IS Saracens' newly-found ability to collapse in the second-half and hand the initiative to their opponents really, as head coach Wayne Shelford suggested "perhaps an English thing"?

Whatever the reason, the sudden infliction seems to paralyse the men in black to such an extreme that they suddenly view the final 40 minutes of a match as an impenetrable barrier to victory.

Recent defeats against Harlequins and Leeds Tykes have seen the men in black throw away winning positions with lack-lustre performances after the break, and, once more, after completely dominating Colomiers, their French visitors on Sunday, December 8, Shelford's men handed the initiative and a cup life-line to the opposition.

In truth, Sarries were by far the better side, and, but for some elementary handling errors, should have been at least 30 points to the good by half-time.

The big three of Kyran Bracken, Richard Hill and Thomas Castaignde playing at fly-half for the first time in a Saracens' shirt all shone in the first half, with the enigmatic Frenchman in particular always inventive, creative and at the heart of anything Sarries had to offer.

Kris Chesney put in another fine shift at flanker, terrorising the French outfit, but it was Bracken who perhaps offered the most encouragement in the opening 40 minutes.

He was busy, energetic, direct and dangerous and looked as though he has regained his appetite for the game. The fact current England scrum-half Matt Dawson is struggling with injury and likely to miss the Six Nations will not be lost on the Saracens' captain who will desperately hope a resurgence in form will lead to an international life-line.

However, this promising start only goes to further deepen the mystery as to why Saracens were so poor in the second-half.

"Really hard to say," said Shelford. "Might be an enigma for you, it's an enigma for me as well.

"Maybe the guys had it in their mind it would be a bit of a breeze. We should have got a couple more tries in the first half but we didn't even look like scoring in the second.

"Good sides should be able to put their game together, even in conditions like that. We're not a good side, we're an average side learning to be good," Shelford added.

But for basic individual errors, Sarries would have been home and dry. Interestingly, in his post-match press conference, Shelford not normally shy in berating his players for making simple mistakes backed his men, confident of progressing in the tie.

Perhaps he was stung by criticism in a national Sunday newspaper directed at his recent assessment of the English game. More likely he was left a bit stunned at the nature of his side's Jekyll and Hyde display.

Tony Roques was Sarries' first culprit in the very first minute. Castaignde signalled his intentions by finding space in his own half before releasing Kevin Sorrell who broke clear into Colomiers' 22 only for Roques to clumsily fumble his pass when a score looked certain.

Sarries did take the lead minutes later when Adryn Winnan, slotting into Castaignde's vacant full back role, converted a simple penalty from in front of the posts and he doubled the advantage from a similar position soon after when the Colomiers' forwards again dived over to prevent a certain try-scoring situation.

This was to prove a constant feature of the first-half, although it is hard to feel aggrieved at a Colomiers' side who displayed all the usual attributes of a French team playing away from home: content to kill the game and keep the margin of defeat to the absolute minimum. There is no doubt a different Colomiers team will take to the field tomorrow (Saturday).

However, Saracens were continuing to create try-scoring chances, although centres' Sorrell and Ben Johnston both knocked on in crucial positions after Castaignde had created the vital space.

Sarries' scrum and line-out were also looking solid although Winnan gave the first indication of what was to come when when his horribly hooked penalty from 30 metres shanked low and wide.

Winnan again hooked wide from a similar position minutes later before Castaignde assumed kicking responsibilities and increased the lead to 9-0 with a perfectly struck penalty on 20 minutes.

With Saracens sensing Colomiers where about to crack, they piled forward, but, again, the French forwards went round the side in a bid to break up play and Colomiers' hooker Thibaut Algret was yellow-carded for his trouble. The decision proved to be crucial as Sarries produced their best moment of the match to open up the Colomiers' defence and grab a vital score.

From a line-out in their own half, Bracken found himself involved in the play twice as Sarries stretched Colomiers from wing to wing. Bracken squared for winger Darragh O'Mahony who, along with Brett Sparg, was criminally under-used throughout the half to show a real injection of pace and leave Jean-Luc Sadourny stranded before touching down in the corner.

Castaignde added the extra points but this was as good as it got for Saracens as they inexplicably failed to produce anything of note in a miserable second-half, not helped by the 14 substitutions which threatened to turn the match into something of a farce.

Colomiers did improve though, with French international fly half David Skrela certainly living up to his pre-match billing as a real danger-man with some inventive play, as well as his two successful penalties which could yet return to haunt the men in black.

Perhaps some crumb of comfort can be taken in the fact that, for all their possession, Colomiers rarely threatened to break a stubborn Saracens' back-line, who kept their shape and discipline well in spite of the pressure.

However, if Kris Chesney had not been in such inspired form it could have been a different story. More worrying was the way in which the Sarries' scrum and line-out disintegrated as Colomiers sensed their hosts' fragile confidence was beginning to give way. It does not bode well for tomorrow's potential pressure cooker atmosphere of a match.

Skrela's two penalties will give the French hope of rescuing the tie, although Andy Goode, on as centre in place of Johnston, could have extended the lead with an eminently kickable penalty late on.

Goode whose form of late has suffered worse than most invariably missed and proceeded to make mistake after mistake as the match stumbled blindly towards it's conclusion.

The nature of cup competition promises a better spectacle when the teams take to the field again, but, 40 minutes into Sunday's match it was inconceivable that Saracens could possibly make an early exit from the tournament.

Saracens could, and should, have had this tie wrapped up by now. At least though they showed grit and determination when placed on the back-foot and will need all of that resolve if they are to out-French the French and carve out a result at all costs.

December 13, 2002 11:30