World Cup stars shine on Saracens return

PREMIERSHIP SATURDAY WRAP: Saracens’ collection of England stars shone on their return to club action in a 32-17 win over Leicester on Saturday.

Fresh from helping their country to finish third in the World Cup last weekend, there was no sign of fatigue from Sarries’ internationals.

Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George all scored tries, while Owen Farrell added 12 points with the boot.

“It was a bit of a gamble with seven English internationals coming back who had not been at the club for the last four months,” said Saracens’ Director of Rugby Mark McCall.

“I’m just surprised that those international players were as enthusiastic to come and play for their club as they were.

“They haven’t been here, they’ve been training with a different team, a different system, but what we’ve found down the years is that these players are very good at coming back in and getting on board very quickly, and you saw that today with the way they all played.”

Leicester trailed 3-26 early in the second half before consolation tries from Tom Whiteley and Jamie Shillcock restored some creditability to the scoreline.

But a third defeat in four games leaves the Tigers second bottom of the table.

Harlequins thrashed Newcastle 40-12 to go top of the table.

Sam Riley, Dino Lamb, Nick David, Alex Dombrandt, Louis Lynagh and Tyrone Green ran in six tries for Quins as Newcastle remain winless after their first four games of the season.

Northampton edged out Bath 24-18. George Hendy scored the winning try early in the second half as Saints held out under huge late pressure.

Saturday’s scores and scorers:

Saracens 32-17 Leicester

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Maro Itoje, Andy Christie, Billy Vunipola, Jamie George
Cons: Owen Farrell 3
Pens: Owen Farrell

For Leicester:
Tries: Tom Whiteley, Jamie Shillcock
Cons: Charlie Atkinson, Jamie Shillcock
Pen: Jamie Shillcock

Northampton 24-18 Bath

The scorers:

For Northampton:
Tries: Tom Pearson, Alex Coles, George Hendy
Cons: Fin Smith 3
Pen: Fin Smith

For Bath:
Tries: Thomas du Toit, Tom de Glanville
Con: Orlando Bailey
Pens: Orlando Bailey, Ben Spencer

Harlequins 40-12 Newcastle

The scorers:

For Harlequins:
Tries: Sam Riley, Dino Lamb, Nick David, Alex Dombrandt, Louis Lynagh, Tyrone Green
Cons: Jarrod Evans 4, Marcus Smith

For Newcastle:
Tries: Penalty Try, Jamie Blamire

Friday, November 3:

Sale Sharks 24-10 Gloucester

The scorers:

For Sale:
Tries: Arron Reed 2, Ben Curry, Agustin Creevy
Cons: George Ford 2

For Gloucester:
Try: Freddie Thomas
Con: George Barton
Pen: George Barton