Sarries race into play-offs

Chris Ashton's four-try performance was a fitting contribution to help Saracens secure their Premiership top four spot with a comprehensive 68-17 triumph over London Welsh.

The flying winger crossed three times in the space of five breathless second-half minutes to add to an earlier effort, while Billy Vunipola, David Strettle, Mako Vunipola, Alex Goode, Juan Figallo and Charlie Hodgson all had their say with tries.

Saracens' impressive points tally on the day was enough to see them overhaul Exeter Chiefs' lead heading into the final round of fixtures and leapfrog the West Country club to snatch fourth spot – and set up a semifinal clash with Northampton Saints.

The Exiles started well courtesy of efforts from Nic Reynolds and Chris Elder, but they were unable to clinch their first Premiership win of the season and send Tom May off in victorious fashion.

Given the undeniably close circumstances heading into the match, there was little surprise to see Saracens steam out of the blocks at the Kassam Stadium, a series of attacking penalties resulting in an early yellow card for Welsh lock Matt Corker.

The hosts were immediately punished for their indiscipline, No.8 Vunipola applying the finishing touch from an inexorable driving maul, Owen Farrell slotting the tough conversion.

While the spotlight seemed fixed on the visitors' desperate need for a victory, the Exiles were looking for a fairytale ending of their own, with Premiership veteran May looking to go out on a high – and he provided a timely moment of magic.

The centre carved through the Saracens defence and stepped well before sending midfield partner Reynolds under the posts for a seven-point score of their own.

The reprieve was short lived, however, with Strettle finishing superbly in the left corner from a scrum, the fleet-footed winger notching his seventh Premiership try of the season.

Welsh enjoyed a sustained period of pressure just before the half-hour mark as they camped on the Saracens line, and their efforts were eventually rewarded through three points from the boot of Elder when the visitors infringed on the floor.

Sarries appeared to move clear once more when Mako Vunipola powered over and ensured both of the brothers got on the scoresheet, before the home side moved back to within touching distance immediately, Elder gathering the restart on the run to sprint home for the try.

But Ashton finished another driving maul in almost identical fashion to Vunipola's earlier score as the half drew to a close to give Mark McCall's men a 26-17 lead to mull over during the break.

And the visitors picked up where they left off with a quick score after the interval, Alex Goode tapping a quick penalty and racing clear to score a wonderful try, another Farrell conversion increasing the daylight between the sides and doing Saracens' play-off hopes no harm.

Jacques Burger missed a scoring opportunity when he failed to gather Farrell's pass with the whitewash in sight, but replacement Figallo was able to use his physical presence to barge his way over for another score.

Ashton finished a fine flowing move by dotting down under the posts for the visitors' seventh score as they continued to search for a points total big enough to secure them an Premiership semifinal spot.

And the Sarries flyer certainly wasn't finished, finishing two more tries in the space of a couple of minutes, both converted by Farrell, before he was denied a fifth for a forward pass.

On a day when May and Mark Cueto were saying goodbye to the league, another experienced head in flyhalf Hodgson proved his continuing worth to notch his side's tenth try late on, a final salvo that made completely sure of Saracens' spot in the semifinals – and a trip to Franklin's Gardens.

The scorers:

For London Welsh:

Tries: Reynolds, Elder

Cons: Elder 2

Pen: Elder

For Saracens:

Tries: B Vunipola, Strettle, M Vunipola, Ashton 4, Goode, Figallo, Hodgson

Cons: Farrell 9

Yellow card: Matt Corke (London Welsh, 4)

The teams:

London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Alan Awcock, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (captain), 11 Chris Elder, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Darren Waters, 6 Ben West, 5 Matt Corker, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Jack Gilding, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Eddie Aholelei.

Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Daniel Browne, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Will Robinson, 23 Seb Stegmann.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Neil De Kock, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Duncan Taylor.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Darren Gamage, Nigel Carrick

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Source: @premrugby