OWEN SHINES ON HIS BIG DAY
SARACENS boss Mark Mccall reckons Owen Farrell is in the form of his life after marking his 250th club appearance with this statement win. Farrell scored 12 points from the boot and completely overshadowed Marcus Smith in the battle of the No.10s on his big day.
The fly-half looked bang on the money after his decision to step back from Test rugby as Saracens ran in eight tries.
Hooker Theo Dan and wing Sean Maitland both nabbed doubles as Saracens rapped out a warning to the rest of the Premiership and jumped up to second place.
And they face a top of the table clash when they visit Northampton on Friday.
Praising Farrell, Mccall said: “He played as good as I have seen him play for a very long time. It looked like it mattered to him today and I think he is going to be like that for the rest of the season.
“The players wanted to make it a special week because they think so highly of him.there was a lovely moment in the changing room when Jack (from the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy charity Joining Jack) presented him with his commemorative shirt – it was very emotional.”
Elliot Daly had a brilliant performance at full-back, running things at the back and showing his eye for a gap with a
Saracens 52 Harlequins 7
hand in five of Saracens’ tries. They had the bonus point in the bag on 26 minutes when Maitland scored his second try after Daly’s outrageous pass through his legs.
The visitors had lost captain Stephan Lewies to the sin bin, which cost them 12 points, and Saracens kept the heat turned up in the second half.
They had led 24-0 at the break, which was soon turned into 31-0 when Dan scored his second and Saracens ran in three more.
Quins head coach Danny Wilson said: “We got burned today – our defence was really poor.
“This game can remind you if you are slightly off you are in trouble, and we were more than slightly off today.”
Manu Tuilagi starts his farewell tour for Sale today as
Sharks travel to
Bath aiming to keep their play-off hopes alive.