Saracens miss out on play-offs despite Bath win

Gallagher Premiership

Saracens (19) 36

Tries: Segun, George 2, Daly, Dan, Burke Cons: Burke 3

Bath (7) 26

Saracens chalked up the bonus-point win over Bath they needed to retain any hope of making the Premiership play-offs but results elsewhere thwarted their bid.

Sarries needed a bonus-point victory and for two of the teams above them to fail to prevail on the final day of the regular season, and were always in charge against an under-strength Bath side.

Dan George scored two tries, and Rotimi Segun, Elliot Daly, Theo Dan and Fergus Burke all crossed the line but with Saracens ‘ rivals all winning, they could not move out of sixth place.

The win gave Alex Goode, playing his 402nd and final game before retirement, an emotional send-off but scorelines in other parts of the country meant the Men in Black failed to finish in the top four for only the third time since 2009.

Bath handed debuts to seven players and their youngsters staged a big finish as 18-year-old Tyler Offiah, son of rugby league legend Martin, marked his debut with a second half try, quickly followed by scores for Kepu Tuipolutu and Louie Hennessey.

A hopeful home crowd was soon silenced as the very young Bath pack, without a single starter above 23 years old, began brightly. They ran the ball directly at the Sarries line for Green to burrow over and put the visitors ahead.

That youthful exuberance in attack, however, was soon swamped by the stark reality of trying to defend against an efficient and well-practised set of Sarries forwards who soon put them under intense pressure.

Saracens hit back immediately as Fergus Burke’s fine kick took them to five metres and a quick switch to the left sent Segun over.

The Sarries pack took full control after that, George finishing two maul tries either side of Daly’s try, which came from an angled run onto Ivan van Zyl’s pass from the base of the scrum.

With the bonus-point banked, George was taken off ahead of what would probably have been a hat-trick, and his replacement Dan pocketed the third maul try of the day within 90 seconds of going onto the field as the home forwards imposed themselves.

Burke, whose kicking was poor on the day, bagged a try by latching onto van Zyl’s chip and then himself lobbing the cover before gathering to go over under the posts.

Bath, who will face local rivals Bristol next Friday in the first play-off semi-final, had the final say with a flourish which gave their supporters a taste of the future.

Offiah had a sparkling cameo on his league debut, producing a finish of which his father would have been proud and then coming up with a break that laid the platform for another prospect, 19-year-old Tuipolutu.

Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol:

“We wanted to be tough to beat and for the guys to be themselves and we achieved both goals.

” Coming to Saracens with seven debutants, I was looking for a typical Bath performance, everything we have become together over the last three years, and what you saw]today] was the future.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re Louis Schreuder or Ruaridh McConnochie, at the back end of their careers in terms of age, or youngsters making their debut, it was a fantastic team effort.

Saracens: Carre, George, Riccioni, Itoje, Isiekwe, McFarland, Onyeama-Christie, Willis, van Zyl, Burke, Segun, Tompkins, Daly, Elliott, Goode

Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Beaton, Tizard, Gonzalez, Earl, Bracken, Cinti

Bath: Kirk, Spandler, Griffin, Jeanes, Richards, Staddon, Cowan, Green, Schreuder, Bailey, McConnochie, Parry, Hennessey, Emens, Woods.

Replacements: Tuipolutu, Cordwell, Verden, Graham, Timmins, le Roux, Offiah, Stewart.