Following a 68-10 victory for Bath against Saracens in the Premiership clash on Saturday, here’s our five takeaways from the fixture at the Recreation Ground.
The top line
Bath were worthy winners over a much-changed Saracens outfit that made seven alterations from their most recent outing, which played its part in the hosts running out to a huge win.
Tries from Thomas du Toit, Cameron Redpath, Will Muir (3), Joe Cokanasiga (2), Sam Underhill and Ollie Lawrence were added to by points off the tee from Finn Russell as Bath cruised.
However, it was a game Saracens had to play without the full compliment for 75 minutes, this after Toby Knight was sent-off for a head-high tackle on Lawrence and it cost them dear.
Bath sitting pretty at summit
The Rec outfit end the year with a five-point cushion at the top of the Premiership table after this emphatic result over one of their title rivals and Bristol’s heavy defeat last night.
Johann van Graan’s men appear well equipped to challenge for silverware again this season as they look to go one better than last term, when they lost to Northampton in the final.
They have the nuts of bolts of a solid set-piece, forward pack and defence dovetailing perfectly with an attack that is led by Ben Spencer and Russell, feeding big threats out wide.
It’s therefore going to be a shock if they don’t make it to Allianz Stadium yet again in June, their chances possibly helped if they fail to make the Champions Cup knockout stages.
Nightmare start for Saracens
That was about as ugly as it gets for a team as the game’s early stages went from bad to worse to downright shambolic for Sarries, who found themself down in more ways than one.
Liam Williams made the costly call of knocking the ball into touch on five minutes with Cokanasiga looming large. That cost him 10 minutes in the sin-bin and Saracens seven points.
There was then the double injury setback a minute later that saw Theo McFarland and Tobias Elliot depart the action before Knight was red carded and Bath then turned up the heat.
It couldn’t have been a worse opening to proceedings at the Rec as an under-strength and injury-hit Sarries were dealt the impossible task in a match that was beyond them early on.
Finn Russell and Ben Spencer thrive
It might have been an armchair ride against 14 players and sitting behind a dominant pack, but Bath’s half-back pairing were at the peak of their lofty powers on Saturday afternoon.
Spencer was hugely influential in several of the hosts’ tries as he kept Saracens’ defence guessing with changes of direction and smart passes that his team-mates gleefully gobbled up.
Russell meanwhile was similarly perfect in his option-taking as he swaggered around the field, relishing the platform he had as he looks on top of his game and enjoying his rugby.
England hopefuls put their hand up
While the half-back duo impressed it was a hat-trick from Muir that saw him pick up the Player of the Match award as ‘The horse’ once again impressed in front of the Rec faithful.
The England hopeful is a sight to behold on the left wing as he went over on three occasions while Cokanasiga also impressed with a couple of tries and Lawrence was excellent too.
Elsewhere, Steve Borthwick would have taken note of Alfie Barbeary and Ted Hill’s shifts while Underhill starred off the bench with a try as reward as Bath cut loose on home soil.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/bath-v-saracens-five-takeaways-as-england-hopeful-a-sight-to-behold-in-nightmare-afternoon-for-14-man-visitors
