Awkward camera angle exposes Saracens star’s excruciating gaffe
Despite the strange origins of Duncan Taylor’s try for Saracens against the Ospreys on Sunday in the Heineken Champions Cup, the celebration looked fairly normal.
A load of his teammates ambushed him as the celebrated what looked to be, and proved to be, the deciding try in the Heineken Champions Cup encounter. Everything looked normal, until an aerial shot of the try was provided.
This new angle exposed a moment that prop Eroni Mawi would have hoped got overlooked, and it so nearly did. Instead, everyone witness the Fijian attempt to join in the celebratory huddle and somehow miss completely. As the London side congratulated Taylor on his quick thinking to score, the sizeable 127kg frame of the loosehead prop can be seen running, jumping, and landing on the floor as he attempted to join the huddle.
Take a look:
A quick line-out nightmare 😅
Duncan scores with his first touch of the ball 🤯
Saracens on the brink of the @ChampionsCup quarter finals… pic.twitter.com/oxgc187P4N
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) April 2, 2023
It is no surprise that the Saracens players celebrated the way they did, as they were staring down the barrel of a shock home defeat at one point in the first half when they trailed 14-3. Director of rugby Mark McCall reflected on this comeback after the match while looking ahead to the trip to face reigning champions La Rochelle next week in the quarter-finals.
“We had a proper test and we passed it. We didn’t play as well as we’d have liked for the first 55 minutes,” McCall said.
“I’m really pleased about that last 25 minutes against a good side. Everything was different – more aggressive and proactive.
“There was a different intensity about us. In the first 55 minutes we looked like a team that had a lot to lose.
“In these games against good teams like the Ospreys, everything just doesn’t go your way.
“You have to dig in and go through some tough moments and tough periods. We ended up enjoying that test and relished the battle.
“There will be another battle next weekend, which is very exciting because we’ve never been to La Rochelle before and they’re the reigning champions. Gloucester might have poked the bear a little bit.”
