Saracens vs Worcester Warriors match report: Hosts start Premiership title defence with comfortable victory

Saracens 35 Worcester Warriors 3: It was far from a gala occasion at Twickenham, with the winners more concerned with contesting trophies in eight months’ time

Alex Lozowski of Saracens scores his team's second try at Twickenham (Getty)

Springbok great Schalk Burger marked his competition debut for Saracens with a try to top off an outstanding individual performance in attack and defence, as the Premiership and European champions eased to victory in the increasingly inaptly-named London double-header.

It was far from a gala occasion at Twickenham, with the winners more concerned with contesting trophies in eight months’ time than putting all their wares on show on weekend one, and Worcester scrapping hard at the cost of a glut of penalties after being beaten 48-18 by Saracens in the corresponding fixture at Twickenham last November, and eventually finishing 10th out of 12 in the Premiership.

Saracens gave Scotland wing Sean Maitland and former Leeds and Wasps fly-half Alex Lozowski their debuts alongside the 86-cap flanker Burger, with the absentees including flanker Will Fraser recovering from hip surgery, and fly-half Owen Farrell out with a neck injury.

Worcester were emerging from a summer of disruption after their director of rugby Dean Ryan had lurched from talking of long-term building plans midway through last season to quitting the club for a job with the Rugby Football Union amid rumours of problems with funding. The big-hitting centre and England tourist Ben Te’o made his debut after signing from Leinster, and the former NRL star came close to a score in the first half before his run for the corner was expertly cut down by Saracens’ full-back Alex Goode. But Worcester missed the classy influence of the injured scrum-half Francois Hougaard (who was away with South Africa anyway) and full-back Chris Pennell.

Sarries led after 14 minutes when Brad Barritt tackled Wynand Olivier, and Burger’s rapid jackalling forced Pennell’s Kiwi stand-in Jackson Willison into sealing off; Lozowski landed the penalty. Then Te’o made his dash, chased down by Goode, after Saracens' Billy Vunipola spilled a high ball. England head coach Eddie Jones believes Vunipola can “improve enormously in the physical area – he’s just touching the surface at the moment”. This was one of the less taxing run-outs for the big No.8.

Lozowski’s opposite number Ryan Lamb was selected ahead of Tom Heathcote for Worcester and levelled the scores on 24 minutes when George Kruis jumped across a line-out. But it was mostly Saracens on the front foot. Another penalty against Worcester off their feet led to Lozowski’s kick sliding to the left, then Olivier’s handling on the ground gave Lozowski an easier chance a minute before half-time but the kick went wide again. As is often the way, the pendulum swung towards the kicker when another opportunity came from much wider out on the left, after yet more ball-killing by Cooper Vuna, and Lozowski hit the target to put Saracens ahead 6-3 at half-time.

Mike Ellery is tackled by Naama Leleimalefaga just in time (Getty)

Kruis’s second-row colleague Maro Itoje nicked a Worcester line-out and Lozowski collected his third penaty goal for Tevita Cavubati kicking the ball out of Richard Wigglesworth’s hands as Saracens nudged further ahead two minutes into the second half.

And the long wait for an opening try ended soon afterwards when Worcester forgot their tight game plan, tossed possession away and were easily driven over their goalline from a Saracens line-out, with hooker Jamie George applying the scoring finish on his 150th first-team appearance. Lozowski converted and at 16-3 the scoreline had a more realistic look to it.

Goode briefly took the kicking over from a limping Lozowski and hit a post in the 50th minute. But Lozowski was fit to stroll over for Saracens’ second try, and to convert it, after Billy Vunipola rumbled around the fringe of another line-out drive. Worcester’s afternoon took a further nose-dive when they had their former Sarries prop James Johnston sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Lozowski and with 56 minutes gone a try forged in South Africa saw Burger go over at the posts from Schalk Brits’s smooth no-look pass. Lozowski converted for 30-3.

That left the capture of a bonus point as the obvious target for Saracens in the final quarter. It took until the 78th minute but it was worth the wait as the replacement scrum-half Ben Spencer slashed through a gap and sidestepped three defenders to give the match a finish of lavish panache out of keeping with much of what had gone before.

“It’s a great taste of the Premiership and a good victory for us,” said Burger. “Everyone’s feeling their way into the season and in a couple of weeks I’ll be really settled down.”

Scorers:

Saracens: tries: George, Lozowski, Burger, Spencer; conversions: Lozowski 3; penalties: Lozowski 3.

Worcester Warriors: penalty: Lamb.

Saracens: A Goode; C Ashton, M Bosch (rep D Taylor 58 mins), B Barritt (capt; M Ellery 69), S Maitland; A Lozowski, R Wigglesworth (B Spencer 57); M Vunipola (R Barrington 58), J George (S Brits 52), P du Plessis (J Figallo 41), M Itoje, G Kruis (J Hamilton 64), J Wray (M Rhodes 52), S Burger, B Vunipola.

Worcester Warriors: J Willison; D Hammond, W Olivier, B Te’o, C Vuna (P Humphreys 68); R Lamb (T Heathcote 58), J Arr (L Baldwin 62); V Rapava Ruskin (N Leleimalefaga 55), N Annett (J Bregvadze 51), N Schonert (J Johnston 51, sin bin 58-68), T Cavubati (C Scotland-Williamson 51), D Barry, P Dowson (A Fa’osiliva 51), M Mama, GJ van Velze (capt).

Referee: M Carley (RFU).