Saracens grind past Cardiff Blues, Glasgow stay in touch
Saracens consolidated their position atop of Pool Three in the Champions Cup courtesy of a 26-14 away victory over Cardiff Blues on Saturday.
Both sides scored two tries apiece with Sean Maitland and Jamie George crossing the whitewash either side of half-time for the visitors and Rey Lee-Lo and Dan Fish dotting down for the Blues, who held a slender 14-13 lead at half-time.
Saracens fly-half Owen Farrell was in fine form off the kicking tee and he finished with a 16-point haul courtesy of four penalties and two conversion and Gareth Anscombe converted both Cardiff’s tries.
Although they had to dig deep to secure the result, the Premiership champions held a slight edge throughout and their forwards deserve plenty of praise as they laid the foundation for the win.
Cardiff Blues gave a good account of themselves against their more fancied opponents and stood up well to Saracens’ physicality.
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Sarries’ scrum was particularly impressive and they used the set-piece as an attacking platform especially in the second-half when the game turned into an arm wrestle with most of the exchanges restricted to the forwards.
The decision by Sarries to restrict play mostly to the forwards was especially effective during the latter stages of the match.
They did well to prevent the Blues from adding to their points tally during the second-half and especially midway through the second period when Will Skelton was yellow carded.
The win means Saracens are still unbeaten at the top of the pool while Glasgow Warriors stay second with Cardiff Blues third and Lyon still firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.
Glasgow’s 21-10 victory over Lyon saw wing Niko Matawalu cross twice while fly-half Adam Hastings contributed 11 points off the kicking tee.
The game was played in horrendous conditions that hindered both sides and meant it was incredibly difficult for Glasgow to claim the maximum.
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