Saracens' long awaited return to the Heineken Champions Cup ended in success as they secured a hard-fought 30-26 bonus-point win over a resilient Edinburgh ...
That territory turned in to a bonus point try as the lineout was stolen, and after a number of the phases the returning Woolstencrot marked his comeback with a crucial try. Sarries struck with just two minutes to go in the first half though to bring StoneX well and truly back to life. Billy Vunipola bulldozed his way in to the 22, and then Daly’s cute grubber bounced up perfectly for Lewington who finished from close range. A strong carry from Duhan van der Merwe took them to within striking distance, and then Luan de Bruin powered over from close range to put the visitors in front. However despite the positive start, it was Edinburgh who struck first with their first opportunity of the game. On a freezing cold day, Sarries started like a house on fire and almost opened the scoring inside the first minute.
Saracens won their first competitive game in more than a month, beating Edinburgh 30-26, and claimed a bonus point with their final try.
The men in black opted for a strategy that kept bodies available around the fringe but whenever the support was slow to arrive those in orange swarmed. Two yellow cards hamstrung Edinburgh’s fightback but they threatened to upset the narrative when Wes Goosen found space on the left to score. It was a costly error. It would not shift again, though it should have done when Damien Hoyland found a way not to score after plucking an intercept from a Farrell skip pass. For much of the contest they were stifled by a more dynamic Edinburgh side who won the breakdown battle. Ben Earl also scored from a well-structured maul but 11 points from Emiliano Boffelli’s boot, as well as two missed kicks from Farrell, meant Saracens were 12-16 behind at the break.
Saracens returned to the top table of European rugby with a hard-fought 30-26 Heineken Champions Cup win over Edinburgh at a freezing.
Farrell converted from the touchline to leave the scores level at the end of an evenly-contested first quarter. He was replaced by [WP Nel](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/wp-nel/) but Edinburgh overcame that setback to extend their lead with another penalty from Boffelli. [Duhan van der Merwe](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/duhan-van-der-merwe/) to score. [Alex Lewington](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/alex-lewington/), [Ben Earl](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/ben-earl/) and [Tom Woolstencroft](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/tom-woolstencroft/) scored Saracens’ tries, with [Owen Farrell](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/owen-farrell/) adding two conversions and two penalties. [Wes Goosen](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/wes-goosen/) touched down for Edinburgh, with [Emiliano Boffelli](https://www.rugbypass.com/players/emiliano-boffelli/) converting both tries and kicking four penalties.
A losing bonus point was the only consolation for the visitors in the opening match of their Champions Cup Pool A campaign.
Then an interception by Damian Hoyland just inside his own half seemed sure to end in a score in the right corner. Then Farrell rediscovered his kicking boots, putting his team back in the lead with another long-range penalty, and soon afterwards adding another three points to put his team four up. But the visitors fought back, and Boffelli put them back in front with a fourth successful penalty. It’s easy to look at a couple of things that didn’t go right – we did hand the momentum to Saracens, I think, in that second half – but I want to focus on what we did well. An excellent kicking display by Emiliano Boffelli – who converted both his team’s tries and added four penalties – was a major reason why the visitors stayed in contention for so long. They were never behind in the first half, and kept fighting back in the second even when the momentum appeared to be against them, yet only took a losing bonus point home from this opening Pool A clash.
One year after they defeated Saracens on their own patch in the Challenge Cup, Edinburgh just fell short in their bid to repeat the feat in Europe's elite ...
The chance was gone and Saracens inevitably made Edinburgh pay. Edinburgh quickly recycled and fired it out to the other wing. Farrell’s third missed kick in a row meant Edinburgh were only a point behind and when Boffelli landed his fourth penalty seven minutes later they regained the lead. Remarkably, they then scored the try that sealed the losing bonus point, Goosen touching down after fine play by Blair Kinghorn, who spotted a gap and stepped his way through. Saracens are nine from nine in the Premiership this season and you suspect some strong words were spoken in the dressing room. Their scrum creaked in the first half and the lineout disintegrated in the second and the latter was particularly damaging for the away side. Saracens produced the textbook lineout maul and Ben Earl was shoved over for the try. Grant Gilchrist gave away a cheap penalty which Farrell kicked to the corner. The England fly-half was less accurate with his next effort, missing with a 44-metre penalty after de Bruin had been pulled up. Ritchie won the lineout and McInally was held up before Luan de Bruin forced his way over. The winger won a penalty and Edinburgh kicked to the corner, an early sign of their intent. It’s over 1000 days since Saracens played in the Champions Cup and they were keen to get back into the groove as quickly as possible.
The 30-year-old's magisterial sleight of hand sent the entire Edinburgh backline one way – but the ball and team-mate Alex Lewington the other.
Farrell was even more concerned by his side's performance as Sarries struggled to finally get to grips with a battling Edinburgh outfit which threatened to ...
Another Boffelli penalty edged the visitors back in front while Farrell found his range with a penalty after Edinburgh were penalised for collapsing a scrum. He repeated the act from closer a few minutes later before Sarries finally found their attacking straps and managed to penetrate the solid Edinburgh defence for once. It came from a quick burst of pace and power from Ben Earl who, once he started his legs pumping, was unstoppable as he surged over the line for a try. Emilliano Boffelli converted only for Sarries to respond with Farrell's cross field kick caught by full-back Elliot Daly who shrugged off a tackle and ran across for the home side's opening try. But he also produced a try-saving tackle to rescue his team. We need to take a look at ourselves.”
Farrell equalised with the conversion, but five minutes later was off target with a long-range penalty attempt. Boffelli then showed the stand-off how it was ...
Farrell converted, and McInally was yellow carded into the bargain for a team offence. Then an interception by Damian Hoyland just inside his own half seemed sure to end in a score in the right corner. They were able to mount one last attack all the same, but it fizzled out. It’s easy to look at a couple of things that didn’t go right – we did hand the momentum to Saracens, I think, in that second half – but I want to focus on what we did well. A year to the day from their famous win over Saracens in the Challenge Cup, Edinburgh just failed to pull off the same feat in the Champions Cup. Saracens hit back just before the break, scoring all too simply through a line-out drive, finished off by Ben Earl.