s the best performance I’ve seen from the guys since I’ve been at the club,” said a delighted Saracens Director of Rugby Alan Gaffney. “Everyone is ecstatic and rightly so. It was a superb performance and every man who took the field held up his hands and performed.

“The majority of our guys have never made the quarter-finals of this competition and some may never get the chance again and a big part of what we talked about this week was making sure we left nothing on the field.

“We stressed to each and every one of the guys that when they came off the field, they needed to look their team mates in the eye and say they couldn’t have done any better. They could all do that today.”

The performance of the likes of Kris Chesney, Richard Hill and Kevin Sorrell stood out in the victory.

“These guys are Saracens,” he added. “People underestimate how much we missed Sorrell in the past two months and Hilly was just phenomenal as we knew he would be from a player who is one of the greats of the modern era. They were all fantastic today.”

Saracens were beaten 30-3 by the Ospreys in Cardiff two weeks ago and it was a turnaround that few outside the North London club’s camp would have predicted.

“Two weeks ago our guys walked into something they’d never experience before in terms of intensity and facing guys who had come of the back of internationals,” added Gaffney. “That first hand experience was vital but so was the fact that we got on the front foot today.

“Our set piece was much better and as a result we had some quality ball to attack with. That was the main difference today and we also didn’t gift them any easy points. We wanted to make sure they worked for everything.

“On the back of what happened two weeks ago, we weren’t supremely confident but we knew we could compete. Saracens have always had great players, but one of the things I’ve tried to introduce since I’ve been here is a belief among the team and to have trust in what they are doing. Today was a great example of how far we have come in that regard and having made the semi-final finals of the biggest club cup rugby tournament in the world, hopefully we’ve gone a way to shake of that underachievers tag that people like to throw at us.”

Of course, Saracens now face Munster in the semi-finals, the club where Gaffney was Head Coach for three seasons.

“I suppose I did think I may run into Munster one day after three fantastic years with the club,” explained Gaffney. “But that’s very much in the background now. We’ll enjoy our victory today but in the next two weeks we have vital games against Gloucester and Wasps which are crucial towards Guinness Premiership placings.”

PICTURE GALLERY

All these pictures were taken by myself at the match.