Saracens thrash Bristol to extend winning start

The Prem.

Saracens (31) 50

Tries: Dan, Isiekwe, Malins, Bracken 2, Tizard Cons: Farrell 6 Pen: Farrell

Bristol (0) 17

Saracens won their second game victory over Bristol Bears, beating them by a score of 50-17 to claim first place in the pre-season standings.

Theo Dan, Nick Isiekwe, Max Malins, and Owen Farrell scored converted goals to give the hosts a 21-point lead after just 21 minutes.

Before the Bears responded with the game-winning try from Kieran Marmion, Nick Tompkins earned a try bonus point and a 31-0 half-time lead.

In round two, center Joe Jenkins, MacGinty’s replacement Tom Jordan, and winger Louis Rees-Zammit added to the list of players who were already injured, and even referee Christophe Ridley was forced off after tripping over Tom Willis from the Saracens.

Sarries went 14-0 up inside seven minutes after an explosive start. Bristol showed no mercy.

Before Rotimi Segun’s break made it possible for Isiekwe to fire over from close range, Dan crashed through Kieran Marmion’s challenge to score in the left corner.

Malins made a break before handing Ivan van Zyl’s passes before applying a swan dive finish to make his StoneX debut by scoring and scoring the third try against his former team.

Sarries also displayed their steel by twice forcing turnovers on their own to fend off persistent Bristol pressure.

Within three minutes of the restart, Bristol responded by utilizing Rees-Zammit’s one-handed offload to send Marmion in.

Farrell quickly restored order by passing a long cut-out pass to Jack Bracken, the 19-year-old’s son of England World Cup-winning scrum-half Kyran, who finished well on his Prem debut before poking a quick second with a quick header.

Charlie Bracken’s brother, Charlie, made a fantastic try-saving tackle, but Rees-Zammit’s more electric acceleration made Marmion’s second attempt impossible to resist as Bears fought on.

Marmion completed a 31-minute hat-trick from close range, but Tizard’s powerful late winner underlined the six-time Premiership champions’ relentless performance.

Tom Willis’ impact for the Saracens, according to Saracens rugby director Mark McCall:

Tom was always very clear about what needed to be done to improve.

He’s always been a great athlete, but now he’s developing into a powerful player. He will suddenly appear with the ball as the opposition begins to attack. Over the past 12 to 18 months, his defensive work has really improved.

Pat Lam, the head coach of the Bristol Bears, told BBC Radio Bristol:

“We gave up three penalties within four minutes, they rode on top of that, they lost collisions there, and they blew us away for 20 to 25 minutes.”

We persevered, and we believed we had it in the end, but it turned out that the goal was to earn a bonus point.

There were instances today when we didn’t do the things we trained for and worked together, which relieved the pressure.

Regarding Tom Jordan’s injuries to Joe Jenkins, Louis Rees-Zammit, and Louis Rees-Zammit:

Joe Jenkins was thrown to his ribs at half-time because he was being hit in a particularly difficult position in the breakdown, which suggests he had a hamstring, Zammit did his toe, and Tom was still feeling it, so we took him off as a precaution.

Clarke, Mawi, Clarey, Sodeke, West, Bracken, Hutchison, and Caluori are their replacements.

Carrington, Rees-Zammit, Jenkins, van Rensburg, Ravouvou, Jordan, Marmion, Woolmore (c), Oghre, Chawatama, Dun, Batley, Owen, Ivanishvili, Mata, and Rees-Zammit.

Replacements: Boshoff, Grahamslaw, Kloska, Grondona, Pepper, Worsley, Grahamslaw, and Thacker.

Sin-bin: Mata (37)