Player Ratings: Saracens v Gloucester

Player Ratings: Saracens v Gloucester

Saracens booked their place in the final at Twickenham with a stellar team performance to smash Gloucester 44-19 at Allianz Park.

Here is our player ratings from the semi-final

Saracens

1. Richard Barrington -6

Got through his work with relative ease. Scrummed well, got to the rucks quickly and carried strongly when he got the ball. 


2. Jamie George - 5

A bit of an off day for the England International. He missed his jumper for the first time in some time but it was his usually highly tackle success which was off as he missed 4 of his 6 attempted tackles.


3. Vincent Koch - 7

Hardly put a foot wrong. He made his tackles, came up with a turnover and almost scored before he was given a breather before the hour mark.

4. Will Skelton - 7

Aggressive and busy for 53 minutes before he was given a breather. Another solid game from the former Wallaby.

5. George Kruis - 8

Ran a tidy shift at the lineout and was aggressive in all facets of the game. He got stuck into the Gloucester pack and was threatening throughout. 

6. Maro Itoje - 8.5

Ran a great line off the shoulder of Billy Vunipola and broke through the line to grab a try assist as he delivered the final pass to Spencer. Itoje was a pest at the breakdown and was disciplined on defence finishing the game with over 12 tackles.

7. Jackson Wray - 7

Made some good cover tackles especially from set pieces and was busy throughout in all facets of the game.

8. Billy Vunipola - 7

Strong ball carries, as per usual, and tested the Gloucester breakdown. Produced a nice offload for Itoje to set up Ben Spencer's try. He also made a great tackle on Danny Cipriani just outside the Gloucester 22.

9. Ben Spencer - 9

Kicked well, passed well and run some neat support lines - one of which leading to try. Spencer and Farrell's kicking in the clash led the way for Saracens as they took the Gloucester defence apart.

 

10. Owen Farrell - 9 

Outstanding, sensational, brilliant. Any of those adjectives are fitting descriptions of Farrell's performance. His goal kicking wasn't perfect but his general play was world class. He kicked well, kept the defence guessing throughout with his only error being a forward pass with Saracens on the attack.

11. Sean Maitland - 7 

Contested superbly in the air and finished off Saracen's first try nicely.

12. Brad Barritt - n/a

Started brightly with some strong carries and solid tackles but he pulled a hamstring before the 30 minute mark and we couldn't fairly rate the Saracens' captain. 

Nick Tompkins - 8.5

Made a huge impact with Barritt coming off to score a hatrrick. Ran super support lines in what was an outstanding performance in his 100th Premiership appearance.



13. Alex Lozowski - 8

Contested superbly in the air to beat Danny Cipriani in the air and set up the try for Liam Williams before half time. Picked the right time to give off the pass was superb as he claimed to try assists. 

14. Liam Williams - 7.5

Made 46 running metres and like Maitland, Williams was brilliant in the air. We also combined nicely with the rest of the backline for one Tompkins' tries.

15. Alex Goode - 8

A rock at the back and looked as if he had all the time in the world as he covered Gloucester's kicks and either made some good metres with a kick or ran it back at them.

Gloucester 

1. Josh Hohneck - 4

Made his tackles and was solid in the scrum against an in form Vincent Koch. 

2. Franco Marais - 3

Crucially, he threw a wayward lineout dart near the Saracens' try line. He did force one turnover but his impact around the park was minimal as he failed to make any metres from hsi carries and missed a few tackles.

3. Fraser Balmain - 4

Had his moments with some nice clear outs at the ruck and had an even battle with Richard Barrington in the scrum. 

4. Ed Slater - n/a

Left the field before the 30-minute mark. He made 4 tackles and 4 carries but didn't play long enough to fairly rate.

Tom Savage - 5.5

Savage was busy for Gloucester making 7 tackles and 7 carries as well as winning the odd turnover.

5. Franco Mostert - 5

A less impactful and busy performance from the Springbok, possibly down to Saracens' dominance. He made 4 carries and 6 tackles in just under an hour, which is unheard of due to his usual high standards.

6. Ruan Ackermann - 5.5

Ackermann was sent tracking backwards thanks to a strong carry by Vunipola off a scrum in the first half but he recovered to put in a tidy shift for Gloucester. He contested well at the breakdown and was solid on defence.

7. Jaco Kriel - 6.5

One of Gloucester's best forwards against Saracens' dominant pack. Kriel was outstanding in the rucks and carried strongly making over 30 metres from his 4 carries. 

8. Ben Morgan - 5

  

Finished the opening try off well and did well to cover the backfield too. His impact on the game was nullified as Saracens took control and he missed three of his six tackles.

 

9. Willi Heinz - 6

Heinz did brilliantly to claim 5 turnovers but his well and truly outplayed by Spencer and Farrell, particularly with their kicks.

10. Danny Cipriani - 6

Kicked well with the wind in his back in the first half but struggled in the second. He did come up with a try assist and had some moments of brilliance but he was outplayed by his opposite number. 

11. Tom Marshall - 5

Marshall was beaten in the air regularly and saw precious little ball to make just 15 running metres but did grab a try assist.

12. Mark Atkinson - 6.5

Ran some great lines, particularly from the set piece and kept the Saracens' defence guessing. He combined well with Twelvetrees on attack but was found wanting on defence. 

13. Billy Twelvetrees - 5

Like Atkinson, Twelvetrees did well on attack but Saracens were regularly able to find gaps between him and Atkinson 

14. Charlie Sharples - 5 

Like his fellow winger, Sharples wasn't able to deal with Saracens' excellent kicking game and saw precious little ball to really make a big impact.

15. Jason Woodward - 6

Gloucester's most successful attacking back making 49 running metres. Woodward attacked well but Saracens were able to put him under pressure with stellar kicking game and often had a two, three or even four v one with Woodward as the last line of defence.

In this Article

Latest News