Saracens have been through a lot since they last reached a Premiership grand final which made this fractious semi-final triumph all the sweeter. The north Londoners have been absolutely determined to make it back to Twickenham this season to draw a defiant line beneath their well-documented descent to the Championship and now stand within 80 minutes of potentially their most satisfying domestic triumph of all.
They were made to work mighty hard for the privilege, with Quins playing a full part in a furious, feisty contest which saw four players sent to the sin-bin for high challenges. The game’s decisive individual, though, proved to be the Saracens flanker Ben Earl who scored a hat-trick of tries to reinforce his new duke status as the Premiership’s player of the season.
Saracens scored five tries in all but only when Earl rounded off the game with his third and final try could they properly relax on a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon. Quins already had two tries bagged after the first quarter and the home side, reduced to 13 men at one stage, had to dig deep defensively to turn the tide in their favour.
Ultimately, in a game of relentless physicality and a fair amount of niggle, it was not all about Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith but the pair’s eventful match-up at No 10 neatly reflected the game. Early on it was Smith who made all the running and put his stamp on proceedings but ultimately it was Farrell and Saracens who showed sufficient grit to steer the club to their first Premiership final since 2019.
Quins, also initially well served by their tight forwards, were left to regret their inability to take all the chances they created after a hugely promising start. Declining a kickable penalty to opt for a lineout drive which splintered the home maul and ended with the alert Alex Dombrandt twisting over, they were ahead as early as the third minute and continued to put Saracens under sustained early pressure.
When a dominant Quins scrum led to Smith cutting inside Farrell and putting Danny Care over for a fine try, in particular, the hard-hitting visitors looked capable of causing real problems.
Even after Saracens responded through Earl, the dynamic flanker bursting out of a couple of tackles to score, there were some more worrying moments, not least when Joe Marchant appeared to have broken away to score only for play to be called back for a high tackle on Farrell by Jack Walker.
In a game which saw numerous high challenges, a yellow card was probably the right call and set a precedent which Luke Pearce was subsequently keen to stick to. In that instant, though, the complexion of the contest changed totally. Against 14 men Saracens swiftly hit back with Farrell slipping a one-handed offload to Nick Tompkins who scored close to the posts to put his side ahead for the first time. Farrell’s conversion made it 15-12 at half-time and his side also emerged the sharper for the second half. With Dombrandt unable to field the restart, Saracens took the opportunity to move the ball wide and Earl cantered over in the right corner for his second try.
In Walker’s temporary absence Saracens had scored 14 unanswered points and given themselves fresh belief as well as impetus.
The recovery job for Quins became harder still when Vincent Koch surged through another porous tackle to send Aled Davies scampering over. Only when Saracens were reduced to 13 men after yellow cards for Elliot Daly and Billy Vunipola did the mood threaten to change, a revived Quins launching a concerted last quarter fightback thanks to a 66th-minute score by the winger Cadan Murley.
At this point everyone’s memories began to spool back to last year when Quins roared back from apparent oblivion to beat Bristol in the semi-final before doing something not dissimilar to pip Exeter Chiefs to the title at Twickenham.
With Alex Lozowski also receiving a yellow card late on, the defending champions had one last shot in the shape of an attacking lineout five metres from the Saracens line, only for a timely steal from Nick Isiekwe to deny them a potentially huge score. After that, with thoughts of redemption driving them on and their supporters right behind them, Saracens were not to be denied.
