Sarries overpower Toulon

Hougaard boots 20 points as Venter's side bag the points

Last updated: 14th January 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Sarries overpower Toulon

Hougaard: Un-erring with the boot

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Saracens narrowed the gap on Toulon at the top of Pool 3 of the Amlin Challenge Cup to one point with a 28-9 victory over their French counterparts.

Fly-half Derrick Hougaard booted 20 points while Justin Melck was bustled over for a second-half try that took the game away from Toulon, who had competed well before the break.

The Top 14 side went into half-time just 15-9 behind but three penalties early in the second half and Melck's 54th-minute score proved the difference between the two sides at Vicarage Road.

However, Brendan Venter's men must now beat Rovigo next week and hope Toulon lose to Castres to progress to the knockout phase of the competition.

The hosts needed a four-try bonus to put pressure on their opponents but it never looked forthcoming, only after Melck's score with two Toulon players sin-binned did they eagerly search for further scores.

Jonny Wilkinson kicked the visitors into an early lead with a drop goal but scrum-half Justin Marshall did the same at the other end and after eight minutes Hougaard dropped his first points of the night to give Sarries a lead they would never surrender.

Wilkinson missed a fairly straight-forward chance to level at 9-9 and that was as close as the French side got.

Toulon flankers Cedric Beal and Olivier Missoup were yellow-carded within a minute of each other and after Hougaard made it 21-9 with three penalties in five minutes, Saracens upped the ante.

The influential Marshall almost sent England Saxon Andy Saull over in the corner but the try was merely delayed and after a jinking run from full-back Andy Goode, Melck was driven over near the posts for the game's only try.

Hougaard predictably converted and the defence remained firm to complete a second-half shutout.

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