Saracens pay penalty for early misses

HEINEKEN CUP ROUND-UP:SARACENS DIRECTOR of rugby Brendan Venter missed his club's trip to Marcel Michelin because of a family bereavement in South Africa but on his return he'll be regaled with a tale of what might have been as they English club went down 25-10 to Clermont Auvergne.

The French side could have found themselves 10 points down in as many minutes but Saracens’ outhalf Derick Hougaard missed a penalty in front of the posts – he kicked two from five attempts – and fullback Alex Goode dropped the ball over the line following a slashing break.

Instead it was Clermont who took the lead when Canadian Jamie Cudmore anticipated Hougaard’s quickly taken dropout and covered the short distance to score. The English club pursued a high-risk approach for most of the match but buckled under their outhalf’s fallibility with the placed ball and also in conceding a late try to Napolioni Nalaga as they tried to move ball from inside their own 22.

It denied Saracens a bonus point their performance merited and also means that they have to prevail when Leinster come calling to Wembley next Saturday.

The Ospreys fell victim to a late try from Toulon’s England wing Paul Sackey, a try orchestrated by man-of-the-match Jonny Wilkinson. The Welsh franchise played most of the rugby but could not hang on at the Stade Felix-Mayol much to the annoyance of their director of rugby Scott Johnson. “We won’t know the proper measure of this result for a couple of months.

“It was frustrating for us and there was some naivety on our part. We couldn’t hold field position all day long, didn’t have many attacking lineouts and Toulon didn’t play rugby. I was falling asleep and it was hard to play against but that’s the way they play. We have to work hard, be honest with ourselves and come back next week.

“It’s a difficult pool but this result won’t become clearer until a later date. We will take the one point away with us and move on.”

Toulon visit Thomond Park next Saturday while the Ospreys host London Irish at the Liberty stadium.

Alesana Tuilagi’s last-ditch try saved Leicester Tigers from defeat against a gallant Benetton Treviso side at the Stadio Communale di Monigo. The giant Samoan wing powered home to finish a breathtaking length-of-the-field attack, just three minutes from time to inspire a 34-29 victory.

It was to prove a fraught afternoon for the English side as England outhalf Toby Flood failed a late fitness test and centre Dan Hipkiss pulled up injured in the warm-up.

Tigers’ Richard Cockerill admitted: “Getting a win away from home in the first round is a good result, especially with a bonus point. If anyone was under any illusions about Treviso then they won’t be now, but we didn’t take them lightly at all. We were inaccurate, we scored five tries but created enough chances to score eight or nine.”

Treviso will take pleasure from the quality of their display and also that of their 19-year-old centre Tommaso Benvenuti, who scored a couple of brilliant individual tries.

One of the most entertaining games of the weekend took place in Pool Five as the Scarlets beat Perpignan 43-34 in a match in which the home team was outscored by five tries to four.

Fullback Rhys Priestland scored twice in the first half, the second of which might be a contender for try of the season, containing a couple of sublime behind-the-back flicks. Perpignan had to make do with a bonus point but there was better news for another French club, Biarritz Olympique, as they came from 8-0 down to beat Bath 12-11 at the Recreation Ground. Ulster will travel to the south of France next weekend.

Cardiff, thanks primarily to a fine performance from centre Casey Laulala, managed to squeeze past Edinburgh 18-17 in a largely forgettable encounter that had precious little decent rugby.

The final game of the weekend saw Toulouse eke out a narrow 18-16 victory over London Wasps at Stade Municipal. The English club had a chance to win the match with two minutes remaining but outhalf Dave Walder failed with a penalty attempt.

The match was played in the pouring rain and had precious little to recommend it for the neutral.