Farrell sin-binning and England injuries mar Sarries win

SATURDAY WRAP: Alex Goode fired leaders Saracens to a sixth successive Premiership victory as his penalty with the game’s final kick edged out Exeter 22-20 at Sandy Park.

But England boss Eddie Jones suffered a double fitness scare as Saracens and England flyhalf Owen Farrell went off midway through the second period after taking a blow to his head, while a knee injury forced Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie’s half-time exit.

Chiefs centre Henry Slade looked to have responded to his omission from England’s year-end squad by kicking a match-winning penalty four minutes from time.

But Goode, on as a replacement for Farrell and making a record-equalling 338th Saracens first team appearance, came up trumps with the clock in the red.

Farrell and his England colleague Mako Vunipola were yellow carded, with Vunipola – playing his first game after a three-match ban – being sin-binned for collapsing an Exeter driving maul and conceding a penalty try in the process.

But Saracens largely kept their composure on a testing afternoon as flank Theo McFarland scored a first-half try, while Farrell converted and kicked two penalties, with fullback Elliot Daly adding two long-range strikes and Goode a late clincher.

It was an assured display from the visitors, despite occasional lapses in discipline, underlining their title credentials in pursuit of Premiership silverware they last captured three years ago.

Exeter had their moments, but not enough of them, to disrupt Saracens’ well-oiled machine, ensuring a tense finish after number eight Jacques Vermeulen’s 71st-minute try that centre Slade converted, following an early penalty and the penalty try.

Saracens were their own worst enemy in the opening stages, seeing a penalty reversed for foul play, then losing Farrell to a sixth-minute yellow card.

The Saracens skipper illegally impeded Chiefs wing Jack Nowell, and referee Tom Foley, whose patience was already running thin, sent Farrell packing.

Exeter could not make their temporary one-man advantage count, though, then Chiefs’ Scotland international full-back Stuart Hogg departed for a head injury assessment, with Joe Simmonds replacing him.

Slade kicked Exeter ahead through a 48-metre penalty following a scoreless opening quarter, but Saracens responded in clinical fashion.

Daly and wing Max Malins combined impressively to ask questions of Exeter’s defence, and before the Chiefs could regroup, McFarland surged through a gap to score from his team’s first attack, with Farrell converting.

Hogg then rejoined the action and he proved comfortably Exeter’s most dangerous attacker as defences dominated.

And Exeter regained the lead just before half-time after referee Foley handed out another yellow card, this time to Vunipola.

It then got worse for the visitors as Vunipola was not only sin-binned for pulling down an ominous driving maul, his actions were also deemed worthy of conceding a penalty try.

But Exeter’s narrow advantage proved short-lived, with Daly kicking a 40-metre penalty into the wind to make it 10-10 at half-time.

Cowan-Dickie did not reappear for the second period, being replaced by Jack Yeandle, and Saracens went back in front through a Farrell penalty after Chiefs fly-half Harvey Skinner was yellow-carded for a technical infringement.

There was no let-up in the intensity and both coaches began making changes ahead of the final quarter, although Hogg’s 54th-minute exit saw him shake his head repeatedly in disapproval as he left the pitch.

Farrell extended Saracens’ advantage with a 30-metre penalty, but he exited the action on 61 minutes after taking an accidental knee to the head, with Goode replacing him.

* In the other Saturday game, Johann van Graan secured his first win in charge of Bath as the Premiership’s bottom club claimed a 27-14 victory over Northampton.

They led throughout, scoring tries through Miles Reid, Tom Dunn and Cameron Redpath, with 21-year-old flyhalf George Worboys scoring 12 points on his debut.

* All the Saturday scores and scorers

Bath 27-14 Northampton Saints

The scorers

For Bath
Tries: Reid, Dunn, Redpath
Cons: Worboys 3
Pens: Worboys 2

For Northampton Saints
Tries: Collins, Graham
Cons: Grayson, Furbank

The teams:

Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Butt, 10 George Worboys, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Richard de Carpentier, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 2 Tom Dunn (captain), 1 Juan Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Fergus Lee-Warner, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Max Ojomoh.

Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 James Grayson, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Lewis Ludlam (captain), 6 Alex Coles, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Tom James, 22 Tom Litchfield, 23 George Hendy.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Nick Wood, Simon Harding
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Exeter Chiefs 20-22 Saracens

The scorers

For Exeter Chiefs
Tries: Grayson, Furbank try
Cons: Slade, the penalty try does not require a conversion
Pens: Slade 2

For Saracens
Try: McFarland
Con: Farrell
Pens: Daly 2, Farrell 2, Goode

Yellow cards: Owen Farrell (Saracens, 5), Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 38), Harvey Skinner (Exeter Chiefs, 53)

The teams:

Exeter: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Lukę Cowan-Dickie (captain), 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Jack Dunne, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Rory O’Loughlin.

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Max Malins, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 James Flynn, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Andy Christie, 21 Jackson Wray, 22 Ruben de Haas, 23 Alex Goode.

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose