Sarries crush Falcons to boost play-off chances

Saracens ran riot in the second half, with Charlie Bracken among their try-scorers

Gallagher Premiership

Saracens (33) 75

Tries: Gonzalez 3, Dan, Earl 2, van Zyl, Itoje, George, Bracken, Willis Cons: Burke 7, Johnson 3

Newcastle (14) 28

Tries: Stuart 2, Lockwood, Stevenson Cons: Connon 4

Saracens boosted their hopes of reaching the Premiership play-offs with a thumping 75-28 win over bottom-of-the-table Newcastle Falcons at StoneX Stadium.

Regularly overpowering the visitors in the first half, the home side established a comfortable cushion, scoring tries through Juan Martin Gonzalez, Theo Dan, Ben Earl, Ivan van Zyl and Maro Itoje.

Newcastle struck back with scores from Sam Stuart and Freddie Lockwood, but further efforts from Gonzalez, Jamie George, Charlie Bracken and Tom Willis put the game beyond Steve Diamond's side.

The result leaves Mark McCall's men fifth in the table with two games to go, while the Falcons remain rooted to the bottom.

The home side had the better of the early exchanges and it did not take them long to get on the scoreboard.

Van Zyl drove up to within inches of the line from a quick-tap penalty, before Gonzalez forced his way over for the first score of the afternoon.

Minutes later, Saracens were in again. Theo Dan emerging from the bottom of the pile following a five-metre line-out drive that was helped over the whitewash by the arrival of various Saracens backs.

Stung by those early concessions, Newcastle quickly halved the deficit.

Alex Hearle stole through a gaping hole in the home side's defence before feeding Stuart, who fought off the attempted tackle of Tobias Elliott to slide over the line.

But whatever hopes the visitors' had were soon dashed, as newly announced Lion Earl ran through two Falcons defenders off the back of a scrum for Saracens' third.

Having been so close to scoring earlier on, van Zyl then got the try he deserved.

Following a flowing set-piece move initiated from the Saracens half, neat interplay between Nick Tompkins, Alex Goode and Elliott put the scrum-half through to dot down in the shadow of the posts.

Itoje, having been named Lions captain on Thursday, then capped a fine week with a score of his own.

Following another catch and drive deep in the Falcons half, the second row drove over as the visitors' defence fragmented under the pressure.

With the clock in the red at the end of the first period, the Falcons restored some semblance of pride, as Lockwood drove over from short range following a series of Saracens infringements.

Ivan van Zyl was instrumental in Saracens' victory, scoring one of the home side's eleven tries

Falcons overpowered and outplayed

Things did not get any easier for the Falcons early in the second half with Gonzalez adding to his earlier effort, scything through the Falcons line and past the despairing Stuart.

The Argentine then gained a third, the ball spilling invitingly out the back of a Falcons ruck allowing the back rower to stride through untouched.

Not to be outdone, Stuart then bagged a second for the Falcons, darting off the back of a five-metre scrum as Saracens defenders proved slow to react to the threat.

Even with such a commanding lead, Saracens' intensity never let up and resulted in a further four tries.

George fought his way over following another short-range driving maul before Ben Stevenson secured a try bonus point for the Falcons after Brett Connon's break in the midfield.

Bracken then claimed Saracens' ninth score of the afternoon from close range before Earl and Willis forced their way over late on as Newcastle wilted in the sunshine.

The win moves Sarries up to fifth, level on 49 points with Sale Sharks who sit in fourth.

'We need investment in whole club' - Diamond

Saracens head coach Joe Shaw told BBC Radio London:

"I was happy with how we played. Scoring the tries is great, but it was how you play against a dogged team.

"Newcastle played well against Exeter and Northampton and beat us earlier in the season, so it was very important we got our nuts and bolts right.

"Today was a big game for us and we got what we wanted from it.

"We've been in this position before, but it's a relatively new squad coming together, so we need to get back to the drawing board, come up with a decent plan and get ourselves to Franklins Gardens to give a good account of ourselves."

Newcastle Falcons consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"The only bit we managed to get out of the game was the four-try losing bonus point, which we asked for them to do at half-time.

"But we were beaten in all areas. The difference between the two clubs is enormous.

"We talked before the game about investment and the rumours knocking around, but that showed we need investment in the whole structure of the club; the coaching structure, the playing roster - everything."

Saracens: Goode, Elliott, Daly, Tompkins, Segun; Burke, Van Zyl; Mawi, Dan, Clarey, Itoje, Isiekwe, McFarland, Gonzalez, Earl.

Replacements: George, Crean, Beaton, Willis, Onyeama-Christie, Bracken, Johnson, Hall.

Newcastle: Obatoyinbo, Hearle, Clark, Arnold, Stevenson; Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, Blamire, McCallum, De Chaves, Hawkins, Lockwood, Neild, Chick.

Replacements: Fletcher, Rewcastle, De Bruin, Usher, Gordon, Davis, Pepper, Spencer.

Referee: Jack Makepeace.