Owen Farrell kicks Saracens to first Champions Cup title
By Keith Moore
Last Updated: 15/05/16 7:11am
Owen Farrell kicked seven penalties as Saracens beat Racing 21-9 to lift the Champions Cup trophy in Lyon.
The game was billed as a head-to-head clash between Farrell and former All Black Dan Carter, and it was the England international who won the battle as he kicked seven goals from seven attempts while Carter left the field early in the second half after an indifferent game.
The win is the first Champions Cup title for Mark McCall's men, who are in with a chance for a league and cup double when they host Leicester Tigers in the Premiership semi-finals next week.
Rain marred what could have been a classic encounter at Grand Stade de Lyon, but the weather suited the style of Saracens, who were happy to play their trademark territorial game.
Racing had an opportunity to make the perfect start when Saracens were penalised for collapsing a scrum. Maxime Machenaud stepped up to take a shot at goal, but the scrum-half sent the effort wide.
Farrell made no such mistake in the 10th minute when Racing were penalised for an identical offence on their own 5m line after a probing kick ahead went dead off a Racing hand.
Farrell's successful kick was met by a fresh batch of rain which did not make scrummaging any easier, and Mako Vunipola was next to fall foul of Nigel Owens' whistle as Johan Goosen sent a long-range attempt through the uprights to level the scores.
The Saracens fly-half missed a drop goal attempt at the beginning of the second quarter, but reinstated his side's three-point lead from the tee when Eddy Ben Arous failed to roll away from the wrong side of a ruck.
Chris Ashton almost latched onto a chip ahead from Farrell on the half-hour mark, but there was too much pace on the ball and it rolled dead. However, Owens was playing advantage for offside which gave Farrell a chance to further extend his side's lead, and he sent the opportunity sailing over the crossbar.
Goosen closed the gap with half-time looming when Racing were hot on the attack in the opposition 22m area and Dimitri Szarzewski was illegally pulled into ruck, but Farrell had the final say of the half when the Saracens scrum splintered their opposition, and the 24-year-old made it 12-6 to Sarries at the break.
It was a poor start to the second half for Racing as Carter limped off minutes after the restart before Farrell made it 15-6 when Szarzewski illegally stole the ball at a ruck.
Racing burst into life at the close of the third quarter, and gathered momentum in the opposition half on the back of a lengthy period of possession. The Saracens defence held out before eventually straying offside, and Goosen made it 15-9 with 18 minutes to play.
It looked as though the score would bring Racing back into the encounter, but it only appeared to strengthen the resolve of Saracens, who squeezed the life out of the TOP14 side in the closing stages.
Every attack from the Frenchmen was met with resistance, while the clinical territorial game from Saracens meant Farrell was able to make it 18-9 with five minutes remaining after Racing strayed at a maul.
With the game practically in the bag, the England fly-half made certain of victory when Racing tried to run the ball out of their own 22m area and were caught holding onto the ball on the ground, bringing down the curtain on a maiden European title for Saracens.
