Saracens claim South Africa scalp

PA Sport - Tue, 17 Nov 21:51:00 2009

Saracens condemned world champions South Africa to a third consecutive tour defeat with an extraordinary 24-23 win at Wembley Stadium.

Derick Hougaard PA Sport - 0

Former South Africa fly-half Derick Hougaard (pictured, left) returned to haunt the Springboks with 14 points, including the match-winning drop-goal six minutes from time.

Saracens had trailed 18-6 at the interval but hit back with tries from number eight Ernst Joubert and Brad Barritt, the Durban-born England Saxons centre.

Two penalties from Morne Steyn had edged South Africa into the lead before Juan De Jongh ran straight and hard through Noah Cato's attempted tackle and then held off the challenge from Kameli Ratuvou long enough to stretch for the line.

The Springboks enjoyed a huge slice of luck when referee James Jones waved play on despite number eight Ashley Johnson knocking on a huge up-and-under from Earl Rose and Jongi Nokwe scooped up the loose ball to score under the posts, presenting Ruan Pienaar with a simple conversion.

Hougaard landed a second penalty just before the interval but Saracens then drew level with two tries in quick succession as they launched a sustained assault on the Springboks line.

Number eight Joubert scored the first try after charging down a clearance from South African replacement Francis Hougaard with one hand before scooping up the loose ball to dive over in the corner.

Saracens had their tails up and Ratuvou was almost sent clear after some slick passing between replacements Andy Saull and Rodd Penney. Although that thrust came to nothing, it carried Saracens back into the South African 22 and, after a powerful scrum, Barritt charged through three tacklers to score their second try.

Hougaard wasted the chance to put Saracens back into the lead with another missed penalty and South Africa hit back in style, with Rose and Odwa Ndungane linking brilliantly to send Nokwe over for his second try.

But Saracens simply refused to be beaten. Hougaard dragged them back to within two points with his third penalty and then sparked wild celebrations with the match-winning drop-goal.

PA Sport

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  1. Seems Ads A is at it again - weak arguments become weak­ insults. It's not witty craic mate, it's just­ you being lame. Whether or not the NH vs SH gulf is as­ big as you thought it was (whether anyone but yourself­ cares what you think is a moot point) the fact remains­ is that there is a gulf. There always has been and­ there always will be, and your lame insults will never­ change that. Have Ireland ever won the RWC? No. Will­ Ireland ever win the World Cup? No. Stick to your dull­ Six Nations and your heroic but loser Lions teams. The­ plain fact is that in a year when the SH teams have­ probably been at their weakest for some time, they­ still remain the top three ranked in the world. What­ does that say about the NH teams? Not very much...

    From b_backwell, on Fri 20 Nov 1:09AM
  2. Your only as good as your last game.

    Its right to say­ its South Africar first team is being represented or­ they be called emerging boks wouldnt they.

    Im not any­ fan of English teams bu its good to see these big games­ for players who wouldnt ever get a chance to play­ international under normal circumstances achieve­ something that many teams including those in the world­ cup or tri nations achieve something that many teams­ failed to do.

    All three games have been exciting and i­ may be wrong,most of the time it was hard to tell the­ difference between an international team and a club­ site as the standard of play was so good.

    From Morfydd E, on Thu 19 Nov 1:34PM
  3. This is BS man,typical of my arrogant countrymen who­ packed their bags and came on a european holiday and we­ got to pay for the tickets to watch them play like what­ we used to call the cheese and wine teams( you know the­ ones who turn up for the drinks and bbq afterwards not­ the actual match)
    boycott them here i am defending­ their honour day by day thousands of miles from home­ and once a year they come and destroy the good work i­ did by putting up a display like this.bs man pure bs

    From fstop7, on Thu 19 Nov 1:32PM
  4. Well its clear that Martin Johnson has picked the wrong­ players to play for engerland. He should have picked­ the french or the Saracens teams.
    Oh no, of course he­ cant. He can only pick engerlish players and the french­ and the Saracens are full of foreigners.
    Poor old­ Jonners.
    Poor old engerland
    Poor old rugby fans who­ have to sit through his style of tripe.
    rubbish
    Go­ Ireland!

    From jacob.waugh, on Thu 19 Nov 9:48AM
  5. 42 -'SA is WC, Tri-nations champ and winner of the­ Lions tour in '09. In a match against any 6­ Nations side that had any signifigance, the Springboks­ would pound them from one end of the pitch to the­ other'

    Correct me if I'm wrong but France are­ in the 6 nations and they whipped your butt! Didnt see­ alot of 'pounding'! just alot of loosing!

    From cartman, on Thu 19 Nov 8:40AM
  6. and the prize for the lamest comeback goes­ to...............

    From Ads A, on Wed 18 Nov 11:35PM
  7. Yo Ads! Thanks for the classy post. Reasoning skills­ are obviously your strong suit. Wow. Fyi, the language­ of the site is English. Urge you to get some­ remediation soonest. Then you can move from the utterly­ incoherent classification to the merely illiterate.

    From tomusa, on Wed 18 Nov 9:12PM
  8. Tomusa, you and the rest of your rabble spent the­ entire tri nations telling us all how @#$% NH rugby is.­ Theres no such thing as meaningless, and no such thing­ as friendly either (especially given the was you nasty­ shower of b*stards approach the game).
    Sa are supposed­ to be the best team in the southern hemisphere (ranked­ 2) and im starting to wonder if there is indeed a gulf­ in class between europe and the colonies in terms of­ genuine ability. help me out here M8.

    From Ads A, on Wed 18 Nov 8:37PM
  9. SA is 0-3 so far in friendlies while touring up North.­ So what? Let's say they go 0-5. Again so what? The­ purpose of this tour is to show the flag, give­ inexperienced players a chance and take a vacation.­ These matches mean squat except to assorted weenies who­ have an embarassingly inflated opinion of their­ nation's skill/talent level. SA is WC, Tri-nations­ champ and winner of the Lions tour in '09. In a­ match against any 6 Nations side that had any­ signifigance, the Springboks would pound them from one­ end of the pitch to the other. Those delusional posters­ who insist otherwise need to get an upgrade in their­ medication.

    From tomusa, on Wed 18 Nov 8:18PM
  10. I would like to see the Boks against England now. Go­ Boks lets show irland who is the world champs, france­ was just a one off.

    From arrieuk, on Wed 18 Nov 7:38PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    colm...We really dont mind one S.A. team beating­ another, that is what happened in rteality, you­ idiot!!! you cannot understand that this was a type of­ practice match for our country, this was made very­ clear in the dressing room prior to the match,­ unfortunately you would not of heard that as they dont­ allow any dole scroungers in our dressing rooms!

    From Can-U-Shut-up-please!, on Wed 18 Nov 6:39PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    no 32, you ARE the current world champions alright but­ your getting bounced around europe like a f*cking­ pinball!! so would you say to any of the sa players­ last night that theyre part of a second string team­ that has nothing to prove? 15 guys wearing the sa­ jersey, representing the country, got beat!! you really­ are the worst losers in the world

    From colm, on Wed 18 Nov 6:21PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    superchief Sarries have only won 7 out of 7 because­ they havnt played Leicester yet. there is no way they­ will win the premiership when all our players return we­ will show them who the real class of the Premiership­ are. Sarries think that playing a few games at Wembley­ makes them a big club. What makes you a big club is­ when you get to play at the big grounds in finals. The­ South Africans will be at Sarries for a couple of years­ then go back home once the gimmick has worn off then­ they will be just another mid table team again.

    From liam, on Wed 18 Nov 5:45PM
  14. I am South African, last night was the 1st ever that a­ cheered for the Boks oppsition. With 10 SAfricans plus­ Brendan Venter Saracens proofed a point. These SA boys­ left SA because apparantly they aint good enough for­ the Bok team but good enough to beat them. They can be­ so lucky that they are playing Italy, it could have­ been a clean sweep. Boks shouls beat Italy. What now­ Pieter de Villiers ? @#$% Muir is drunk too often.­ Missing Jake's team ? Come on world, kick there­ behinds and please do it well. These players ain't­ the best SA rugby player around. This SA team is BS.

    From WillemW, on Wed 18 Nov 4:43PM
  15. Unfortunately yes, We lost a lot of good players over­ the last 2 years. Money might of been a motivational­ factor, but i think frustration at being overlooked on­ countless occassions is probably closer to the truth.

    From superchief3, on Wed 18 Nov 4:26PM
  16. 34- so what your saying , if I read your post right is,­ the SA coach of Sarries is better than Mr Devilliers­ and the 11 SA players of Sarries are better that the­ actual SA players.

    Is that not the wrong way round?

    From cartman, on Wed 18 Nov 4:08PM
  17. Welldone sarries u deserved to win!!!!
    entertaining­ game, and im sad that we lost to a very good team. As­ for all the animosity against us bok supporters, i dont­ see what your points are????
    John Smit hit the nail on­ the head last night, there is no silly excuses for end­ of season fatigue, and a young squad, so lets take­ these losses on the chin.......what doesnt kill us will­ make us stronger- old cliche for you.
    Last i checked­ Sarecens played 7 won 7, oh and they also have 11 SA­ players in their team and coached by Brendan Venter....­ Now where have i seen that before? oh yeah our trophey­ cabinet. Isnt that a coincidence, Boks i mean sarries­ to win the guiness prem???? watch this space

    From superchief3, on Wed 18 Nov 4:04PM
  18. oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh

    handbags!!!!!

    must have­ touched a nerve

    From cartman, on Wed 18 Nov 4:02PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Listen you idiots!!! South Africa only played their­ second string team against Saracens,, when will you­ guys understand, we dont need to prove anything to the­ rest of the world as we are the current WORLD­ CHAMPIONS!!! GET IT!!!

    From Can-U-Shut-up-please!, on Wed 18 Nov 3:34PM
  20. England get a slating for coming up with excuses for­ losing ! !
    but its ok for SA

    From cartman, on Wed 18 Nov 3:16PM
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