Every league game Saracens play is now a cup final following their 35-point deduction for breaching the salary cap but so far their nerve is holding. After a shaky start the under-fire champions proved too strong and defensively sound for a frustrated Bath with 20 points from Owen Farrell on his return from World Cup action making all the difference.
Until the sin-binning of Maro Itoje nine minutes from the end Saracens were 25-12 ahead and reasonably comfortable on a cold, tricky night not made for free-flowing rugby. That suited Saracens’ purposes fine, however, and their big forwards had too much for a home side who had not lost at the Rec to these opponents since April 2016
While they remain on minus 18 points, still 22 points adrift, this was a crucial test of character passed from Saracens’ perspective. With all their big – and highest-paid – men back they remain a formidable test for anyone and even Bath’s World Cup winner Francois Louw, facing again the English contingent beaten by the Springboks in the final in Japan, could make little headway.
With Farrell kicking everything and a 33rd-minute try from Sean Maitland having given the visitors daylight, Sarries’ director of rugby, Mark McCall, had every reason to be delighted. “Our international players were magnificent… you saw what the club means to them,” said McCall. “I thought it was a real ‘together’ performance and really pleasing overall. That’s a good win.”
The Saracens’ owner Nigel Wray, however, was not in attendance and, according to McCall, is currently reluctant to visit away grounds. “It’s a real shame he doesn’t feel comfortable to come to away matches at the moment.For someone who I believe has given rugby a lot it’s really sad for him not to feel he can come and watch his club play rugby. Hopefully he’ll start to feel differently soon.”
There remain a number of important details to be clarified about the affair, however, and the game took place amid a slightly muted atmosphere, almost as if the crowd were not entirely sure how to respond to Sarries’ presence. Until the full independent report into the salary cap affair is made public it will be impossible for neutrals to know for sure if any significant mitigating circumstances are involved. And until that day dawns the league will be tarnished by association, not a great look at precisely the moment it is trying to sell itself to a wider audience.
Not that this was a game many of the Bath team will want to watch endlessly on catch-up. In many ways this was a chance missed, their performance not accurate or penetrative enough when it really mattered. In the first quarter, in particular, there were opportunities to be had, with Saracens struggling to adjust to a heavy pitch and a ball which seemed to be covered in some kind of non-stick coating.
Three Rhys Priestland penalties had given Bath a narrow but deserved lead when Saracens belatedly began to rediscover some form. A sudden outbreak of deft midfield handling stretched the hitherto tight Bath defence and, from Elliot Daly’s long ball, the alert Maitland cut inside to score the only try of the half.
A further Farrell penalty extended the half-time lead to 16-9, throwing down the gauntlet to a Bath side who had lost only one of their previous 10 Premiership home games. There was a brief flicker when Tom Homer, shaggy haired these days, slalomed through a midfield hole but Saracens’ ability to slow down their opponents’ ball at the breakdown otherwise restricted the home team to marginal gains. Priestland’s fourth penalty after 56 minutes briefly narrowed the gap but an offside decision swiftly gave Farrell the chance to restore order until Itoje’s trip to the sin-bin briefly re-ignited the crowd’s interest.
The pressure, though, will remain on Saracens for the foreseeable future. After their forthcoming European double whammy against Munster their next league games either side of Christmas are against the league leaders, Bristol, and then away at Exeter, who will be achingly keen to beat the champions at Sandy Park. Slogging away in the basement can be just as tough as staying at the top.