Sarries make another big statement
PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY WRAP: A second hat-trick of the season from Liam Williams saw Saracens extend their 100 percent start to the season with a 50-27 victory over Bath.
The Welshman scored three of the hosts’ eight tries at Allianz Park to continue their run as the only team in the league with a perfect record this campaign.
Meanwhile, Marcus Smith’s hat-trick of penalties saw Harlequins triumph in a war of attrition at Gloucester.
At Sandy Park, Dave Ewers crossed for a double as Exeter Chiefs made it five Premiership Rugby wins from five with a hard-fought victory over Worcester Warriors.
In Saturday’s other match, Northampton Saints experienced the joy of six as they extended their decade-long winning streak over Bristol Bears for a second Premiership win of the season.
Saracens 50-27 Bath
With Liam Williams getting a hat-trick, Alex Goode, Jamie George, Nick Tompkins, Sean Maitland and Christopher Tolofua added the other home tries to ensure that the champions extended their unbeaten run in the Premiership, which dates back to March, to 12 matches.
Bath managed to keep in touch during the first half through the boot of Rhys Priestland and two tries from Tom Homer and one from Chris Cook, but the visitors were blown away in the second period by the hosts’ brilliance.
The Blue, Black and Whites began the match the sharper side and took the lead through Priestland’s penalty after George failed to roll away.
Reaction | Hear from man of the match Alex Goode plus Nick Tompkins and Schalk Burger after Sarries overcame Bath at Allianz Park pic.twitter.com/aRGbtWTRh4
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) September 29, 2018
Nevertheless, the hosts bounced back in the 12th minute after smart hands from the backs saw Goode put in Liam Williams, who went over in the corner, despite Semesa Rokoduguni’s best efforts.
Three minutes later the fullback turned scorer, breaking through a gaping hole in the Bath defence for a converted try.
Bath’s Welsh flyhalf Priestland kept the visitors in touch with a penalty from just short of halfway, but three minutes later the hosts went over for their second converted try courtesy of a catch and drive finished off by hooker George.
Saracens looked to be taking control, but Bath’s Cook intercepted a pass from his opposite number Richard Wigglesworth to go over for a converted try and keep the visitors in business.
Two minutes before the break Saracens responded in kind through Nick Tompkins, who replaced the injured Brad Barritt midway through the half, to score their bonus-point try under the posts.
Right on half-time Bath got themselves to within six points of the hosts when Homer went over after a break down the left from Darren Atkins.
Yet, two minutes after the restart, Saracens answered again with Williams’ second of the game after smart play down the right from Titi Lamositele to avoid the challenge of Homer.
Just under fifteen minutes into the half Williams had his hat-trick after Goode evaded the challenge of Max Clark to set up the 27-year-old.
Then, moments after the hour mark, Owen Farrell saw his pass intercepted as Saracens looked destined for another try, and Homer had enough legs to sprint 93 metres to the try line without being caught.
Maitland added Saracens’ seventh try 13 minutes later following an overlap on the left-hand side, before a converted score from substitute Tolofua completed a resounding home victory.
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Williams 3, Goode, George, Tompkins, Maitland, Tolofua
Cons: Farrell 5
For Bath:
Tries: Cook, Homer 2
Cons: Priestland 2, Burns
Pens: Priestland 2
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Alex Lewington.
Bath: 15 Darren Atkins, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Clark, 12 Max Wright, 11 Tom Homer, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Paul Grant, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Charlie Ewels (captain), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Victor Delmas, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Max Green, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jackson Willison.
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Anthony Woodthorpe
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
Gloucester 25-27 Harlequins
The lead changed hands time and again in a topsy-turvy encounter in the south west but flyhalf Marcus Smith came off the bench to thrust Paul Gustard’s troops back to winning ways after 11 straight away defeats in the Premiership.
Jake Polledri provided the spark that got the scoreboard ticking over with 13 minutes on the clock, the Italian international breaking through a raft of tackles to tee up Danny Cipriani for the first try of the game.
However, it didn’t take long for Harlequins to hit back emphatically via two quickfire scores from Nathan Earle.
First, the wing seized on a loose ball to gleefully run home before Earle was celebrating again in a flash, Joe Marchant driving the visitors downfield before feeding his teammate, who dotted down despite the efforts of Tom Hudson, James Lang adding the extras to make it 12-5.
— Chris Robshaw (@ChrisRobshaw) September 29, 2018
Earle’s brace drew a ferocious reaction from Gloucester, who drove forward time and again.
A Cipriani penalty just before the half-hour mark chipped away at the deficit while the visitors’ Lang missed from the tee.
Then, after Matt Symons was yellow-carded for an offside, a Cipriani penalty drew the hosts back to within a point before Ben Vellacott’s pace helped set up Charlie Sharples to turn things around.
However, a Lang penalty on the stroke of half-time made it 18-15 and he repeated the trick early in the second period to restore parity, with a nip-and-tuck encounter shredding nerves in the stands at Kingsholm.
With just over 20 minutes to go, replacement Smith bisected the posts to edge Harlequins back in front and the 19-year-old booted another successful penalty to hand his team a five-point advantage.
That lead lasted but for a moment, though, as Sharples grabbed his second try of the game to swing the pendulum back the other way after fine work from Matt Banahan and Hudson, Cipriani converting.
Harlequins’ goose looked cooked as, five minutes from time, a Smith penalty crashed against the post but there was time for the flyhalf to redeem himself as he hit the target for the third time to fire the visitors to victory.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Cipriani, Sharples 2
Cons: Cipriani 2
Pens: Cipriani 2
For Harlequins:
Tries: Earle 2
Con: Lang
Pens: Lang 2, Smith 3
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Tom Hudson, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 James Hanson, 1 Josh Hohneck.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Jason Woodward.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Tim Visser, 10 James Lang, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Chris Robshaw (co-captain), 6 Renaldo Bothma, 5 James Horwill (co-captain), 4 Matt Symons, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Max Crumpton, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Will Collier, 19 Stan South, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Aaron Morris.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Steve Lee, Simon McConnell
TMO: Keith Lewis
Exeter Chiefs 28-11 Worcester Warriors
Dave Ewers – in his first start of the season – barged over twice from close range in the first half while Jack Yeandle also went over.
And while Ted Hill – Worcester’s two-try hero at Welford Road last weekend – went over on the resumption – the Chiefs finished on top.
And Harry Williams burst over for the all-important fourth try and the bonus point and the Chiefs march on.
Skipper Yeandle got things started for the Chiefs at the back of a rolling maul after Chris Pennell penalty had opened the scoring.
And then it was Ewers who took over, showing too much power to burst over from close range on two occasions with Gareth Steenson typically unerring from the tee.
And while Hill forced his way over in the second half, the Chiefs weathered the storm and came back again late on for Williams to go over and secure a ninth win in a row at Sandy Park.
The scorers:
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Yeandle, Ewers 2, Williams
Cons: Steenson 4
For Worcester Warriors:
Try: Hill
Pens: Pennell 2
Teams:
Exeter: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill.
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Marco Mama, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Ollie Lawrence.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady, Robert Warburton
TMO Claire Hodnett
Bristol Bears 40-45 Northampton Saints
Both sides picked up try bonus points but Saints crossed the whitewash on six occasions in an Ashton Gate thriller to ensure that their last defeat to Bristol is still a 13-14 loss at Memorial Stadium back in November 2008.
Ehren Painter, Andrew Kellaway and Lewis Ludlam crossed in the first half for the visitors, while the impressive Taqele Naiyaravoro, Alex Waller and Mike Haywood did likewise in the second half, with their scores being consistently supported by the unerring boot of Dan Biggar.
Bristol trailed at half-time for the first time this season despite Will Hurrell and Harry Thacker dotting down, while Luke Morahan’s effort and Hurrell’s second guaranteed a try bonus point before Alapati Leiua earned a losing bonus point at the death, although they still suffered a first defeat at Ashton Gate in any competition since March.
Saints earned early field position with a brilliant kick to touch by Biggar and a couple of line-outs later, the flyhalf slotted a penalty from in front of the posts.
Bristol responded as Hurrell swivelled his hips in the visiting 22 and burst through a couple of tacklers to crash over before Callum Sheedy – a late replacement for Ian Madigan at flyhalf – added the extras.
Hurrell’s opposite number Luther Burrell thought he had grabbed Northampton’s first try following an incisive move, only for the TMO to rule it out after Cobus Reinach’s pop to Biggar was ruled forward.
However, the visitors did cross the whitewash twice in quick succession midway through the first half – Painter smashing over for his first senior try from close range before Australian back Kellaway notched his first Northampton try by skipping past a defender after being released by a Tom Collins pass.
Biggar converted both for a 17-7 lead but the Bears got themselves back in it as Sheedy slotted a penalty before John Afoa raced clear off the back of a driving maul from 40 metres and fed his supporting front-row partner Thacker to dive over the whitewash and level at 17-17.
Scrumhalf Andy Uren thought he had put Bristol ahead as he scampered over but again the TMO ruled out a score – this time judging that Uren had been held by Reinach in the previous tackle – and Northampton took advantage as Ludlam grabbed their third first-half try by weaving his way under the posts.
A Sheedy penalty narrowed the gap to 24-20 at the break but Naiyaravoro then brought up the Saints’ bonus point by swatting away a couple of defenders en route to powering over in the corner.
Perhaps the try of the match came on 48 minutes as Sheedy’s pinpoint cross-field kick was won in the air by a leaping Piers O’Conor and he offloaded to the supporting Morahan with a flick to slide over.
Both kickers stayed perfect from the tee with the conversions and another Sheedy penalty closed the deficit to 31-30 but the visitors began to pull away in the final quarter.
Waller bulldozed through to defenders to cross under the posts for try number five and the sixth came when Burrell produced a huge carry off the back of a maul and Haywood spotted a gap to sneak over the line undetected.
Hurrell did squeeze over in the corner to secure Bristol a four-try bonus point before the last play of the game saw Leiua hold off defenders to dive over in the opposite corner and also secure a well-deserved losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Bristol:
Tries: Hurrell 2, Thacker, Morahan, Leiua
Cons: Sheedy 3
Pens: Sheedy 3
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Painter, Kellaway, Ludlam, Naiyaravoro, Waller, Haywood
Cons: Biggar 5, Mallinder
Pen: Biggar
Teams:
Bristol: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Jack Lam, 7 George Smith, 6 Steve Luatua (captain), 5 Joe Latta, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Nick Fenton-Wells, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Nick Haining, 21 Nic Stirzaker, 22 Tusi Pisi, 23 Zane Kirchner.
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Dylan Hartley (co-captain), 1 Alex Waller (co-captain).
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Francois Van Wyk, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Andrew Kellaway 23 Harry Mallinder.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Dean Richards Jonathan Healy
TMO: Trevor Fisher
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