Saracens 19 Ospreys 10AS ENGLAND showed in last autumn's World Cup there is no such thing as a totally lost cause in top-level rugby. Barely a fortnight ago Saracens were thumped 30-3 by the Ospreys and their chances of European glory seemed embarrassingly remote.
In terms of reviving a barely-twitching corpse their deserved passage yesterday into the Heineken European Cup semi-finals has to rank among the more startling transformations in the competition's history.
Given the success Welsh rugby has enjoyed lately and the presence of 12 grand slammers in the visiting side it was also a reminder of the imperishable law of rugby gravity. Teams that soar as close to the sun as many of the Ospreys players have done can still be vulnerable if their opponents prepare well, tackle incessantly and take their chances. Saracens did all three and were rewarded with the biggest result in the club's history.
No one exemplified the Lazarus-type effort more than Richard Hill, who at 34 is playing on virtually one leg after nine knee operations and is only running around courtesy of a ligament taken from a dead body after he suffered a ruptured cruciate in 2005. The flanker was at the heart of a defensive effort that knocked Ospreys completely out of their stride.
The Ospreys head coach, Lyn Jones, was adamant complacency had not been a factor, an argument rather undermined by his Wales outhalf, James Hook.
There is no question Hook is a special talent but his showboating attempt at catching a high ball behind his back in his own 22 with his side under the cosh was not exactly a sign of total concentration. Even when Andy Farrell departed with a season-ending shoulder dislocation and Brent Russell limped off with a strained hamstring, the Ospreys came nowhere near attaining the kind of forward domination they had enjoyed in Cardiff two weeks ago.
That, in turn, allowed the canny home halfbacks, Neil de Kock and Glen Jackson, to manoeuvre their big forwards around the field and the little piece of good fortune they required arrived a minute after the restart when Lee Byrne's fingertips made contact with De Kock's hasty clearance. At a stroke a whole phalanx of Saracens were played onside and Adam Powell set Francisco Leonelli sprinting away from Ryan Jones to score in the right corner.
With Cobus Visagie dominating the scrums and Richard Haughton giving Shane Williams a run for his elusive money, there was further discouragement for the Ospreys when Byrne was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and Jackson kicked another three points. Gavin Henson was also forced off with a knee problem.
Saracens will need more than sheer bloody-mindedness in the semi-final against Munster later this month but the power of Visagie and the inside knowledge of Alan Gaffney, who coached Munster for three years, are not insignificant weapons. Even when the Ospreys' replacement prop Paul James battered his way over with five minutes left, the home side responded instantly with a drop goal from Jackson that made victory safe. Saracens' pre-match instruction from Gaffney - "Don't walk off and look your mate in the eye and say I could have done better" - had been well heeded.
SARACENS: Russell (Leonelli, 30; Rauluni, 69); Haughton, Sorrell, Farrell (Powell, 32), Ratuvou; Jackson, De Kock (capt); Lloyd, Cairns (Ongaro, 76), Visagie; Vyvyan, Chesney (Ryder, 78); Gustard (Barrell, 52), Hill, Skirving.
OSPREYS: Byrne; Vaughton (Brew, 65), Parker, Henson (Bishop, 58), S Williams; Hook, Marshall; D Jones (James, 52), Bennett (Hibbert, 52), A Jones; Gough (Evans, 59), A-W Jones; Thomas (Tiatia, 48), Holah, R Jones (capt).Sinbinned: Byrne 57.
Referee: A Lewis (Ireland).
