Ben Earl double fires Saracens to third straight maximum as Exeter Chiefs remain winless in Premiership
Saracens back-row Ben Earl going over for a try.
England number eight Ben Earl crossed twice as Saracens made it three bonus-point wins from three in the Premiership with a 29-14 victory over Exeter Chiefs on Sunday.
Earl went over in each half at StoneX Stadium while international team-mate Jamie George, wing Tobias Elliot and former Crusaders fly-half Fergus Burke also crossed.
Exeter‘s tries both came via full-back Josh Hodge, who also landed the conversions, as the Chiefs remain winless in the Premiership after a dismal start to the new season.
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Both teams seemed to be feeling the other out in the opening stages, which took place almost exclusively in the middle portion of the pitch as not many phases were being put together.
The crowd was woken up in the 18th minute when Saracens broke the deadlock through England captain George, who had the honour of scoring off the back of a driving maul, with Alex Lozowski’s conversion striking an upright.
Exeter almost hit back within three minutes as fly-half Will Haydon-Wood broke through the middle only to be tackled about a metre short of the line.
Instead, Saracens extended their lead to 12-0 when Elliott made it three tries in three games this season by escaping around halfway before breaking clear of Hodge’s attempted tackle, Lozowski this time converting.
Another pushover try for the hosts then followed in the 32nd minute, with Earl this time the man getting the ball down off the back of the maul.
The visitors looked to have a route back into the game when Hodge’s charged down kick fell kindly for Olly Woodburn, who passed the ball inside for Hodge himself to go clear under the posts.
But Sarries almost immediately hit back with their bonus-point try when Earl found Elliott on the right and the younger winger timed his pass to allow Burke to score his first try for the club.
This gave the hosts a 24-7 half-time lead and Exeter’s afternoon got even tougher when Ben Hammersley was sin-binned for making head-on-head contact with Andy Onyeama-Christie in the first minute of the second half.
Saracens quickly made the most of their man advantage as Elliott continued his impressive showing by getting a lovely off-load away for Earl to saunter in for his second try.
No further scores came while Hammersley was off the field and it was the Chiefs who scored next in the 62nd minute when quick hands from Woodburn and Hammersley allowed Hodge to bag his own double.
The contest kind of finished as it started, albeit now in drizzly conditions, although nobody at Saracens was complaining, as the six-time champions’ perfect start to the campaign continued.
The teams
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl (c), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Toby Knight, 22 Charlie Bracken, 23 Alex Goode
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Olly Woodburn, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Ben Hammersley, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Christ Tshiunza, 4 Jack Dunne, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Will Rigg
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Joe James, Jon Healy
TMO: David Rose
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