A BLACK SABBATH
Sarries hand out record defeat – and it is good news for dropped England trio
EDDIE JONES watched Saracens rip Bath to shreds and was then told those players he had dropped must be recalled today.
Less than a month ago England coach Jones axed Billy Vunipola, his brother Mako and club mate Jamie George, challenging them to prove him wrong.
At the Rec yesterday he got his response as the trio combined to hand Bath the worst home Premiership beating in their proud history.
“Billy was unreal out there, Mako as well,” raved Saracens boss Mark McCall after a 10-try win, which included two scores for George.
“They deserve to be in the squad after the way they played.
“Will I be surprised if they’re not? I’ll be amazed. Everybody would be.”
Jones names his autumn squad this afternoon and has a real concern over Lions hooker Luke CowanDickie, who suffered leg damage in Exeter’s win at Wasps.
He will also be worried about Anthony Watson (knee) and Maro Itoje (shoulder/pec), having seen both forced off yesterday.
But the majority of what he witnessed on his visit to Bath will have had him purring on his way back up the M4.
The Vunipola brothers were everywhere in a performance which brought a hat-trick for England full-back Max Malins and tries for Itoje, Ben Earl, Eroni Mawi, Rotimi Segun and Dom Morris.
“If Eddie wanted to see if they had the motivation and desire to still play for England then they
W
5 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 showed that,” said McCall. “I thought Owen Farrell was brilliant as well.
“We’ve got players who can make things happen. It was a really top performance.”
McCall’s joy contrasted with the humiliation felt by Bath and their director of rugby Stuart Hooper after a beasting of nightmare proportions.
It was the six-time champions’ worst ever home league defeat, the third most points conceded by any club in Premiership rugby history.
A fourth consecutive league loss leaves them rock bottom and staring at their worst start to a season for 20 years – and Hooper did not mince his words.
“It’s as bad as it gets and our responsibility is to stand up and be counted,” he said.
“That pain we feel right now, we need to feel it.
“Saracens were hot and we were spectacularly poor. We have to make sure that nothing like that happens again.”
Hooper added: “There will be questions from everywhere about me, my players and my staff.”
He urged players and staff to stick together, but he must know a result this bad has consequences.
The one-time kings of Europe failed to score a point in the first half, despite twice the territory and significantly more possession. Within half an hour they had equalled their worst ever margin of defeat. By the end they had sunk without trace. BATH - Try: De Glanville, Ellis, Muir.
Con: Cipriani. SARACENS -
Tries: Itoje, Malins 3, George 2, Earl, Mawi, Segun, Morris. Cons: Farrell 9. Farrell.
D L B F A Pts
0 0 3 149 76 23 0 1 4 135101 16 0 1 3 146 62 15 0 2 3 137103 15 0 1 2 103 91 14 0 2 1 94 95 13 1 2 3 126130 13 1 2 3 135147 13 0 2 3 107 73 11 2 3 4 117 136 8 0 4 3 96 180 7 0 4 0 71 155 4 0 4 3 69 136 3