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Defending European Rugby Champions Cup holders Saracens welcome Northampton Saints to Allianz Park on Saturday with their qualification hopes hanging by a thread
Defending European Rugby Champions Cup holders Saracens welcome Northampton Saints to Allianz Park on Saturday with their qualification hopes hanging by a thread, a game you can see live on BT Sport.
- Two defeats and a draw have left Saracens third in Champions Cup Pool 2, five points adrift of leaders of ASM Clermont Auvergne and two points behind second-placed Ospreys.
- With ASM Clermont Auvergne, who beat Saracens twice, facing Ospreys over in France at the same time, there is a chance for the reigning European champions, yet they will not know what they need to do, meaning targeting a bonus-point win is the lone option for Saracens.
- Saturday's visit of Northampton Saints to Barnet's Allianz Stadium is the third meeting in European between the clubs with Saracens having won both previous encounters, including an emphatic 57-13 victory in Round 1.
- Northampton Saints will pin much of their attacking hopes on the work of Ahsee Tuala, who has eight offloads so far in the Champions Cup, ranking him third in the tournament, while Saracens will expect to see prop Mako Vunipola making moves as the seventh best carrier in the competition, with 62 to his name already.
Defending champions Saracens underlined their credentials with a sensational 62-14 thrashing of Northampton Saints at Allianz Park on Saturday
Defending champions Saracens underlined their credentials with a sensational 62-14 thrashing of Northampton Saints at Allianz Park on Saturday, but their fate when it comes to making the quarter-finals of the European Rugby Champions Cup remain in the hands of others.
- Saracens came into Round 6 knowing a bonus-point win was a must if they were to remain in contention for the knockout stages and the hosts had things wrapped up before the interval thanks to five first-half tries.
- Heineken Man of the Match Mako Vunipola opened the Saracens try tally before Alex Goode marked his 250th appearance for the club with a try, while Marcelo Bosch, Richard Wigglesworth and Vincent Koch all crossed before the break.
- Northampton Saints had made a fine start, scoring the first try of the match through scrum-half Cobus Reinach and wing Nafi Tuitavake chipped in after Vunipola's score as the visitors looked like they may push Saracens to the limit.
- But once Saracens wrestled control of the match, they would not let go, clinching the all-important bonus-point score before the interval and when Northampton Saints were reduced to 14 men on the cusp of half-time, with Jamie Gibson shown a yellow card, things went from bad to worse for the visitors.
- A relentless Saracens continued to assert their dominance in the second half with Owen Farrell keeping the scoreboard ticking throughout as he amassed 27 points from the kicking tee, taking him beyond Dimitri Yachvilli into third place in the all-time European points scorers charts.
- Scotland winger Sean Maitland and debutant Sione Vailanu added second-half tries to add a fine gloss to a remarkable Saracens display, now they must sit and wait on results elsewhere.
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