OWEN Farrell and Pascal Gauzere had been the central characters in an incident eight years ago which bore an uncanny resemblance to the one in Cardiff last weekend.
It happened at Vicarage Road on January 20, 2013 during Saracens' Champions Cup home win over Edinburgh. Viewed through the prism of Wales-England it can be seen as a classic case of what goes around, comes around.
Gauzere played exactly the same part then with ex- Scotland scrum-half Greig Laidlaw cast as the hapless captain and Farrell in the role of Dan Biggar.
Apart from those subtle changes, what transpired on a frosty pitch at Watford can be seen now as virtually an action replay of what befell England when Biggar caught them napping with a cross-kick penalty into the arms of Josh Adams.
As at Cardiff, the Saracens-Edinburgh forerunner began with Gauzere summoning Laidlaw after his team had conceded two penalties within the opening five minutes.
“Seven white play the ball with his hand off feet. One white off-side in the ruck. No more,'' Gauzere told Laidlaw before instructing him to warn his team just as he had instructed Farrell to warn England as they retreated in front of their posts.
While Laidlaw duly did as he was told, Gauzere called out to Sarries' skipper Steve Borthwick: “Captain. Captain.”
Farrell stood next to Gauzere with the ball in both hands. Like Biggar, he had not signalled a shot at goal. As soon as he heard a peep from the whistle, Farrell aimed a cross-kick to the right wing where Chris Ashton seized it on the bounce to score.
The only difference in Cardiff, apart from Biggar aiming in the opposite direction, was the crowd's acclamation of Farrell's quick-thinking and precise execution. It is not clear from video of the move whether Laidlaw complained to the referee who promptly awarded the try.
The comparison between Watford eight years ago and Cardiff last week was brought to the attention of The Rugby Paper by Mark Johns, a Welshman, longterm Bath season-ticket holder and son of the renowned ITV football commentator, the late Hugh Johns.
“Water boys were on the pitch at Watford just as they were last week,'' says Mark. “The Edinburgh players think Farrell's going for goal just as the England players seemed to think Biggar would.
“Against Edinburgh, Farrell sees what's on and goes for it. How can he complain about what happened last weekend?”
To view visit: www.youtube. com/watch?v=QObSnzYvomI&list=WL&index=4
