Double winners Wasps suffered a shock opening-day defeat by Saracens in the
second match of the London double-header at Twickenham on Saturday.
Second-half replacement Nicky Little's late penalty enabled Saracens to snatch
victory.
It was a disappointing start for England scrum-half Matt Dawson on his Zurich
Premiership debut for last season's champions and European Heineken Cup
victors.
Dawson also saw Kyran Bracken - his long-time rival for the England number
nine jersey, who has now retired from the international fray - split the Wasps
defence to set up Saracens' only try in the 25th minute.
Bracken's jinking run ended when he was hauled down just short of the line but
prop Kevin Yates exploited the gap to go over in the corner.
Thomas Castaignede, who had earlier kicked Saracens ahead with a 15th-minute
penalty, cancelled out by Mark van Gisbergen 18 minutes later, added the
conversion to put Saracens 10-3 ahead.
The lead should have been extended in the 33rd minute when fly-half Mark
Bartholomeusz failed to find Castaignede with a pass on the break when the
Frenchman looked to have a clear run for the line.
Last season's strugglers, who have embarked on yet another rebuilding
programme after investing more than £5million in big-name signings over recent
years, looked to have more chance of getting it right this time on the basis of
this hard-grafting performance in the heat.
With England's elite players restricted to 40 minutes action this week under
the 11-week rule designed to give them sufficient summer rest, Saracens showed
their hands by playing flanker Richard Hill in the first half while Wasps held
their aces Joe Worsley and Josh Lewsey to the second period.
But it was their third half-time substitute, fly-half Alex King, who made the
biggest impact.
King and hooker Ben Gotting combed in a one-two passing move to open up the
Saracens' defence and send centre Ayoola Erinle over for an unconverted try to
cut the deficit to 10-8 in the 49th minute.
Seven minutes later King took over the kicking from van Gisbergen to land the
penalty which edged them 11-10 in front.
But he missed a second attempt and Little made it third time lucky to have the
final say for Saracens.
After narrowly missing the target with a long-range drop-goal attempt, and
then seeing a 75th-minute penalty attempt - from 50 metres - fall just short, he
landed his 77th-minute penalty from the 22-metre line to clinch a surprise
victory.
Wasps threw everything at their London rivals in a last-ditch assault, but the
Saracens' defence held out.
Teams:
Saracens: Kydd, Haughton, Castaignede, Sorrell, Scarbrough,
Bartholomeusz, Bracken, Yates, Cairns, Visagie, Raiwalui,
Fullarton, Randell, Hill, Vyvyan.
Replacements: Bailey for Castaignede (40),
Little for Bartholomeusz (66), Williams for Bracken (71),
Ibanez for Cairns (66), Chesney for Raiwalui (66),
Seymour for Hill (40).
Not Used: Lloyd.
Tries: Yates.
Cons: Castaignede.
Pens: Castaignede, Little.
Wasps: van Gisbergen, Priscott, Erinle, Richards, Voyce,
Brooks, Dawson, Payne, Gotting, Green, Skivington, Birkett,
Haskell, O'Connor, Dallaglio.
Replacements: King for Brooks (40), Mackenzie for Payne (29),
Lock for O'Connor (72).
Not Used: Barratt, Worsley, Hart, Lewsey.
Tries: Erinle.
Pens: van Gisbergen, King.
Att: 51,000
Ref: Tony Spreadbury (Bristol).
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