Saracens player ratings: Mark McCall’s bench ‘bullied’ as Northampton Saints deliver a crushing blow to play-off hopes
Saracens players in a maul with an inset of Mark McCall
Following Saracens’ 28-24 defeat to Northampton Saints in round 17 of the Premiership, here is how we scored Mark McCall’s men.
Saracens player ratings v Northampton Saints
15 Alex Goode: Started off well with a try, but drifted as Northampton managed to gain a foothold in the game. Still came up with a couple of big moments, as we’ve come to expect from the experienced back. 6
14 Tobias Elliott: While he wasn’t as consistently busy as usual, which is a shame considering how impactful he can be ball-in-hand, he still managed to grab two assists. 6
13 Elliot Daly: A timely reminder of his true class as he came up with some really delicious bits of play. His lofted pass out to Juan Martin Gonzalez was a real highlight, but around that he just made consistently good efforts. 7
12 Nick Tompkins: Northampton looked to target him through midfield, but his tally of 14 tackles proved he held his own in that battle. Struggled to get involved in the attacking efforts, though. 6
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11 Rotimi Segun: Looked to get his hands on the ball whenever he could, and led the way for his side in metres made (107) and finished second in the carrying stats too (10). Topped off a nice performance with a deserved try too. 7
10 Fergus Burke: Started off very well, playing to space when it was on and helping Saracens make the most of their early dominance, but fell off a cliff in the latter stages as Northampton gained momentum. His missed kicks were also the difference in the end, but the defeat shouldn’t be pinned on him. 6
9 Ivan van Zyl: Didn’t set the pitch alight, but a steady afternoon’s work nonetheless. Kicked very well from the base of the ruck and injected some decent pace when needed. 6
Back-row
8 Tom Willis: Another monstrous shift from the England international, which will give Andy Farrell serious FOMO after his Lions omission. Consistently made dents into the Northampton defensive line with his carries and contrasted that with some big defensive work too, notably forcing Alex Coles into knocking on in the act of scoring. He’s showing that, should Farrell call upon him for the Lions, he’ll be ready for action. 8
7 Ben Earl: The breakdown was a big part of Saracens’ game plan today, and he was right at the heart of that as he made himself a consistent nuisance in the ruck. Also came up with some important tackles too. 8
6 Juan Martin Gonzalez: Was going so well before picking up a nasty knee injury, like really well. He was always exactly where his team needed him to be to make some massive interventions in the breakdown, and grabbed another try for good measure. Hopefully, for both Saracens and Argentina, it’s not too serious as he’s been absolutely scintillating of late. 8
Tight five
5 Nick Isiekwe: A solid day’s work from the England hopeful, particularly in defence, with his 16 tackles playing a big role in Saracens’ work in the tight. 6
4 Maro Itoje: An understated yet monumental shift from the Lions captain, who continues to prove his excellence. While the back-row might take the headlines for the breakdown work, the lock led the way with 4 turnovers and more than matched that with some tough graft around the park. Brilliant performance. 8
3 Marco Riccioni: Mixed bag from the Italian international. Started off pretty well, winning a few penalties at the scrum for good measure, but came under the pump upon the arrival of Tarek Haffar. 6
2 Jamie George: A really assured and steady performance from the ever-classy Jamie George. Contributed well to the set-piece, as usual, and made himself regularly available for work around the park too. 7
1 Eroni Mawi: Hasn’t always been afforded a starting role this season, but did an excellent job in it today. Packed a real punch in the contact and scrummaged well against an in-form Trevor Davison too. 7
Replacements: For all the good work of the starting side, the bench were bullied for the most part by their Northampton counterparts. Saracens just seemed to lose all their momentum as the bench came into the game, particularly in those areas they were getting change out of. It started with small things too, the odd scrum here, a breakdown there, but overall it just built up to a complete capitulation from what looked like an easy win at minute 50. This was encompassed by the sin-bin to Andy Onyeama-Christie in the final exchanges, which eventually came back to bite them. 3
