Venter's Sarries back to winning ways

WRAP: Brendan Venter’s Saracens ran in seven tries, six after half-time, to secure a 39-31 victory over Newcastle Red Bulls at StoneX Stadium.

Noah Caluori proved he is in exhilarating form and ready to help lead England’s attack in the coming Nations Championships matches by producing an inspirational display in Saracens’s 39-31 victory over Newcastle.

The electric youngster came on after the break to lift what had been a lacklustre and flat home performance by racing over for a score as Sarries ran in five second-half tries to finally get the better of visitors who had threatened an upset.

Caluori, 21, who made his England debut against Fiji in the Summer, is the most exciting wing prospect in the Prem and showed just why with his pace and strength.

But Sarries certainly needed his spark and energy having trailed 17-7 at the break with Red Bulls on top and looking dangerous despite giving up nine first-half penalties.

Saracens were guilty of a series of handling error and bad execution while Newcastle shrugged off the blow of losing forward Elliot Millar Mills to injury to take the lead.

Full-back Josh Hodge’s early penalty was followed by Sarries needing to replace hooker Theo Dan with Jamie George due to the former failing a head injury assessment.

South African Werner Kok showed off his power to race beneath the posts for the opening try while Sarries responded with a driving maul seeing George rise to claim the try. Kok turned provider for number eight Sam Graham as he raced down the wing, offloaded to the supporting forward to finish off the move.

Red Bulls lost the dangerous and influential Kok to a head injury after a collision, and he also failed to return for the second half. Newcastle then imploded with poor discipline.

Graham was sin-binned for foul play at a ruck with Sarries taking advantage and centre Sione Va’enuku bulldozing his way across for a try.

They were down to 13 men when Alex Hearle was also sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and were throwing way any chances of a first win at StoneX Stadium.

Driven on by a vociferous Owen Farrell, Sarries capitalised with Toby Knight reaching out for another try.

Farrell’s conversion nudged them ahead for the first time before they surged ahead courtesy of centre Nick Tompkins and then Caluori as the youngster raced down the right to ground the ball one-handed.

His appearance had given his side a real lift and showed just why he could be such a dangerous and important weapon in the England backline as Allianz Stadium prepares to host New Zealand and Australia, with Japan in between.

A flurry of late tries saw Sarries complete their third win in five Prem games and bounce back from their loss to Harlequins. Elliot Daly burst across in the left corner and was followed by wing Rotimi Segun.

Red Bulls grabbed a losing bonus point along with their try bonus with Ollie Leatherbarrow and Hearle finishing off moves as the visitors refused to go down meekly.

*Harlequins secured back-to-back Prem victories for the first time this season, defeating Exeter Chiefs 31-28 in an enthralling end-to-end contest at Sandy Park.

Quins dominated the opening exchanges, with Cadan Murley and Nick David going over before Chiefs responded through Harry Wilson’s close-range effort.

Efforts from Nika Abuladze and Will Butt either side of half-time put the home side ahead but Quins fought their way back into the lead after a quick-fire brace from Lucas Schmid.

Jack Kenningham and Olly Woodburn exchanged late tries to set up a tense finish but Quins managed to scramble the ball into touch and ensure their winning run continues.

*See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!

Saracens 39-31 Newcastle Red Bulls

Scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: George, Va’eneku, Knight, Tompkins, Caluori, Daly, Segun
Cons: Farrell 2

For Newcastle:
Tries: Kok, Graham, Leatherbarrow, Hearle
Cons: Hodge 4
Pens: Hodge

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Sione Va’enuku, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Tom James, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Toby Knight, 6 Nathan Michelow, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Alex O’Driscoll.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 George Martin, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Charlie Bracken, 22 Max Malins, 23 Noah Caluori.

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Christie (c), 6 Max Hicks, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Oscar Usher, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones.
Replacements: 16 Samson Adejimi, 17 Tom West, 18 Francisco Moreno, 19 Finn Baker, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 James Elliott, 22 Zack Henry, 23 Chris Harris.

Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley and Calum Howard
TMO: Hamish Smales

Exeter 28-31 Harlequins

Scorers:

For Exeter:
Tries: Wilson, Abuladze, Butt, Woodburn
Cons: Slade 4

For Harlequins:
Tries: Murley, David, Schmid 2, Kenningham
Cons: Smith 3

Teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Will Haydon-Wood, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Will Butt, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ross Vintcent, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Harry Wilson, 4 Lewis Pearson, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Nika Abuladze.
Replacements: 16 Max Norey, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Joe Bailey, 20 Kane James, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Ben Hammersley, 23 Zack Wimbush.

Harlequins: 15 George Furbank, 14 Nick David, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Cadan Murley (c), 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 8 Lucas Schmid, 7 Seb Driscoll, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 James Dun, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter.
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Will Hobson, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Elliot Williams, 20 Harry Browne, 21 Will Evans, 22 Lucas Friday, 23 Rodrigo Isgró.

Referee: Joe James
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys and Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose

Bath 36-28 Sale

Scorers:

For Bath:
Tries: Arundell, De Glanville, Cokanasiga 2, Hennessey
Cons: Russell 4
Pens: Russell

For Sale:
Tries: Jibulu, O’Flaherty, Cowan-Dickie, Canakaivata
Cons: Ford

Teams:

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Will Jeanes, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Beno Obano.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Claudius Wheeler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 20 Ewan Richards, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Louie Hennessey, 23 Jaco Coetzee.

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Christ Tshiunza, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Nathan Jibulu, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Dom Hanson, 22 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 23 Elia Canakaivata.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Alex Thomas and Simon Harding
TMO: Dan Jones

Northampton Saints 28-14 Gloucester

Scorers:

For Northampton:
Tries: Pearson, Langdon, Hendy, Hutchinson
Cons: Belleau 4

For Gloucester:
Tries: Llewellyn, Joseph
Cons: Barton 2

Teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 James Pater, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 George Hendy, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Ed Prowse, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 JJ Van Der Mescht, 20 Tom Lockett, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Jonny Weimann, 23 Rory Hutchinson.

Gloucester: 15 George Barton, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson (c), 11 Will Knight, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Jack Clement, 7 Deian Gwynne, 6 Freddie Thomas, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Will Trenholm, 20 Jac Morgan, 21 Lewis Ludlow, 22 Dan Robson, 23 Ben Redshaw.

Referee: Sara Cox
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley and John Meredith
TMO: Peter Allan