Saracens player ratings: ‘Colossal’ Maro Itoje and teenager shine but England hooker’s ‘lineout woes’ almost cost visitors

Following a 29-22 victory over Leicester Tigers in the Premiership on Sunday, here’s our Saracens player ratings from the Mattioli Woods Welford Road clash.

Leicester Tigers ratings

15 Elliot Daly: A quiet outing from the England international with ball in hand but did lay on a fizzing flat pass to Angus Hall that saw him finish expertly in the corner. Daly was also wayward with a long-range penalty attempt. 5

14 Tobias Elliott: Will be frustrated at missing the tackle on Freddie Steward for his try in the first half but battled on manfully in an energetic shift. 6

13 Alex Lozowski: Nailed a couple of conversions in the first period but also missed a fairly simple penalty attempt off the tee. Lozowski responded well with a snap drop goal late in the half. A silky run after the break that was harshly called back for a forward pass. A solid shift. 7

12 Nick Tompkins: Was a nuisance to Leicester early on and denied them a try from Julian Montoya thanks to a great hit on his own line, albeit the Tigers scored soon after. 6

11 Angus Hall: That stunning finish on the left wing will live long in the memory of the 19-year-old. A few early touches showed just how calm the young Saracens flyer is in possession and he looks very much at home at this level. 8

10 Fergus Burke: Slipped a lovely short ball for the Juan Martin Gonzalez try but wasn’t overly influential outside of that. Lost his personal duel with Handre Pollard. 6

9 Ivan van Zyl: Good and bad from the scrum-half as a largely assured performance was offset by a handful of mistakes. His wayward offload early in the second period led to Hanro Liebenberg’s second try and he will be very thankful that Cameron Henderson’s charge-down try was chalked off for offside. 5

The forwards

8 Tom Willis: Busy early on with ball in hand and provided a real presence once again at number eight. However, he was not up to his recent England levels of destructiveness. 6

7 Juan Martin Gonzalez: The Los Pumas star almost scored early on, but that only delayed him as soon after he hit a great line off Burke to cross on 11 minutes. Such a talented and athletic back-row. 8

6 Theo McFarland: Galloped down the right wing in the first half with a nice offload inside to Jamie George that led to the Gonzalez try. However, he gave away a silly penalty at the breakdown in own 22 just before half-time that led to Liebenberg’s score, which knocks him down a mark. 7

5 Hugh Tizard: A handful in close quarters and also dominant in the tackle. Replaced by Nick Isiekwe on 51 minutes but can be pleased with his offering. 6

4 Maro Itoje: Colossal again. Typically busy and forced the error at the Tigers lineout that led to Theo Dan’s try. Itoje also won a breakdown penalty soon after and was awarded the Player of the Match award. 8

3 Fraser Balmain: Helped off after just a minute with a leg injury sustained in contact. N/A

2 Jamie George: Powered over from close range after just four minutes and was busy and assured elsewhere in his Sunday shift. Even threw in a nice grubber kick but couldn’t get down to regather. Another push for Lions squad selection from the veteran. 7

1 Eroni Mawi: Won a scrum penalty in the first half but was replaced just before half time in a tactical switch. 5

Replacements: Rhys Carre was excellent at scrum time, while Alex Goode also offered plenty off the bench. Meanwhile, Riccioni put in a long shift due to that Balmain injury, but the bench’s general score is knocked down because of the lineout woes when Theo Dan replaced George.

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