WATFORD, England, 3 January 2003 — Former New Zealand captain Taine Randell celebrated a rare Saracens victory here Thursday but admitted his side were disappointed not to have secured a bonus point after seeing off fellow strugglers Leeds 27-3.
“That was a big win for us,” Randell said. “The result was a fair reflection of the game but we are disappointed not to get the bonus point.”
Only 6-3 ahead at half-time at their Vicarage Road home, Saracens delighted their fans after the interval with three tries, a penalty try plus scores from France internationals Thomas Castaignede and World Cup hooker Raphael Ibanez. All that was missing was a fourth try which would have given them five points (four for winning plus a bonus point for four tries).
Leeds’ lone score was a first-half penalty from Scotland fly-half Gordon Ross. The result meant Leeds stayed tenth and Saracens eleventh in the twelve-team Premiership.
But with only one club relegated at the end of the season and Rotherham, last season’s First Division champions, a massive 21 points adrift of Saracens at the bottom of the table, there should have been little in the way of a ‘fear factor’ for Thursday’s teams.
But the opening 40 minutes was a stop-start affair, Leeds in particular making numerous handling errors while the game’s flow was not helped by referee Ashley Rowden sin-binning several players.
