Ashton ready to roar
Saracens winger now on Gatland’s Lions radar after two brilliant tries
Saracens comprehensively reasserted their credentials as champions after the Six Nations period in which their resources were severely stretched without their international contingent and their results duly suffered. If there was any doubt before, this eight-try demolition of Bath eliminates it: Saracens will be the team to beat come the end of the season.
Their focus now turns to the visit of Glasgow Warriors in the Champions Cup quarter-final in what will make for a fascinating contrast in styles. Bath, in that respect, were the perfect warm-up. Their freeflowing, all-court game is the closest match to the Warriors in the Premiership. Four minutes before half-time, George Ford missed a penalty to give Bath the lead. They would go on to concede 41 unanswered points through the bludgeon of a relentless, remorseless Saracens second-half performance.
The tries were shared by Jamie George, Alex Goode, Sean Maitland, Schalk Brits, Brad Barritt, Billy Vunipola and two from Chris Ashton, complete with the trademark splash. The wing, who is joining Toulon in the summer, has been out of the England picture since his callup to Eddie Jones’ first Six Nations squad was scuppered by a suspension. His last cap came in New Zealand in 2014, but Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall believes this type of performance will put him on Warren Gatland’s Lions radar.
“Chris was really good, you could see what a clever rugby player he is,” McCall said. “He did a lot of things in the game that people don’t give him credit for in terms of the attacking kicks used and where he pops up.
“Sean Maitland on our other wing was good and the two of them gave performances that Warren Gatland might be interested in. Sean got injured during the Six Nations and lost his place in the Scotland team. He was outstanding as well. Chris showed enough out there to make people curious and to have a look, and it was the same with Sean as well.”
Collectively and individually, Saracens were superior in every department. Owen Farrell comprehensively bettered England teammate Ford, who had one of those off days; likewise Billy Vunipola won the battle of the gainline-busters against his cousin, Taulupe Faletau. Maro Itoje in the second row was thunderous with his ball-carrying and line-out work, but the man-ofthe-match honours deservedly went the way of Barritt.
The inside centre is rarely lauded for anything other than his defensive work, but here he repeatedly punched holes through the heart of the Bath midfield to put Saracens on the front foot.
As McCall said: “That was richly deserved for Brad. Sometimes people do not appreciate what he brings. The bench came on and did a fantastic job and we just took our game to a different level in that last half hour, and we are going to need that next weekend.”
The defeat is dispiriting rather than terminal for Bath’s play-off chances. Leicester Tigers have leapfrogged them into fourth place ahead of their match at Twickenham in two weeks. Fate is very much in Bath’s hands even if few in possession of crystal balls will be predicting a long-waited Premiership title coming their way at the end of the season.
“That was a low,” Todd Blackadder, their director of rugby, said. “That was probably our worst performance of the season but destiny is still in our hands. We are a better team than that but we need to show that. Some of our decision-making was poor. When we were under the pump and going backwards it didn’t look like we had a lot of fight, which was disappointing.”
Even a club with as deep resources as Saracens struggle without their internationals. Coming into this match, they had lost three of their previous five games in all competitions. Their England contingent made an instant difference, with Itoje starting a line-out drive finished by George. The next try was a beauty. It started in their own 22 and involved Richard Wigglesworth, Ashton and George – with a brilliantly flighted long pass – before Goode finished.
Bath dug in to score a cracking try through their England contingent, with Ford and Jonathan Joseph setting up Anthony Watson to bring it back to 12-10. That was as good as it got for the visitors, with Maitland scoring on the stroke of half-time after outfoxing Ford.
Saracens then set up permanent camp in the Bath half and the damn burst on the hour mark with a Brits try from another line-out drive prompting a further four touchdowns in the final quarter, the pick being Ashton’s first, set up by Brits. The final indignity was Ben Tapuai giving away an intercept scored by the ever-vigilant Ashton to confirm Bath’s heaviest defeat in 15 years.
Saracens, meanwhile, have laid down a gauntlet for the rest of England and Europe to digest.