MATCH REPORT | Bath Rugby 62-15 Saracens Men
The return of the Gallagher PREM ended in defeat for Saracens Men as they were beaten 62-15 by Bath Rugby at The Recreation Ground.
The Original Club of North London started brilliantly but were unable to contain the West Country juggernaut and headed back to the capital with nothing on a challenging night against the reigning Champions.
Sarries made the dream start and opened the scoring with a try inside the first minute. A neat move from a counter attack saw Elliot Daly put Lucio Cinti through a gap, and he drew in the final man to release Tobias Elliott who scored in the corner. The conversion from Owen Farrell made it 7-0.
The visitors had the bit between their teeth and were dominating both territory and possession in the opening exchanges.
Daly was having a field day in the backfield, a kick in behind caused all sorts of bother for Henry Arundell who slipped, and then two minutes later he gathered his own chip and chase to earn a penalty in front of the posts which Farrell kicked to make it 10-0 with 13 minutes played.
Bath then turned the screw with two tries in quick succession to hit the front. A five metre scrum gave them the platform and a fizzed pass to Will Muir on the wing saw the number 11 dive over for their first score of the evening.
Finn Russell then began to pull the strings and his 50:22 put them deep in the red zone, and Josh Bayliss took advantage with a powerful carry to crash over and put the hosts 14-10 up with 21 minutes played.
It got even better for the hosts just five minutes later, and this time it was Alfie Barbeary who burst over from a maul to extend the lead to 11 points in a rampant spell for the champions.
In a breathless opening 40 minutes, Sarries then hit back with their second try to get right back in to the match. Theo Dan’s thunderous break took play to within five metres of the line, and then with a huge overlap the ball was shifted from left to right and ended up in the hands of Elliott who crossed in the corner for this second of the evening.
Bath were eyeing up a bonus point and it almost arrived with a lineout move right on the line, but a brilliant defensive effort dragged him in to touch and Sarries breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Their bonus point arrived just before the break though, Arundell intercepted a pass and ran 60 metres to dot down under the sticks with two minutes until half time. Russell’s conversion and then a penalty a minute later gave the hosts a 31-15 lead at the break.
Sarries were knocking on the door for a route back in to the match and almost found it when Tom Willis went close, but he was stripped and then in a remarkable passage of play, the ball spat out of a breakdown and Ben Spencer raced away to give Bath their fifth try and some real daylight.
Bath then put the result beyond doubt as Kepu Tuipulotu went over from a maul with 25 minutes remaining for their sixth try of the night to make it 43-15.
Sarries were desperately trying to find something to galvanise themselves, but their misfortune continued as Max Malins’ try was chalked off for a knock on, and then Eroni Mawi was held up over the line, giving Bath a goal-line drop out.
Dan was then sent to the sin-bin for killing the ball, and the visitors were punished straight away as Arundell crossed for his second. Theo McFarland had intercepted and looked to go the length, but then the ball popped up to the winger who was never going to be caught, and brought up the half century for the hosts.
Elliott almost completed his hat trick to give the travelling fans something to cheer, but the bounce beat him and summed up the frustration for the Londoners.
Bath then added more gloss to the scoreboard with two late tries. Russell’s dummy fooled the defence and the inside pass to Guy Pepper allowed the England flanker to stroll over under the posts, before Bernard van Der Linde picked the ball up from the breakdown and raced away from 50 metres to take them past 60 points.
That proved to be the last notable act on a tough night for Sarries who will look for a big response next weekend.
Attention now turns to next Saturday as one of the biggest days in the sporting calendar sees the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium host The Showdown 6 in Association with StoneX, as Saracens Women face Sale Sharks before Saracens Men take on Northampton Saints in a bumper day of action. Book your tickets NOW!
