Danny Cipriani fails to get the better of Owen Farrell as Saracens beat Gloucester while Worcester stun Tigers

Cipriani's hopes of leaving his mark three days after being omitted from England's squad were ended by Saracens' superiority

The duel between the two English fly-halves did not quite materialise (Getty)

Maro Itoje scored two tries as Saracens issued a statement of intent in their Gallagher Premiership title defence by dismantling Gloucester 38-15.

The champions wrapped up the bonus point with almost half an hour to spare, Itoje crossing twice and David Strettle, Sean Maitland and Alex Lozowski also touching down in a procession at Allianz Park.

Danny Cipriani's hopes of leaving his mark on the clash three days after being omitted from England's latest training squad were ended by Saracens' overwhelming superiority.

The duel with Owen Farrell, who is Eddie Jones' preferred fly-half alongside George Ford, never materialised due to a forward mismatch that reduced Cipriani to a peripheral figure from the second quarter onwards.

Saracens made light work of Gloucester (Getty)

Cherry and Whites head coach Johan Ackermann admitted it is up to Cipriani to prove Jones wrong on the pitch.

"Danny has had setbacks in his life, otherwise he would have constantly been in the England squad," he said.

"He's taken it on the chin and the only way for him to reply is on the field. You have to consistently perform.

"The good thing about Danny is that he's an experienced player and he's had disappointments in the past.

Elsewhere, Worcester stunned Leicester with a 79th-minute Ted Hill try to record their first victory of the season, 44-37 at Welford Road.

Warriors had led 37-11 midway through the second half after running in five tries, before Tigers mounted a late comeback which saw them level the game with four minutes remaining after George Ford's converted try.

However, replacement Hill did just enough to score in the corner at the end to shock the hosts and get the Warriors' campaign up and running.

Leicester interim head coach Geordan Murphy was left frustrated with his team after a sluggish opening to the game left them playing catch-up.

He said: "It's disappointing, but we were very poor today.

"We gave Worcester too much of a start, we were still in the changing room and found ourselves three scores down at half-time. We're talking the talk, but we're just not walking the walk.

"Today, we weren't good enough to win. It doesn't get any easier. Our squad is being tested early in the season."

PA