Veteran Saffa still a crucial link for Sarries
Saracens ran out 55-24 winners over Northampton Saints.
Brad Barritt, Richard Wigglesworth, Alex Lozowski and Vincent Koch all scored tries in the first half for Saracens, who were 41-3 up at the break.
Lewis Ludlum and Tom Wood (2) both dotted down, with Harry Mallinder kicking nine points, but Schalk Brits and Ben Spencer scores saw Saracens past 50 points.
Hooker Brits had a hand of some kind in multiple tries including a clever offload which helped set up Lozowski for Saracens’ bonus point score after 28 minutes.
The 36-year-old was instrumental in Maitland’s second try before going over himself in the second half to round off a complete performance in British & Irish Lion Jamie George’s absence.
Few would deny that Brits deserved his try after an excellent first-half performance and his line was perfect at first receiver to break the Saints defence and score under the posts.
The smile said it all from the veteran hooker, who was replaced soon after scoring and he received quite the reception from Twickenham when his departure was announced.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: "He [Brits] is an explosive athlete and his athleticism hasn’t gone away at all. His body is sore after games but it was a stunning performance. He was incredible.
"This is his ninth season at the club and he’s been a star from day one. He seems to save all of his best performances for Twickenham. I can remember so many breaks he’s made here.
"He’s a phenomenal player and hopefully we can give him a really good send off this year. People see what is in him and all of that but he’s just a good man to have in camp,"
Source: @premrugby
