Saracens produce superb display to beat Toulouse

Investec Champions Cup Pool 1

Saracens (17) 20

Tries: Segun 2, T Willis Con: Burke Pen: Farrell

Toulouse (7) 14

Saracens produced an oustanding performance in testing conditions to beat Toulouse 20-14 and all but secure their place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup.

Saracens held a blunt review of their stuttering season after a poor defeat at Leicester last weekend, saying they had “confronted what was wrong” and were ready to “do the talking on the field” against the six-time European champions.

Mark McCall’s side did just that at a wet and windy StoneX, fronting up to the star-studded Toulouse side with their best display of the season.

Number eight Tom Willis, whose elder brother Jack was in Toulouse’s back row, gave another stellar performance to underline how much he will be missed when he moves to Bordeaux at the end of the season.

Rotimi Segun scored two of their tries while Willis bagged the other as Saracens scored 17 unanswered first-half points to take control of the match.

Sarries will bid for the top spot in Pool 1 when they face group leaders Glasgow Warriors away next Sunday, but a losing bonus point would be enough to secure their progress to the knockout stage.

Things looked ominous when Toulouse fly-half Blair Kinghorn scored the opening try following sustained pressure, but Saracens responded in style with three tries in 10 minutes.

The first came from a moment of Theo McFarland brilliance. The Samoan flanker charged down Antoine Dupont’s kick and raced forward to gather the ball. Jamie George and Willis took over the charge before the ball was moved left to Rotini Segun to finish.

Three-time champions Saracens almost doubled their lead immediately. Fly-half Fergus Burke broke the defensive line with a brilliant burst of speed and sent a perfect kick through only for Alex Lozowski to fumble the bouncing ball as he dived over the line.

Lozowski, making his comeback from an Achilles tendon injury, made amends with an outrageous dummy pass that released Segun, who raced past his marker to score his second.

Saracens forwards struggled early on against the huge Toulouse pack, but with the momentum now in their favour the hosts surged towards the line again. Willis stretched over the line, letting out a massive roar as he rose to his feet to salute his team-mates having helped his side secure a healthy 17-7 lead.

Toulouse scored early in the second half through wing Matthis Lebel but with conditions deteriorating rapidly, and their captain Dupont strangely quiet, that was their last score of the game.

Willis made a crucial turnover to prevent a possible try but otherwise the French league leaders lacked any sort of fluency in attack.

Owen Farrell and Ben Earl came on to lend their experience and former England captain Farrell stretched the lead to six points with a penalty.

Man of the match Tom Willis spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live about the challenge of facing his brother Jack and how Saracens responded to their defeat by Leicester:

“It was a brilliant game to be part of, but also a bit of a weird and emotional day playing against my brother. He banged me early on, I knew he was dialled in for it. He’s a brilliant player and caused us havoc at the breakdown as always.

“I saw him on Friday and Saturday but a few hours before kick-off he went a bit quiet. I tried to wind him up bit it didn’t work.

“I think beating an incredibly strong Toulouse side shows we stepped up. It’s just about finding the consistency for the rest of the season

“Mark challenged us to step up but not pick and choose our moments. He wanted us to be physical as a team, be energetic and work for each other. I think we did that.

Saracens: Daly; Caluori, Lozowski, Hartley, Segun; Burke,Van Zyl; Mawi, George, Street, Itoje (capt), Tizard, McFarland, Gonzalez, Willis.

Replacements: Hadfield, Carre, Riccioni, Onyeama-Christie,Earl, Bracken, Farrell, Malins.

Toulouse: Ramos; Delibes, Costes, Chocobares, Lebel; Kinghorn, Dupont (capt); Ainu’u, Marchand, Aldegheri, Flament, Meafou, Willis, Jelonch, Roumat.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)

Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Sco), Federico Vedovelli (Ita)