Premiership: Gloucester 54-7 Saracens - Cherry and Whites miss out on play-offs

Santiago Carreras scored Gloucester's third try of the match

Gloucester dismantled a second-string Saracens side 54-7 but still missed out on a Premiership play-off position.

First-half tries from Jack Singleton, Jordy Reid and Santiago Carreras put the Cherry and Whites in control.

A second from Singleton was followed by tries from Ollie Thorley and Santiago Socino before Max Malins dotted down a consolation for Sarries.

Louis Rees-Zammit and Jack Clement also scored but Northampton's win against Newcastle left Gloucester fifth.

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Sarries had already guaranteed a home semi-final next weekend and made 15 changes to their side as they rested players ahead of that game against Harlequins.

Gloucester took the lead inside nine minutes, driving over the line with a signature maul from a line-out, with hooker Singleton grounding the ball.

Reid capitalised on a lovely lay-off from scrum-half Ben Meehan to find space in the Sarries backline to skip through for Gloucester's second try.

Malins almost responded with an acrobatic try as he dived into the corner but replays showed he had just lost control of the ball before grounding.

Carreras added the hosts' third try before Saracens lock Tim Swinson was shown a yellow card for a high challenge on Thorley after his shoulder connected with the winger's head.

Gloucester made the extra man count immediately, with Singleton's second try almost a carbon copy of his first from another line-out.

Thorley then raced through to add his name to the scoresheet as the Cherry and Whites began to take the game away from Sarries.

Substitute Socino powered over in another maul for Gloucester's sixth score before Malins' 16th try of the season, making him the league's top scorer this campaign, saved Saracens from a shut-out defeat.

Gloucester turned on the style as they scored a try of the season contender on the break, with Reid kicking along the grass for Rees-Zammit to chase and finish before Clement took them past 50.

Gloucester head coach George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:

"Sneaking into the play-offs would have been the ideal [end] but, in terms of what we could control, I thought that was a really tight-knit performance.

"We wanted to get some more tries and wanted our defence to be top-notch and, barring gifting them seven points, I thought the boys defended really well."

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall:

"Their [Gloucester's] improvement under George has been remarkable, really.

"They do the fundamentals very well, and they have got firepower to burn on the outside. They are going to be a real force to be reckoned with.

"We had taken the decision to rest our XV for next week, and we will see next week whether that has paid off or not."

Gloucester: Carreras; Rees-Zammit, Harris, Kveseladze, Thorley; Hastings, Meehan; Rapava-Ruskin, Singleton, Gotovtsev, Clarke, Alemanno, Reid, Ludlow (capt), Ackermann.

Replacements: Socino, Elrington, Balmain, Davidson, Clement, Chapman, Twelvetrees, May.

Sin-bin: Swinson (44).

Saracens: Obatoyinbo; Malins, Lozowski, Taylor, Harris; Manu Vunipola, Van Zyl; Mawi, Pifeleti, Clarey, Hunter-Hill, Swinson, Wray (capt), Knight, Venter.

Replacements: Dan, Adams-Hale, Wainwright, Boon, Reffell, De Haas, Morris, Hallett.

Referee: Wayne Barnes.