Tom Jones gives his player ratings for Saracens versus London Irish in their Premiership clash at Allianz Park.

Saracens;
15. Alex Goode – Outstanding in attack and defence throughout the match and set up a handful of incredible tries. A deserved Man of the Match performance. How on earth is he not good enough for an England spot? 8.5

14. Liam Williams – Quiet, but did some effective work resulting in a try . Chased the ball well. 6.5

13. Nick Tompkins – Made far too many handling errors in attack. He was average defensively. 5

12. Brad Barritt © – Ran hard in attack, solid as a rock in defence and led by example. 6.5

11. Chris Wyles – Mr. Reliable tackled well, broke the line to set up a try for Earle and scored a try in the corner on the end of an Alex Goode break. 7.5

10. Owen Farrell – His first half performance was amongst the worst in his entire career, missed 3 penalties in a row and passed atrociously. However, in the second half he got his act together and scored a try and kicked well from the tee. 5

9. Ben Spencer – Had to deal with a fly half not on form, did his job and was busy around the rucks. Was unable to make a break. 6
8. Jackson Wray – chased the ball well but was anonymous in both attack and defence and he just does not have the mighty presence of Billy Vunipola. 5.5

7. Schalk Burger – the South African was a real dog in both attack and defence. Saracens veteran took some big hits and just got back up again, a leader of the team. 7

6. Callum Clark – the notoriously ‘over-committed’ flanker did the dirty work in the rucks and mauls but did not shine in attack. 6.5

5. George Kruis – the big second row was monstrous in defence and used his immense size to his advantage, but like many of the Sarries forwards did not shine in attack.6.5

4. Nick Isiekwe – Worked hard in attack and defence but was unable to make the same impact Itoje would have achieved. Concussion meant he was replaced at half time.6.

3. Vincent Koch – had a hard day dealing with Franks in the scrums but tackled well and ran some hard lines. 6.5

2. Jamie George – took control of the pack from the off, acted as a leader, broke the gain line on multiple occasions and tackled incredibly. Deserves the England spot. 7.5

1. Mako Vunipola – Broke the line to score in the opening minutes. Was outstanding in attack and defence. Saracens second most effective player and therefore deserving his England spot. 8

London Irish;
15. Tommy Bell – kicked superbly from the tee and brought Irish back into the game but was anonymous in attack. 6.5

14. Joe Cokanasiga – The ‘Big Man’ was quiet in attack as a result of not much ball, but was solid in defence. 6.5

13. Tom Fowlie – He tackled well in the first half, fell off in the second half missing decisive tackles. Anonymous in attack. 5.5

12. Fergus Mulchrone – tackled well but was also anonymous in attack. 5.5

11. Alex Lewington – aggressive in attack and defence, breaking the gain line and making excellent tackles throughout most of the match but almost ‘gave up’ by the end making a feeble attempt to tackle Earl in the closing minutes of the game. 6.5

10. James Marshall – started the game as badly as Farrell, as he could not find touch from a couple of penalties and kicked one ball out on the full outside the Irish 22. Was unable to put his backs into space. 5

9. Ben Meehan – worked hard but had little ball to work with making it nearly to impossible for the scrum half to shine. 6

8. Ofisa Treviranus – the big number 8 could not make a real impact in attack but tackled well. 6

7. Blair Cowan – A very committed player, worked tirelessly and the breakdown and chased the ball like a dog. He was penalized for a high tackle on Burger. 7

6. Josh McNally – excellent in both attack and defence, breaking the line on numerous occasions and put some huge hits. By far Irish’s most effective player. 8

5. Paulo Teofilo – started well until ill-discipline got the better of the New Zealand born second row as he was yellow carded for tackling Clark without the ball. 6.5

4. Franco van der Merwe – worked hard at the breakdown but remained largely anonymous. 5.5.

3. Petrus Du Plessis – missed a decisive tackle on Vunipola in the opening minutes which resulted in a try. Kept tight to the breakdown and scrummaged well. 6

2. David Paice © – the veteran scored a try from a driving maul which got Irish back into the game, he was committed at the breakdown and in defence. Led by example. 7

1. Ben Franks – the two-time World Cup winner had a huge influence on the rest of the team. Used his experience to get under the skin of Koch. Another leader in the team. 7

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