Captain Tom drives Sarries maul machine

TOM Woolstencroft scored a hat-trick of push-over tries in a fierce second-half performance from the relegated champions.

Stephen Varney’s try put Gloucester 10-9 up late in the half, but Sarries led by half-time with a Ben Harris score.

Woolstencroft, captaining the side, extended Sarries’ lead with two tries soon after the restart. Henry Walker hit back for Gloucester but Woolstencroft added his third and Tom Whiteley got Saracens’ fifth, with Louis ReesZammit replying late on.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: “Tom Woolstencroft is a top player and is as competitive as there is. He is brilliant around the field, really good over the ball and carries the ball well. He is someone we want to keep at the club for a long time.”

Both sides made 14 changes and it was Gloucester’s only survivor from Friday’s loss to Bristol, Rees-Zammit, who almost got the first try after ten minutes but lost the ball as he dived into the left corner under pressure from Whiteley. Varney did get their first, after Mark Atkinson’s 34th-minute break but Harris quickly responded for Saracens.

The next 40 belonged to Saracens Woolstencroft got on the end of two driving mauls from lineouts in a three-minute spell early in the second half.

Saracens began to dominate the scrum, but against the flow, Walker found a gap in the defence after a flowing move on the hour mark. But within three minutes Woolstencroft had completed his hat-trick from a lineout drive. And then Will Hooley’s kick through was fumbled by Charlie Sharples and Whiteley dotted down for the fifth.

Rees-Zammit’s grabbed a late consolation with a length of the field score.

Gloucester stay eighth after their second straight defeat and head coach George Skivington said: “We have got a bit of work to do in that. It definitely exposed who was rusty.”