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    Saracens winners
    Saracens win inaugural 7s Series
    8 August 2010, 12:42 pm
    By Simon Lewis
    A warm and dry Friday evening in Bath set the backdrop for the final of the J.P Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby Sevens Series.
    The six teams which made it to the final pool were; Saracens, Sale Sharks, Northampton Saints, Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons and Exeter Chiefs.

    Match One - Saracens v Sale:
    The first of the night's games saw Saracens take on Sale Sharks. Saracens opened up the scorecard with some fine footwork enabling Kevin Barrett to skip over the line. The conversion added the extra two points. However Sale quickly countered but their efforts were to be thwarted as Saracens' Noah Cato intercepted, running in the length of the pitch. With the conversion added Sale went in half time 0-14 down.

    The second half began in the same manner for Saracens, with speed and width. A second Cato try followed from a scrum in Sale's 22 after the ball had been passed wide to the wing. Sale replied with a phase of play uncharacteristic to Sevens with a cross-field kick enabling Josh Fowles to cross the line. Conversion missed. 19-5.

    It was in vain however as Saracens promptly responded with a corner dash by Jake Sharp in the last few minutes giving them the bonus point.

    Final score Saracens 24 Sale Sharks 5

    Match Two - Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons:
    The second game of the evening welcomed Harlequins against Newcastle Falcons. Some superb speed from Harlequins's Miles Mantella and a nifty offload to Jack Clifford provided the first score. The conversion went wide. Missed tackles from the Falcons allowed another Quins try in quick succession with Sam Smith touching down and a conversion to follow. Newcastle added a reply with Steve Parsons cutting a good line to score left of the posts. Half time score 12-7.

    The Falcons smelt a comeback in the second half and great team support play saw Aaron Myers score with the conversion to follow taking them into the lead. With the game turning in Newcastle's favour, they capitalised again with a video referee decision awarding Mike Ward the corner touchdown. No Conversion. A late effort from Charlie Walker tied the scores with the conversion but with another turn of the table Newcastle managed to seal the win from some determined running from Fred Burdon resulting in a try and the extra two finishing the game.

    Final Score: Newcastle 26 Harlequins 19

    Match Three - Sale v Northampton
    Sale Sharks hoped for a better result than their first as they ran on to face Northampton Saints in the third game. Both teams shared possession but it was the Saints who were first to enter the score sheet with Ben Nutley squeezing in the corner.

    Another Saints try came quickly from a well timed offload allowing John Brake to finish the try with the conversion added. A Sale reply came from Josh Fowles who crossed the line for the second time of the evening. But, it was a Simon Hunt's effort for the Saints that gave them the last say at the close of the first half with a half-time score of 17 - 12.

    Sales' Will Addison offered up the first try of the second half slipping a tackle to run in unopposed. A flurry of tries followed with Josh Fowles equalising for Sale and taking the scores to 17-a-piece. However, Northampton slipped into the lead after Greg Barden successfully slipped over the line for a final five.

    Final Score: Northampton 22 Sale Sharks 17

    Match Four - Exeter v Newcastle
    Premiership newcomers Exeter Chiefs entered the pitch for the first time of the evening facing Newcastle Falcons in the fourth game of the evening. It was the newbies who scored first after some blistering pace from Mike Canty saw him sprint down the wing to score. Eoghan Grace quickly followed with the five-pointer after a chip and chase saw him touchdown in style for Exeter's second try of the evening. Newcastle had their own display of individual brilliance in the form of Tyson Lewis who weaved his way through unsuccessful defenders to score under the posts but with a missed conversion the half-time score was 5 points to10.

    The second half threatened to end without any tries until the sin binning of Exeter's Josh Matavesi allowed the Falcons to take advantage of the player deficit and Fred Burdon crossed the line to finish the game with the scores levelled at 10-10.

    Final Score: Exeter 10 Newcastle 10

    Match Five - Saracens v Northampton
    Saracens and Northampton Saints faced each other in the crunch match to decide who would go through to the grand final. With both teams hitherto unbeaten, it was Saracens who aimed to set out their stall early after an 80-metre sprint by Noah Cato awarded him with his hat-trick try for the tournament. The conversion succeeded. The Saints weren't far behind however as Ben Nutley soared over in the corner, but without a conversion they remained marginally behind. Saracens gained a numerical advantage when a Northampton player was binned for a dangerous tackle. It appeared as if Saracens had capitalised on this as Luke Baldwin was able to cross the line, but the try was disallowed following a scuffle, which also resulted in Saracens having a man sent to the sin bin.

    The second half saw each team start with only six men and this time Luke Baldwin did manage to score when he outpaced the Saints defence to take Saracens ahead 12-5. Another try in quick succession from Saracens gave George Kruis his first try of the evening and Saracens started to pull clear. But the Saints weren't ready to give up and John Brake's determination took them five points nearer to Saracens, however, it was too little too late and with the final whistle blown Saracens were through to the Grand Final winning 17-10.

    Final Score: Saracens 17 - 10 Northampton

    Match Six - Exeter v Harlequins
    The final pool match of the evening saw Exeter Chiefs take the field knowing they needed a win to go through to face Saracens in the final. Harlequins were their opponents and from the off it was apparent they weren't looking to make it easy for the Premiership first-timers. Both teams battled to find a way through each other's defence with no luck. It required some rapid acceleration from Miles Mantella to break the deadlock to take Quins 5-0 up. With that remaining the only score of the half, the teams broke at the interval with the score still 5-0 to Harlequins.

    Soon after the resumption Mantella again showed his speed and took Quins up further. With the conversion successful, his team-mates also wanted to show they had speed and with a big hand-off they scurried down the line to take Quins clear on the scoreboard. A well placed kick through from Exeter put Quins under pressure which told as the Chiefs turned Harlequins over in the shadow of their own posts and went over for a consolation try. With the final whistle blowing, Exeter had failed to secure the win they needed and the final line-up was confirmed as Newcastle faced Saracens.

    Final Score: Harlequins 17 - 7 Exeter

    Grand Final - Newcastle v Saracens
    With over 5000 spectators being entertained by human hamster ball races and 'Britney Spears' singing and dancing the hype for the final couldn't have been any greater.

    From the first whistle, Saracens took it straight at the Falcons with captain Kevin Barrett weaving around the defence to score under the posts. The conversion followed and Saracens had started strongly.

    The intensity of the first half was blistering with both teams testing the opposite defence to the limit in a very even contest. A young Newcastle team kept their patience and were rewarded in the last minutes of the first half when Chris Pilgrim jinked through to score. The conversion failed and Newcastle went in trailing 5 - 7.

    The final break over and with Saracens leading by two points all was to play for. A scrappy line out deep in the Falcons' 22 let George Kruis push Saracens nearer the trophy as Saracens pulled clear at 12-5. Saracens' skipper Kevin Barrett squirmed through for another score after Newcastle had gone for broke in attack and they were left open having turned over.

    Time ticked on and Newcastle couldn't find the breakthrough they needed in time as the horn blew, Saracens were ahead 17-5 and took the J.P Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby Sevens Series trophy.

    Final Score: Saracens 17 - 5 Newcastle

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