To use a footballing phrase at the home of Tottenham Hotspur, Bristol missed an open goal in the final minute, ultimately costing them a morale-boosting victory. As it was, their captain, Joe Joyce, was adjudged to have passed forward to Jack Bates and the Bears’ last-gasp try was ruled out.
It was the correct decision by the referee, Christophe Ridley, and one that allowed Saracens to breathe easy. They had struggled to find top gear in an entertaining contest but welcomed Owen Farrell back from an ankle injury for a first appearance since November. He notched 12 points with the boot before making way late on for a head injury assessment, having just conceded a penalty for a high tackle on Piers O’Conor. Ridley decided no further punishment was warranted but, equally, a yellow card would not have been surprising.
Asked if he had any concerns over Farrell’s tackling technique, the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, said: “No. It was deemed just a penalty, we’ve got no concerns at all.
“Really pleased with his performance. He place-kicked pretty well, he ran the attack brilliantly, he defended well. His best games will be ahead of him but I thought he was pretty good.”
He did have concerns over how his side defended but Saracens had Max Malins to thank for his two tries, showing no after effects of being dropped by England for their final Six Nations match against France. Credit must also go to Bristol, particularly for their first-half efforts, with Antoine Frisch to the fore, and the way they stuck in the fight in the second half when so many times Saracens have pulled clear in that position.
The Wasps head coach, Lee Blackett, praised Jimmy Gopperth's composure under pressure after the veteran fly-half's late penalty sealed a 27-24 Premiership victory over Newcastle.
The 38-year-old held his nerve against his former club with less than five minutes remaining at the Coventry Building Society Arena, seeing his effort sail between the posts despite slipping upon contact.
Blackett had nothing but praise for the ever-reliable Gopperth, who scored 12 points. "Jimmy always says when he falls on his backside, he never misses, so as soon as I saw him fall I knew straight away," he said.
"I'm really pleased with Jimmy, he's come up with some big moments consistently. There's probably no one in the league you'd rather have kicking that kick at the end of a game. We fell short of the high standards we rightly expect from each other but we still won the game and that will be the big thing."
George McGuigan got the scoring under way inside 15 minutes and went on to cross for a hat-trick, though Falcons were consistently pegged back by their hosts in a topsy-turvy clash. Dan Robson, Joe Launchbury and Tom West crossed for the hosts before Gopperth's late penalty.
Northampton's director of rugby, Chris Boyd, paid tribute to his international stars Courtney Lawes and Dan Biggar after they slotted straight back into club action during a 42-22 win over London Irish. In a crucial clash in the race for the top four, Saints bounced back from an early 8-0 deficit by racking up 42 unanswered points with the skippers of England and Wales making an immediate impact on their returns.
Boyd said: "Courtney didn't come in until Thursday, he had a couple of days with his family, but he came back in and you very seldom get a bad day out of Courtney. Dan Biggar was in on Tuesday and rolled his sleeves up and got straight back. They contributed much the same as a number of other people but coming back from international duty, they put in a pretty good shift."
Ollie Hassell-Collins crossed early for Irish before Tom Collins responded with the first of two tries. Rory Hutchinson gave them the lead before half-time, with a penalty try and Alex Mitchell score wrapping up the bonus point immediately after the break.
The Bears director of rugby, Pat Lam, said Joyce was distraught, but it was a performance full of character from the visitors nonetheless. “Every emotion happens in a game of rugby,” said Lam. “I had an inkling that it was forward. I feel for Joycey. As a second-row in the 80th minute, he did an incredible job to create the opportunity.”
Farrell’s left leg was heavily strapped and before he had time to get rid of the cobwebs Bristol were a try to the good, Frisch powering over. Farrell was instrumental in Saracens’ swift response, however. He swivelled on a wayward pass before shipping on to Ben Earl, who released Malins down the right. It was not an easy finish but Malins – an Arsenal fan – made it look simple, raising the question as to why England were not able to put him in similar situations in the Six Nations.
Saracens could not impose themselves as they tend to thereafter and an overthrown lineout from Jamie George was gratefully received by his opposite number, Harry Thacker. A few seconds later Frisch released O’Conor on the left for Bristol’s second try.
Farrell landed two penalties to one for Bristol’s Tiff Eden before the latter was on hand to finish off the visitors’ third try after some lovely footwork from Frisch that left Elliot Daly bamboozled. Daly soon had his revenge, cruising over after a crisp Farrell pass had put Alex Lozowski in space.
Saracens moved ahead when Malins took a flat pass from Alex Goode for his second try, prompting Bristol to turn to their bench and introduce Charles Piutau and Semi Radradra. They fought back to within four points with a penalty from their replacement fly-half, Callum Sheedy, after Farrell was penalised for a high tackle – Ridley took a closer look on the big screen but ultimately decided no further punishment was warranted.
With 10 minutes to go, Farrell was withdrawn for a head injury assessment, but Saracens seemed to be cruising to the full-time whistle until Joyce found himself galloping in behind the hosts’ defence. He did the right thing in looking to find Bates on his right but his pass was forward and Bristol’s euphoria was short-lived.
