Ruthless Sarries send a message to Wasps
BY THE time Schalk Brits went off in the 51st minute to a standing ovation from the Saracens fans who have watched him light up this competition for the last eight years, the club he has served so well were exactly where he would have wanted: Home and dry.
The hooker will almost certainly grace Allianz Park with his presence again in the Premiership semi-final against Wasps in a fortnight, but he was happy to take the salute just after Chris Wyles had runin the sixth of Saracens nine tries against a mix-and-match Gloucester.
That Saracens finished with such a huge haul, and also conceded no second half points, was hard to envisage at the end of a keenly fought first-half. When they put a bit of clear water between themselves and Gloucester for the first time with an Owen Farrell try a minute before the interval taking the score to 22-12 there was no sign of the blitz to come.
Gloucester were resting key men ahead of Friday’s European Challenge Cup final, but initially there was more grit and gristle about this Gloucester side than there was about their first string counterparts against Bath last weekend.
They got off to a fast start when Billy Twelvetrees sent Andy Symons racing into the Saracens half, and the centre drew Alex Goode before putting Tom Seabrook clear with just two minutes played. Sean Maitland responded after a Brits break into the Gloucester 22 to take a 7-5 lead with Farrell converting.
However, a brilliant 50m burst by Jason Woodward, which saw him shrug off two Saracens tacklers before his inside pass put David Halaifonua in, saw Gloucester take a 12-7 lead after Twelvetrees added the extras.
It didn’t last long, with Saracens drawing level after Brits, Marcelo Bosch and Maitland combined for Liam Williams to swan-dive over in the corner. After the home side took the lead again with a Farrell penalty on the half-hour there was no looking back.
Then a Farrell try was given to him on a plate thanks to Alex Lozowski’s spearing break, and Saracens started their secondhalf rampage with Juan Figallo crashing over and then Maro Itoje wrestling clear to plant the ball on the line to make it 34-12.
The Saracens fans were in festival mood, chanting ‘Brits!’ in an unsuccessful bid to get Farrell to hand him the kicking tee.
When Wyles scored after a big drive by Itoje for a 41-12 lead there was still half an hour left. It was a grim prospect for this depleted Gloucester outfit, because Saracens are not a side to ease up. Although Gloucester dug-in sufficiently not to concede any more points for 20 minutes, when Saracens were awarded a penalty try from a 5m scrum the floodgates opened again.
The executioner this time was Ben Spencer, who had come on as a replacement wing rather than in his usual scrum-half role. Spencer showed he has the wheels with two tries, latching on to breaks by Goode and Jamie George to bury Gloucester.
When it comes to the play-off Wasps will be at full-strength – but they were warned here just how rapidly Saracens can rattle up points if you leave the door slightly ajar.