Wins for Saracens, Wasps and London Irish

Saracens opened their Premiership season with a 55-24 bonus-point victory over Northampton Saints while Wasps and London Irish also won on Saturday.

Saracens 55-24 Northampton
Twickenham

Saracens kicked off their 2017/18 campaign with a nine try rout of Northampton Saints.

The back-to-back European champions started well, Brad Barritt crashing over on ten minutes after some phases from the forwards.

Their second followed shortly after, Richard Wigglesworth dotting down after a good run an offload from Duncan Taylor.

Sarries began to pull away with a third try from Sean Maitland, with Saints registering their first score of the new season a few minutes later through a Harry Mallinder.

Mark McCall’s men effectively killed the game as a contest with three tries in five minutes, two more from Maitland and Lozowski crossing over.

After an incredible first half individual display, Saracens tighthead Vincent Koch powered over after a lovely offload from fellow South African Schalk Brits for his side’s seventh try of the half.

Northampton came out in the second half looking to restore some pride, young flanker Lewis Ludlam breaking through the Saracens line for their fist try of the afternoon on 44 minutes.

Saracens were quick to snuff out any flicker of hope for Saints, Brits picking a wonderful line and dotting down under the posts for try number eight.

Jim Mallinder’s men wouldn’t stay down however, two tries from Tom Wood pushing his side closer to a try bonus point.

Ben Spencer, just onto the pitch for Wigglesworth, took Saracens over the half century with a neat dummy and finish for their ninth try.

Northampton camped on the Saracens try line for the final few minutes in search of the bonus point score, but were unable to find the all-important break.

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Barritt, Wigglesworth, Maitland 3, Lozowski, Koch, Brits, Spencer
Cons: Lozowski 5

For Northampton:
Tries: Ludlam, Wood 2
Cons: Mallinder 3
Pen: Mallinder

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Nathan Earle, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Richard Barrington
Replacements: 16 Scott Spurling, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Michael Rhodes, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Chris Wyles

Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ben Foden, 13 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Harry Mallinder, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Mitch Eadie, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Paul Hill, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 James Grayson, 23 Ken Pisi

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace, Roy Maybank
TMO: Geoffrey Warren

Wasps 50-35 Sale
Ricoh Arena

Seven tries from Wasps including four from electric scrum-half Dan Robson were enough for them to see off a plucky Sale at the Ricoh.

Dai Young’s men were quick to pick up their try scoring exploits from last season, scrum-half Robson finishing off a lovely move and break from Christian Wade.

Robson scored his and Wasps’ second on fifteen minutes, the young half-back darting around the blindside to cross in the corner.

Wasps continued to press and had their third try courtesy of Wade. A lovely pass from Danny Cipriani found the wing, looking to top his impressive try tally of 17 from last season.

Sale were finally able to calm the storm and score their first try of the new season, Byron McGuigan diving over in the corner. AJ MacGinty added the extras.

Gopperth continued to extend his side's lead with three points from the tee before Robson sealed his hat trick and the bonus point score after a pop pass from Nathan Hughes.

Steve Diamond’s men continued to stay in touch, their second try coming through youngster Ben Curry, MacGinty converting for the extra two points.

Robson picked up where he left off at the start of the second half, his fourth try stretching the lead once again for the home side.

The North-West side would not be counted out though, a quick tap penalty for Sale ended with England international Denny Solomona going over in the corner.

Scrum-half Faf de Klerk, a summer addition from the Lions, dotted down to secure the bonus point try, with MacGinty’s conversion cutting the gap to just eight points.

Despite Sale’s best efforts, Wasps wrapped the game up with ten minutes to play with their sixth try on the day from replacement hooker Will Rowlands.

The home side continued to press in the final ten minutes with another try from openside Alex Reider, Gopperth’s conversion bringing them over the half century.

But it would be Sale who would have the last word, a final score from Josh Strauss capping off a truly end to end encounter in the West Midlands.

The scorers:

For Wasps:
Tries: Robson 4, Wade, Rowlands, Reider
Cons: Gopperth 6
Pen: Gopperth

For Sale:
Tries: McGuigan, Curry, Solomona, De Klerk, Strauss
Cons: MacGinty 5

Wasps: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Gaby Lovobalavu, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Alex Rieder, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Will Rowlands, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Matt Symons, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Juan De Jongh, 23 Marcus Watson

Sale: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Will Addison, 12 Sam James, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Bryan Evans, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 James Flynn, 18 Alex Tarus, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Tom Curry, 22 Will Cliff, 23 Mark Jennings

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Paul Burton, Michael Hudson
TMO: David Sainsbury

London Irish 39-29 Harlequins
Twickenham

London Irish made a successful return to the Premiership with an impressive win over Harlequins in the second part of the London double header at Twickenham.

Irish looked unfazed by the big stage on their return, two early Tommy Bell penalties providing an early six-point buffer.

Quins responded with a penalty of their own, 18-year-old Marcus Smith doing the honours on his Premiership debut.

Topsy Ojo was starting his 15th Premiership campaign this season, and marked his return with a try on 24 minutes.

Nick Kennedy’s side continued their wonderful start and scored their second try on the half hour mark, Bell sprinting in from 40 metres after a terrific offload out the back door from Blair Cowan.

On 34 minutes Quins finally found their scoring touch, Joe Marchant bisecting the Irish defensive line to score under the posts.

Bell added his third penalty of the afternoon just before half time to give his side an 11-point lead going into the break.

After a slow start to the second half, the game kicked into life when Harlequins replacement fly-half Demetri Catrakilis was shown yellow on his debut for failing to roll away. Bell added the three points from the boot to take his personal tally for the day to 19.

Ofisa Treviranus, another player who suffered through the relegation with Irish 16 months ago, crossed for their third try just before the hour mark extending their lead to 19 points.

Quins fightback began on 64 minutes with Marland Yarde scoring against his old club, with the newly reinstated Catrakilis adding the extras.

Their third try came courtesy of Danny Care on 72 minutes to bring John Kingston’s man to within seven points.

However the comeback looked to be derailed when Mike Brown was shown yellow for illegally blocking an Irish player who looked to be clean through. Bell added to his tally from the tee to take Irish out of one score range.

A late burst from Charlie Walker led to Quins fourth try, and looked to have given them a minimum of two points to take away from what was a frustrating performance on the day.

But a mistake in the Quins midfield gave London Irish replacement Brendan McKibbin a free run in in the dying seconds to secure his side a bonus point and their first win back in the Premiership.

The scorers:

For London Irish:
Tries: Ojo, Bell, Treviranus, McKibbin
Cons: Bell 2
Pens: Bell 5

For Harlequins:
Tries: Marchant, Yarde, Care, Walker
Cons: Smith, Catrakilis 2
Pen: Smith
Yellow Cards: Catrakilis, Brown

London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 James Marshall, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Mike Coman, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 David Paice (c), 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi
Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Josh McNally, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Jack Clifford, 7 Dave Ward, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Ben Glynn, 3 Will Collier, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 George Merrick, 20 Mat Luamanu, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Demetri Catrakilis, 23 Winston Stanley

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales, Nigel Carrick
TMO: Keith Lewis