Saracens rebound from heavy loss to beat Bristol

Gallagher Premiership

Saracens (22) 35

Tries: Willis 2, Burke 2, Cinti Cons: Lozowski 2 Pens: Daly, Lozowski

Bristol (7) 26

Saracens held off a Bristol fightback to end the Bears’ record-eighteen winning streak away from home with a thumping defeat by Bath in the festive season.

The hosts held on for a 15-point lead at half-time thanks to Harry Randall’s two attempts, one from Tom Willis and the other from Fergus Burke, who had Harry Randall’s only score of the match.

A late second from Burke put the game to rest while Kalaveti Ravouvou and Harry Thacker threatened a Bears comeback, which Lucio Cinti added.

With the score red, Jake Heenan scored four tries for Bristol to earn a bonus point.

Bristol stay second in the table thanks to Heenan’s fourth try, one point ahead of Saracens, who move up to third from sixth.

Both teams entered the match hoping to recover from painful defeats, with Bristol arguably coming out on top.

Their team has continued to struggle with injuries, with winger Gabriel Ibitoye being added to the growing list of unavailable players this week, despite losing 38-0 to Sale, which was their heaviest home Premiership defeat in eight years.

The Saracens’ 68-10 defeat at the Rec was their biggest-ever defeat, and Mark McCall made changes with Elliot Daly, Nick Tompkins, and Willis among the eight players who were made on Jamie George’s 300th start for the club.

Willis spun over the line before picking the ball from a ruck before opening the scoring. Burke ran over after receiving a blind pass from Tompkins before shoving off a tackle to make it 14-0.

The Bears were unable to capitalize when Maro Itoje was shown the bin for his eighth yellow card in 21 games after Randall pulled a try back for Bristol by throwing a dummy to create a gap to go over.

With Itoje back on the field, the England lock intercepted a pass, sprinted downfield and, when reinforcements gathered, Willis eventually glided over one tackle, skipped over another and ran into the corner.

Cinti and Tompkins advanced in a two-on-one victory with the help of Willis and Harry Wilson, who added a quick finish before the Italian equaled Saracens’ fourth.

After Randall’s pass out wide, Thacker made a break before scoring with a score that Bristol could not maintain.

With two minutes left, Burke almost put the game to bed by diving over to touch down. Thacker hit the target with a try of his own, but Burke did the same.

Tom Willis, the eighth Saracen, told BBC Radio 5 Live:

“Really good week, the whole build-up was great after the tough result in Bath last week.

” The boys really got it right in terms of our preparation, being level-headed – we’ve had some ups, we’ve had some downs this season – but just getting back to it.

]On England selection and conversations with head coach Steve Borthwick]: “I think it’s about trying to be consistent, back-row forward is one of the most competitive positions.

Pat Lam, Bristol’s rugby director, told BBC Radio Bristol: “

All the points are crucial, the boys did well to win it back and get something out of it.

“Sarries were a lot better than they were last week, we knew they would be, they’re at home, big occasion for them and they didn’t really give us too many scraps. Sometimes we put them under pressure, but the try that was turned over from one end to the other of the field was a bit fatal.

Replacements: Pifeleti, Brantingham, Clarey, Sodeke, Michelow, Simpson, Hartley, Hall.

Sin bin: Maro Itoje (25 mins)

Bristol: Lane, Bates, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Heward, Worsley, Randall, Genge, Oghre, Kloska, Dun, Hodgson, Luatua, Harding (c), Mata.

Replacements: Thacker, Y Thomas, Halliwell, Barker, Heenan, Marmion, Byrne, Ravouvou.