Saracens shake off sluggish start to score eight tries in win over Connacht

A bit of a pattern is developing to Saracens’ matches in the build-up to Christmas – start slowly, fall behind, then start playing in the second half. Sometimes the last development is enough to take the win, but the last couple of matches it has not been.

Here against Connacht the recovery certainly was, an eight-try win more than sufficient for anyone in any kind of form. A rare home defeat to Northampton at the start of the month might have had the English champions scratching their heads, but a second defeat, even if at altitude on the other side of the world, to the Bulls will have hurt just as much. So Connacht were always in danger of suffering a backlash.

They had disappointments of their own to work through, having shipped 40 points to Bordeaux last weekend under their own lights in the west of Ireland. Early indications were not auspicious, Juan Martín González brandishing his formidable athleticism to gather Owen Farrell’s cross-kick and rampage through his opposite number to the line.

Farrell, who missed six kicks at goal for the first time in his career in that loss to Northampton, is not quite as reliable off the tee at the moment, however deadly his game in open play. He missed five kicks here (mind you, he did have 11 of them to take), including the conversion of that first try, but he continues to beat at the heart of Saracens, who will benefit greatly from his break from international rugby.

Perhaps the early try lulled the hosts into a false sense of security. It was Connacht who took hold of proceedings for the next 20 minutes. Two tries, from attacking lineouts, helped them to establish a 17-8 lead on the half-hour. Bundee Aki joined a maul for the first, before Caolin Blade nipped round the fringes after a series of Connacht carries.

It might have been too early to expect a third defeat on the trot, but these sluggish starts will niggle at Saracens. They resorted to the workmanlike for the last 10 minutes of the half, two tries by Jamie George at the back of further driven lineouts securing a 21-17 lead at the break.

So far, so pedestrian, but normal service was resumed in the second half. Three tries in the third quarter put the game to bed. Sean Maitland scored the second of them, after a fabulous pass from Farrell, but it was his break from deep that paved the way for Saracens’ bonus-point try two minutes into the second half, when Olly Hartley touched down after Alex Goode’s chip to the posts.

Cian Prendergast killed the ball after Jamie George’s interception, and the yellow card he saw for that facilitated Maitland’s try, number five, and another, by the long-striding Lucio Cinti before the hour. At 43-17, that was more or less the game, but Maro Itoje was shown yellow on the hour, which helped Connacht to a well-deserved bonus point of their own.

A pair of tries apiece in the final quarter lent the occasion an appropriate festival feel. Saracens’ campaign is back on track, but they will want to shake off the sluggishness, before the festive season gets into them.