Saints move back into top four, as Sarries rout Falcons
SUNDAY WRAP: Saracens produced a wonderful display to dismiss Newcastle Falcons and gain a bonus point in a 50-12 Premiership rout at Kingston Park.SUNDAY WRAP: Saracens produced a wonderful display to dismiss Newcastle Falcons and gain a bonus point in a 50-12 Premiership rout at Kingston Park.
A double from Theo Dan, combined with tries for Elliot Daly and Alex Lewington overturned an early effort from Sebastian de Chaves to give the away side a 28-7 lead at the interval.
Bryan Byrne dotted down to give the Falcons hope, but a trio of tries from Tom Willis, Juan Martin Gonzalez and Manu Vunipola snuffed out any thoughts of a comeback.
The hosts have now lost their opening five league games, while their opponents registered their third successive Premiership win.
The visitors lost Callum Hunter-Hill to injury in the warm-up - with Ollie Stonham stepping up to start in his place - while former Saracens prop Eduardo Bello made his first league start for the Falcons.
It was the hosts who made the early ground and were rewarded in the fifth minute when De Chaves powered over to give Brett Connon a simple conversion opportunity.
After a bright opening, things began to unravel for the north-east side when Elliott Obatoyinbo was sin-binned after 12 minutes for a deliberate knock-on.
Dan touched down shortly after from a maul on the left and Alex Lozowski added the extras to level the scores.
The home side were able to fend off the champions while down to 14 but could not stop a superb run from Daly in the 26th minute, who moved from left to right and found a way through to put Sarries in front.
And the lead was extended in the 36th minute - Lewington running laterally to round the Falcons defensive line and dotting down in the left corner, with Lozowski putting away the tricky conversion from the touchline.
Dan scored again - in a very similar manner to his first - to give his side a bonus point they thoroughly deserved on their first-half performance.
Lozowski added another three points from the tee shortly after the break, before Byrne gave the crowd something to cheer with the hosts’ second try - Connon was unable to nail the conversion from the right.
Saracens have not lost to the Falcons in the league since February 2009 - and that run never looked in danger, as Willis went over on the flank for the visitors’ fifth try and it took a last-ditch tackle from Adam Radwan to stop Lewington going over again.
Sarries lock Stonham was sin-binned for high contact with 14 minutes to go to offer a glimmer of hope that Newcastle might get something from the game.
However, the returning Gonzalez and Vunipola went over to end any lingering doubts and condemned the Tyneside club to another loss.
* Meanwhile, Northampton leapfrogged visitors Exeter with a 34-19 victory at Franklin’s Gardens to move back into the top four of the Premiership.
Flyhalf Fin Smith - just as he did in the corresponding fixture last season - inspired Phil Dowson’s side to victory, their third league win of the campaign.
The young flyhalf landed 14 points with the boot, including conversions to all of the Saints’ tries, which came courtesy of Tommy Freeman, Curtis Langdon, Alex Mitchell and Fraser Dingwall.
For the Chiefs, though, their search for a much-needed away win now stretches back to October 2022.
They countered with tries from Jacques Vermeulen, Scott Sio and Ethan Roots, two of which were converted by Henry Slade, but it was never enough on an afternoon when they were distinctly second best.
All Sunday's scores and scorers follow below ...
Newcastle Falcons 12-50 Saracens
The scorers
For Newcastle Falcons
Tries: De Chaves, B Byrne
Con: Connon
For Saracens
Tries: Dan 2, Daly, Lewington, Willis, Gonzalez, Vunipola
Cons: Lozowski 4, Goode 2
Pen: Lozowski
Yellow cards: Elliot Obatoyinbo (Newcastle Falcons, 12), Ollie Stonham (Saracens, 65)
Teams
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Iwan Stephens, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Hugh O’Sullivan, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Sam Cross, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Philip van der Walt, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Cameron Hutchison, 23 Ben Stevenson.
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Alex Goode (captain), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Andy Christie, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Alec Clarey, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Eroni Mawi.
Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Tom West, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Ollie Stonham, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Manu Vunipola, 23 Lucio Cinti.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum, Wayne Falla
TMO: Andrew Jackson
Northampton Saints 34-19 Exeter Chiefs
The scorers
For Northampton Saints
Tries: Freeman, Langdon, Mitchell, Dingwall
Cons: Smith 4
Pens: Smith 2
For Exeter Chiefs
Tries: Vermeulen, Sio, Roots
Cons: Slade 2
Red card: Niall Armstrong (Exeter Chiefs, 69)
Teams
Northampton Saints: 15 George Hendy, 14 Tom Seabrook, 13 Tommy Freeman , 12 Fraser Dingwall (captain), 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Angus Scott-Young, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Tom James, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Tom Litchfield.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Ben Hammersley, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Tom Cairns, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Lewis Pearson, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Nika Abuladze.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle , 17 Scott Sio, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Tom Hendrickson.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Jamie Leahy, Richard Gordon
TMO: Rowan Kitt