Perfect start for Saracens
PREMIERSHIP REPORT: Alex Lewington marked his Saracens debut with two tries as Mark McCall’s men started their Premiership title defence with a 32-21 victory over Newcastle Falcons.
The former London Irish man notched up tries either side of the break as Jamie George and Nick Tompkins also got on the scoreboard at Kingston Park.
The Falcons rallied in the second half with two tries from Mark Wilson but it wasn’t enough to deny the defending champions an opening day victory.
Newcastle Falcons were hoping to pick up where they left off from last season as Toby Flood notched up two early penalties.
The Falcons, who made the semifinals for the first-time last season, were undone by the defending champions after 15 minutes.
Fine work from David Strettle was matched by impressive handling from George as he barrelled over before Owen Farrell converted.
The Falcons continued to press but it was Saracens who made the decisive breakthrough again on the stroke of half-time.
Alex Lozowski’s fine offload found Farrell who was on hand to feed Lewington to run in his maiden Saracens try to make it 17-9 to the visitors.
Fast thinking from Wilson caught the Saracens defences completely by surprise in the second half, picking up a loose ball and sniping over to cut the deficit to three points.
But momentum was snuffed out by the defending champions and it was Lewington again on the spot to fly over.
Good pressure from Mark McCall’s side paid off as Farrell’s long pass fell perfectly into the hands of the young debutant to put the advantage back to seven points.
Yellow cards to Nick Tompkins and Alex Goode gave Falcons hope.
And the hosts brought the contest back to within a point as Wilson trundled over with eight minutes remaining.
But Tompkins, on his return to the field, rounded off a slick move to seal the bonus point and finally put Falcons out of reach.
The scorers:
For Newcastle:
Tries: Wilson 2
Con: Flood
Pens: Flood 3
For Saracens:
Tries: George, Lewington 2, Tompkins
Cons: Farrell 3
Pens: Farrell 2
Yellow Cards: Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Alex Goode (Saracens)
Teams:
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Adam Radwan, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Sami Mavinga.
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Jack Payne, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Alex Tait.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Mike Rhodes, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Alex Lewington.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth, John Meredith
TMO: Sean Davey
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