MATCH REPORT | SARACENS MEN 73-29 NOTTINGHAM RUGBY (PRC - RD3)
Saracens Men brought their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign to life with a rampant 73-29 victory over Nottingham Rugby at StoneX Stadium.
The Men in Black scored 11 tries in a relentless attacking display which had the home crowd on their feet from start to finish as they recorded their first victory of the 2023/24 season.
Sarries were looking to play with tempo from the off and Toby Knight was almost put through a gap with just two minutes gone but a fumble meant the visitors survived.
The deadlock was broken shortly after though with a brilliant opener from Alex Lewington. Manu Vunipola’s inch-perfect grubber kick bounced up beautifully for the winger who ran over the final defender and scored in the corner. The conversion went wide, but the hosts had a confidence-boosting early lead.
Sarries were playing with real freedom in the early stages and a lovely combination from Hugh Tizard and Tom Willis at the base of a ruck almost had the lock through but play was called back for a forward pass.
The second try came courtesy of Rotimi Segun who showed his incredible pace to score his first of the season. He spotted some space in the defence and burst through a gap from 40 metres out, before turning on the afterburners and beating the final two defenders with ease to coast in under the posts. Vunipola’s conversion made it 12-0 with as many minutes gone.
Nottingham did get back in to the match on the 20 minute mark as Ellis Mee crossed the whitewash after a nice looping pass from Sam Hollingsworth found him in acres of space on the left wing, cutting the lead to just seven points as we headed in to the second quarter.
The hosts then looked to put their foot down before the break, and Toby Knight scored try number three with half an hour played to extend their advantage. A neat move at the breakdown saw Ivan Van Zyl draw in a defender and create space for the flanker who could stroll under the posts. Vunipola’s conversion put the hosts 19-5 in front.
Alex Lozowski almost got the bonus point just a minute later but his brilliant break through the middle resulted in a huge tackle with saw the ball pop out of his grasp.
They didn’t have to wait much longer however, as the fourth try arrived within minutes to secure the bonus point.
Tom Parton set Lewington free down the left, and despite being hauled down just short, Van Zyl was first to the ball was could acrobatically dive over the breakdown to finish in style. A beautiful touchline conversion from Vunipola meant that all of a sudden the lead was up to 21 points.
There was time for another before half time, a penalty try was awarded in the final play after a maul was brought down, meaning Sarries went down the tunnel with a convincing 33-5 lead after a dominant opening 40.
There was no let up in the second half, and Tom Woolstencroft scored just 90 seconds after the restart as the Sarries juggernaut kept rolling. This time a five metre lineout meant the maul hammered towards the line, and the hooker was there at the base to dot down for try number six.
Nottingham responded with their second of the day as Marcus Ramage broke in the middle and sprinted clear, but that didn’t stop Sarries as they hit back just two minutes after.
Lozowski’s brilliant break in the middle saw him racing through, and he calmly drew in the final defender before passing inside to Van Zyl who strolled over for his second.
Knight then took a quick tap from just five metres out to bundle over for his second of the day, and he brought up the half century at the same time as the lead grew to 52-12 with 25 minutes to play.
The tries kept coming and the next was surely a contender for the best of the day. Parton gathered Vunipola’s chip ahead and found Willis, who calmly offloaded to Ollie Stonham, and the back-rower dummied the final man before trotting over from 20 metres. The extras were added once again as the hosts continued to show their attacking intent.
It got better for the next one, a whole team move saw them go from one end to the other with every player touching the ball, and it ended in Olly Hartley strolling clear for a try that brought StoneX to their feet.
To their credit Nottingham hit back with a great score as David Williams gathered an audacious inside offload to race under the posts, and he did the same again two minutes later as he collected a cross-field kick to get their four-try bonus point.
Samson Adejimi then scored a cracker for Sarries as he took matters in to his own hands and shrugged off three defenders to cross in aggressive style. Vunipola’s seventh conversion meant the lead was up to 73-22.
Nottingham got a consolation with two minutes to go as Ramage collected a cross-field kick and used his pace to run clear, but the day belonged to the Men in Black who registered a resounding win in front of their home supporters.
