Saracens seal top spot as Premiership semifinal line-up is confirmed
PREMIERSHIP REPORT: English Premiership leaders Saracens ensured they finished the regular season top of the table and ended London Irish's hopes of qualifying for the title-deciding play-offs with a 45-21 win on Sunday.
The Exiles' defeat meant Northampton secured the last remaining place in the semifinals, joining Saracens, Sale and reigning champions Leicester in the knockout phase.
Eroni Mawi scored two tries for Saracens with Alex Goode, Sean Maitland and Theo Dan also crossing London Irish's line.
England captain Owen Farrell converted four tries and also landed four penalties for a match haul of 20 points.
Irish raced into a 10-0 lead, but former England fullback Goode's try on the stroke of half-time put the hosts 13-10.
Paddy Jackson's boot reduced the deficit to 20-16 after Scotland's Maitland went over for Saracens, before Dan and Mawi sealed victory for Sarries.
London Irish replacement Mike Willemse went over for a consolation try but a second defeat in eight matches left the Exiles seven points adrift of Northampton with one match left, with Saracens now an unassailable nine points clear of Sale at the top of the table.
Both Saracens and Sale are now assured of home semifinals on May 13 and 14 respectively.
Midlands rivals Leicester and Northampton are currently level on 58 points.
With Northampton on a bye-week in round 24, Leicester will remain in third place and secure an away tie with second-seeds Sale should they avoid a heavy defeat at home to Harlequins in the final round.
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Goode, Maitland, Dan, Mawi 2
Cons: Farrell 4
Pens: Farrell 4
For London Irish:
Tries: Rogerson, Willemse
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson 3
Yellow card: Rob Simmons (London Irish, 41')
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Max Malins, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Olly Hartley, 23 Rotimi Segun.
London Irish: 15 Ben Loader, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Matt Rogerson (captain), 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Hugh O’Sullivan, 23 Henry Arundell.
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson, John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards