Saracens made more ground on Leicester and Wasps, but the emphatic seven-try victory against the club that started the day second in the Premiership revealed a potential problem for the champions in their quest to move off the foot of the table in the coming months having been handicapped by a 35-point deduction.
For all the 14 players in their 23 against Bristol who appeared in this autumn’s World Cup, including nine who wore England’s colours, it was three who watched that tournament on television who stood out here: the deceptive centre Nick Tompkins, who scored a hat-trick of tries, the elusive full-back Max Malins and the powerful, predatory flanker Ben Earl.
They are all players the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, will have budgeted on being available for the six rounds of the Premiership that will be played during the Six Nations, but on this form they will be in contention for England’s pre-tournament camp in Portugal next month.
Malins capped his second start of the season at full-back after recovering from a long-term injury with an exquisite finish. He is a fly-half by preference but, like the All Black Beauden Barrett, is able to exploit the extra space offered at 15 through his quick feet, acceleration and ability to ride tackles, a quicker version of Alex Goode.
Tompkins, who was denied a fourth try only by a double movement after he was tackled short of the line, profited from his side’s attacking variety. Like Malins, he was devastating when offered even a hint of space, able to step off either foot and make his escape as if turbo-powered.
It was only a couple of years ago that England were at sixes rather than sevens in the back row. Now they have Tom Curry and Sam Underhill with Earl, who has been in two England squads, offering something different with his ball-carrying. He scored his side’s bonus point, their first in victory in the league this season and his fifth of the Premiership campaign.
Earl’s try ended Bristol’s resistance. They had led for most of the first half, frustrating Saracens with their rush defence and forcing mistakes, while playing more conservatively than usual in their own half only for their kicking game to lack refinement.
They took an early lead when, after Andy Uren’s interception, Callum Sheedy’s diagonal kick deceived Owen Farrell and Luke Morahan only had to catch the ball to score. Saracens immediately responded through Mako Vunipola, but for all the home side’s domination, chip kicks tended to ricochet off opponents and possession spilled in contact.
Bristol looked as if they would go into the interval 13-7 ahead when they conceded a penalty and had to defend a lineout. Three further penalties later, and with another pending, Tompkins seized on a loose pass and twisted away from two defenders. Three minutes after the restart, he scored his second when Sean Maitland’s entry into the line from a scrum spooked the defence.
Saracens were suddenly rampant. The shadow cast by their salary-cap breach has affected them all season, even before the points deduction. They are not a side used to losing, but every defeat now pushes them closer to the Championship and risks inhibition. Here, even when they were trailing, they played as if carefree and the result was an emphatic victory over a club on the rise.
Bristol’s cause was already hopeless when Harry Thacker was sent to the sin-bin after 50 minutes for his side’s persistent infringing. Malins showed his evasive, elastic qualities to touch down on the right before Brad Barritt and Tompkins completed the scoring. Bristol rallied in the final 10 minutes, but were given nothing against a side that had rediscovered itself in time for next weekend’s visit to Exeter.
“We had not been playing as well as we wanted,” said McCall. “I was really pleased with some of the young lads again.” Asked if he thought he could lose any or all of them to the Six Nations, he replied: “Nothing would surprise us. Wait and see.”
