Saracens back into top four with Gloucester win

Rotimi Segun has scored tries in both games against Gloucester this season

Gallagher Premiership

Saracens (12) 36

Tries: Segun, Tompkins, Dan 2, Gonzalez, George Cons: Burke 3

Gloucester (14) 14

Tries: Harris, Carreras Cons: Carreras 2

Saracens produced a powerful second-half performance to beat Gloucester and climb into the Premiership's top four.

Trailing by two points at the interval, the hosts scored 24 unanswered points to take the game beyond their opponents with two tries from Theo Dan, an individual score from Juan Martin Gonzalez and one from Jamie George.

In the first half, Rotimi Segun and Nick Tomkins had crossed for Saracens, but scores from Chris Harris and Santi Carreras had edged the visitors in front.

But the champions of two years ago were unstoppable after the break as they moved level on points with third-placed Sale with this bonus-point success.

Gloucester failed to pick up a single point for the first time this season as they drop two places to sixth, three points outside the play-off spots.

In search of their first top-four finish for six years, George Skivington's Cherry and Whites have been the great entertainers this season and that was evident with their first try.

From inside their own half, they put together a flowing move which ended with Jacob Morris' directing a grubber-kick perfectly into the path of Harris to score.

But it needed little time for them to respond thanks to the dancing feet of Segun as he grabbed a loose ball and sidestepped his way to the line.

And when Tompkins burst onto Fergus Burke's short pass in midfield, the Wales centre showed nice footwork and balance to go over.

But Tompkins was then the villain as his pass was anticipated and intercepted by full-back Carreras, who had an easy run to the line to put the visitors in front again.

Sarries show domestic intent

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall made no secret of his decision to prioritise making the top four over success in Europe and his England contingent were all back for this one.

That showed in the second period as their forwards – with Maro Itoje, Ben Earl and Tom Willis all in from the start having missed the Champions Cup exit to Toulon – made a massive difference.

Dan's try from a driving maul put Sarries back in front and a carbon copy move shortly after ended with the same result and a second try for the hooker.

Gloucester had little answer as Argentina flanker Gonzalez and then George put the gloss on the scoreline, with the former England captain, finishing like a winger after great work from his Red Rose successor, Itoje, in stealing a lineout.

It is the first time since January that Saracens have been in the play-off spots but suggested they are coming into form at the right time.

But for the Kingsholm outfit, with three of their last four games against the Premiership's bottom three, their hopes of that top-four finish remain very much alive.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said:

"The second half was considerably better than the first half.

"The first half was disappointing defensively to begin with – we struggled to slow their ball down – but with the ball we were disappointing.

"We went from side to side, we didn't move forward enough, our ruck was poor.

"We were altogether a different team in the second half.

"I felt we brought way more intensity to our carries, to how we attacked, and that filtered into the rest of our game, and to keep an attack like theirs to zero for 40 minutes takes a bit of doing."

Gloucester head coach George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucestershire:

"There was a lot of good stuff in the first half but we missed a couple of opportunities, which was a shame.

"Second half, there were a few key lineouts that hurt us. We've got to have a little look at a few areas where we weren't clinical enough and lineout is definitely top of the list.

"There are a few bits up front we're really sore about."

Saracens: Daly; Elliott, Tompkins, Hartley, Segun; Burke, van Zyl; Mawi, Dan, Riccioni, Itoje, Isiekwe, McFarland, Earl, Willis.

Replacements: George, Carre, Clarey, Tizard, Christie, Gonzalez, Bracken, Goode.

Gloucester: Carreras; Barton, Harris, S Atkinson, Morris, Anscombe, T Williams; Rapava-Ruskin, Singleton, Fasagbon, Clark, F Thomas, Clement, Ludlow, Ackermann.

Replacements: Blake, Ford-Robinson, Gotovtsev, Jordan, Clarke, Englefield, C Atkinson, Cotgreave.

Referee: Adam Leal