MATCH REPORT | Saracens Men 45-26 Sale Sharks
Alex Lozowski’s boot steered Saracens Men to a brilliant 45-26 bonus-point victory over Sale Sharks at StoneX Stadium.
The Men in Black made it two wins from two so far in the Gallagher Premiership, with 22 points courtesy of Lozowski as well as tries from Tobias Elliott, a double from Elliot Daly and Jamie George in front of a raucous home crowd.
Sale enjoyed more of the early possession and were rewarded with a George Ford penalty just three minutes in to put the visitors 3-0 ahead.
The England fly-half then departed with an early injury, and Sarries started to create chances almost immediately when Tom Willis offloaded to Ivan van Zyl who looked to charge in to the 22 but he was brought down by Waisea Nayacalevu.
A penalty then arrived in the next phase, and Lozowski made no mistake from in front of the posts to level the score with 11 minutes gone.
Both sides were struggling to gain any momentum with the majority of the first quarter being played in the middle third, but Sale were next to strike with a well taken try to retake the lead.
The Sarries defence flew off the line but Sam Bedlow went straight through a gap and then popped the ball up to Gus Warr who could stride over the line unattended to score. Rob du Preez converted to give Sale a 10-3 advantage.
That lead was cut to four points just two minutes later though, a monstrous 50 metre penalty from Daly punished the Sharks for not rolling away to get them back within touching distance.
Elliott then further demonstrated his quality as he turned on the afterburners to race in to the Sale half, and his kick ahead then forced Sale in to touch deep in their own 22.
That line out turned in to more points as another penalty was awarded, and Lozowski cut the deficit to just one point with 10 minutes until half time.
Sam Dugdale was sent to the sin-bin just two minutes before the break for a high tackle on Ben Earl, and Lozowski made no mistake from just in front of the posts to put Sarries 12-10 in front.
There was still time for one more attach before half-time though, and Sarries were penalised meaning du Preez gave the visitors a 13-12 lead as the teams went down the tunnel.
The hosts started the second half with some real intent, Andy Onyeama-Christie was put through a gap by van Zyl but play was brought back for an earlier infringement.
They went ahead from their next attack though, another penalty was awarded and Lozowski sent it straight through the posts to put his team 15-13 in front.
His fifth penalty came just two minutes later after Elliott’s brilliant chase in the air forced the referee to blow his whistle again, and now the lead had grown to five points.
Lozowski, who was already having a huge influence on the game then almost plucked an interception out of the air with the freedom of North London ahead of him, but the ball bounced out of his grasp and gave Sale a huge let-off.
They wouldn’t be let off the next attack though as Sarries took a huge stride towards securing the win with 55 minutes gone. Fergus Burke’s inch-perfect pass fooled the defence and put Lozowski through a gap, and his beautiful left-handed pass found Elliott on the right wing who finished expertly on his first home Premiership start. Lozowski then added the extras from the touchline, and all of a sudden Sarries had a 25-13 lead.
Du Preez then got Sale back in to it with a penalty from just outside the 22, and then Luke Cowan-Dickie drove over from the back of a rolling maul to get the Sharks back to within just four points with just under 20 minutes to go.
Just when it looked like Sarries were in trouble though, Alex Goode came to the rescue with a piece of pure genius as soon as he entered the field to set up a sensational score for Elliot Daly.
Theo McFarland’s excellent chase from the kick off forced a knock on, and then the ball was spun to Goode who grubbered off his tight boot with his dancing feet and set up Daly who finished in the corner. The conversion went just wide, but now the lead was back up to nine points.
Jamie George then put the result beyond doubt with 10 minutes to go as he crossed for his first try of the season. A penalty was kicked to the corner, and the England captain was at the back of a maul in trademark fashion to score.
Tom O’Flaherty scored for Sale in the closing stages, but Sarries would have the last laugh as they crossed for the crucial bonus point in the last play as Daly got the ball in acres to dive over in front of the South Stand and secure all five points of the hosts.
