Fireworks were not the only thing lighting up the StoneX pitch on Saturday as Saracens’ England internationals came back with a bang in the 32-17 bonus- point victory over Leicester Tigers in the Premiership.
The defending champions raised a few eyebrows in their team selection as seven England players who featured in the bronze final at the World Cup just eight days ago were thrown straight back into club action, with Leicester’s England contingent rested. But the statement call paid off – particularly with a standout performance from the player of the match, Maro Itoje.
Saracens’ head coach, Mark McCall, said the selection was a gamble but added that each player was given the option to be rested but wanted to play. “They haven’t been here, they have been training with a different team and system. We have found down the years these players are very, very good at coming back in and getting on board quickly. You saw that in how they played, how our defensive line operated. [I’m] really proud of those senior players.”
Scrappy play was a feature of the early stages and it was Leicester who drew first blood with a penalty from the fly-half Jamie Shillcock. Saracens hit back quickly with an impressive Itoje finish. Ben Earl was at the heart of the buildup, making a great break and offloading to Alex Lozowski before hitting the deck. Quick ruck speed saw Itoje in possession, he was hauled to ground but twisted to muscle himself over.
Guy Porter had a nervous moment as the referee, Craig Maxwell-Keys, who was in charge of his 125th match, went to the television match official after a high shot on Billy Vunipola. After a check, Maxwell-Keys only gave a penalty instead of reaching for his pocket.
Billy Millard hailed two “unbelievable” tries from the Harlequins wings Louis Lynagh and Tyrone Green and the return of Marcus Smith after the 40-12 victory over Newcastle.
Lynagh and Green crossed in acrobatic fashion in front of a packed out Twickenham Stoop as Quins romped to a six-try win that took them top of the Premiership with Smith, back from international duty, pulling the strings and the captain, Alex Dombrandt, impressing with a try and an assist.
“Those two tries were unbelievable,” said Millard, the director of rugby. “Tyrone has been out for a long time and that connection between him and Marcus is pretty special.
“Obviously they haven’t played for a while but Tyrone is getting better and better each week. From minute one, Marcus is bouncing and talking and all over them, so it’s awesome to have him back.
“Alex is just surging at the minute, his timing, his confidence and his ball carrying, he’s gone up a gear in his leadership and he’s been immense for us.”
Newcastle were left to rue missed early opportunities when trailing 21-0 at half-time after tries from Sam Riley, Dino Lamb and Nick David. They rallied late on with a penalty try and a score from the replacement hooker Jamie Blamire but Alex Codling insisted they must improve their error count if they hope to secure a first league win of the season.
“I thought in the first half we dominated for large parts but it’s a microcosm of our season,” said Codling, the Newcastle head coach. “We didn’t get over the line, held up, knocked on. Quins are extremely clinical. They took the chances and we didn’t, that’s the bottom line.”
Northampton held their nerve to secure a hard-fought 24-18 home win against Bath. The Saints had a nine-point lead in the second period after George Hendy added to first-half tries from Tom Pearson and Alex Coles but Bath refused to go quietly. With 10 minutes to go Northampton were clinging on and only a Max Ojomoh knock-on preventing Bath from scoring. A Sam Graham breakdown penalty sealed the win. PA Media
There were a few battles happening across the pitch but a key one came at the breakdown. Jackalling magic was exchanged with Leicester’s Tommy Reffell smothering Saracens’ attack but moments later it was prop Mako Vunipola coming up with the goods. The hosts grasped the momentum from the turnover and came out on top at the ruck once more. Owen Farrell opted for the corner and a pinpoint lineout saw Sarries on the hunt for the tryline. In a parallel to Itoje’s effort, Andy Christie contorted to record a one-handed finish.
While a lot of things were going Saracens’ way, the visitors had the upper hand at scrum time, coming up with three penalties at the set piece in the opening 35 minutes. However they couldn’t capitalise as their attacking engine kept coming to a spluttering stop and Saracens headed in at the break 14-3 up.
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No 8 Billy Vunipola has had his fair share of critics and is competing for his club shirt with Tom Willis, who was player of the match in Saracens’ win over Gloucester last weekend, but he proved why he came straight back into the team with a try early in the second half. The scrum tide also started to turn with Saracens coming up with penalties. One gave the hosts another attacking platform which resulted in hooker Jamie George scoring from a rolling maul.
However Leicester weren’t dead yet and set about plotting a comeback, their glimmer of hope coming from two Farrell errors. The Saracens captain put boot to ball but Leicester read it well, kicking the grubber back to their tryline and scrum-half Tom Whiteley dotted down. The next try saw Shillcock running a superb line and targeting a pocket of space, fending Farrell and shoving him to ground to race clear.
A famous comeback did not come to fruition though as Saracens chipped at the scoreboard. The shot clock almost generated another blunder for Farrell with a late penalty as he kicked with just a second left to go. Despite the Saracens attack fizzling out towards the end of the match, they recorded their first home Premiership win of the season.
