Neil Back

Sarries deserve time

Fri Oct 02 01:27PM

You've got to feel for Saracens: four wins from four and they're still getting it in the neck from some of their fans.

I appreciate that Sarries are not playing expansive rugby at the moment and are relying on a kicking game more than most Premiership clubs, but they are top of the league and in a great position to develop their game plan.

Would Sarries fans rather they had chucked the ball around, lost all of their games and found themselves propping up the Premiership? Somehow I doubt it.

The fans need to remember that the club have new management and players and it takes time to develop. I think Saracens are going about it exactly the right way: keeping things simple at the start with a view to becoming more ambitious as the season goes on.

Remember, Saracens new head coach Brendan Venter has a proven track record of playing attractive rugby from when he was in charge at London Irish. So its not as if he doesn't know there is another way.

I was chatting to Brendan at the start of the season and he was very upbeat about Sarries' prospects. So if I were a Sarries fan I would be more supportive of the team and confident that free-flowing rugby will come.

After all, they've seen a number of star players come and go over the years and that has not led to many trophies.

I doubt very much that Sarries will stick to this limited game plan for the rest of the season because I do not think it will be good enough to beat the best teams in the Premiership - especially when they have had time to figure out how best to counter it.

So it is important Brendan is given time to build from a winning position and he's done extremely well to create that platform so far.

Perhaps the issue that really has to be looked at is whether or not the law that prevents kicking directly for touch if the ball has been brought back into the 22 is actually working.

We see a lot more tactical kicking in rugby these days and I think this rule may have promoted it, rather than reduced it. The ELV was brought in to try and increase the amount of time the ball is in play and increase counter attacking rugby, but I'm not sure it has had the desired effect.

Teams kick to gain territory by trying to force mistakes. Defences are set up to limit the chances of counter attacking from kicks ahead and as a result the defending team mostly decide to kick the ball back up field.

Maybe the rule makers should consider changing the law back to how it was. Maybe allowing all kicks from the 22 to go directly into touch will end the passages of aerial ping-pong we are witnessing and teams would be forced to develop attacking play from set-pieces.