Saracens v Newcastle Falcons: Five takeaways as ‘cold-blooded’ hosts ‘send shivers down the spine’ in performance befitting of club legend
Saracens captain Maro Itoje with an inset of Alex Goode
Following Saracens’ 75-28 win over Newcastle Falcons in round 16 of the Gallagher Premiership, here are our five key takeaways from the StoneX.
The top line
On a special day for Saracens, the Londoners delivered a truly remarkable performance.
Things got off to a flying start as Juan Martin Gonzalez crossed after just four minutes, and that set the tone for the afternoon. Just 20 minutes later, Theo Dan, Ben Earl, Ivan van Zyl and Maro Itoje had added their names to the scoresheet for the hosts, with Newcastle only hitting back through Sam Stuart and Freddie Lockwood on the stroke of half-time.
That continued in the second 40 too, with Los Pumas star Gonzalez completing a hat-trick with two quick-fire tries at the start of the half.
Stuart added his second for the Falcons before Jamie George resumed the rout with another maul try.
Ben Stevenson grabbed the Falcons a tidy bonus-point just after the hour, but that was quickly forgotten about thanks to further Saracens scores from Charlie Bracken, Earl and Tom Willis.
Saracens now keep the heat on their play-off rivals Sale Sharks, Bristol Bears and Gloucester, but Newcastle still sit rock bottom.
Man of the moment
Can we just take a moment to appreciate Alex Goode, who has been a remarkable servant to Saracens throughout his career.
Seventeen years ago to the day, Goode rocked up for his Saracens debut, not knowing just what he would go onto achieve with the club. Six Premierships, three Champions Cups and one Championship later, he hopefully knows what a legend he is to those of a red and black persuasion.
In another life, he would have won 100 England caps, but he’s still enjoyed some brilliant individual accolades, namely a European Player of the Year award.
Goode is one of the greatest club players this country has ever produced, and he deserved the big tribute he got.
Building at the perfect time
This felt like a real statement of intent from the hosts, who continue to show their play-off credentials heading into the final few rounds.
They played with a serious tempo, something we’ve not quite seen from them since the early days of the season. Fergus Burke consistently looked to play into space, but around him, the likes of Tobias Elliott, Gonzalez, Earl and Daly consistently looked to charge through the holes he was targeting.
Saracens also blended that with some proper steel up front too, particularly with the introduction of Tom Willis off the bench, and made proper dents in the Falcons’ line, which in turn created the space for Burke et al to cause havoc.
As we’ve come to expect from the Londoners, they were cold-blooded in the red-zone, scoring from virtually every entry into the opposition 22 – ending the game with 11 tries. That in itself will send shivers down the spine of their play-off competitors, because that’s what’s powered them to six titles in the past.
It was an utterly ruthless display.
Aside from that, it also marked a sharp upturn in form. Mark McCall’s men have been incredibly inconsistent this season, but this win makes it three wins from their past four in the Premiership.
As we’ve seen in the past, form heading into the run-in can be the difference between making the play-offs and missing out. Sale Sharks have been the perfect example of that in the past, powering their way to a final in 2023 off their end-of-season form and last year crept up the table and into the top four after a remarkable run of wins.
That seems to be what Saracens are building now too, and will head into their final games against Northampton Saints and Bath full of confidence as a result.
As you would expect with a 10-team Premiership, and a league of this quality at that, the fight for the final play-off spot is incredibly tight. Saracens now pull level on points with Sale and are within touching distance of Leicester Tigers and Bristol Bears as well.
They seem to be peaking at the perfect time.
The curse continues
A lot has happened since 2007. The UK has had seven Prime Ministers, the USA has had four Presidents and from a rugby perspective, Saracens have won six Premierships, three Champions Cups and a Championship title too, but Newcastle have yet to win in North London.
Newcastle’s last victory over Saracens at their home ground came 18 years ago, with Jonny Wilkinson at the helm. That’s over 6,000 days.
As we’ll come onto, there was actually a lot to like about the way Newcastle went about their business – considering where the club are right now – but on the whole it was a procession for the hosts.
Progress?
This might seem like a token ‘progress’ section for a side who’ve just been conceded 75 points, but there were real signs of that from Newcastle today.
As you would expect from a Steve Diamond-coached outfit, they’ve had a never-say-die attitude all season, but today showed they can be more than just a team that tries.
Yes, their defence was picked apart by the hosts, but Newcastle don’t often flex their attacking muscles and they should take some pride from the bonus-point. They actually threw some nice shape around the park too, led by the combination of Sammy Arnold and Brett Connon, and managed to break through on numerous occasions and nab some lovely scores as a result.
They also had the better of the scrum for the most part, which again should please them.
The scoreline did get away from them, and all of the flowers should go on Saracens for their mesmeric outing, but Newcastle do deserve some praise too.
