Saracens power to bonus-point Champions Cup win

Maro Itoje returned to Saracens duty after playing in England's Autumn Nations Series

Investec Champions Cup

Saracens 27 (8)

Tries: Carre, George, Willis, Earl Pen: Burke Cons: Burke 2

Bulls 5 (5)

Tries: De Klerk

Saracens started their quest for a fourth European Cup with an impressive bonus-point victory over Bulls in blustery conditions at StoneX Stadium.

Right wing Sebastian de Klerk gave the South African side the lead before Saracens prop forward Rhys Carre powered over to level the score.

Fergus Burke, who had missed two normally routine kicks in the fierce wind, landed a penalty to give the hosts a hard-earned 8-5 lead at half-time.

England captain Jamie George and man of the match Tom Willis both scored while the Bulls were temporarily reduced to 13 players after second row Jannes Kirsten and De Klerk received yellow cards within minutes of each other.

Ben Earl displayed his finishing prowess to score the bonus-point fourth try as the hosts made the most of playing with the wind behind them.

Saracens, who went out of last year's competition in the last 16, welcomed back England trio George, Maro Itoje and Nick Isiekwe as they bounced back from a disappointing Premiership defeat at Newcastle in their previous match.

Saracens pack leads from the front

Playing into the wind in the first half, Saracens fought back well after De Klerk gave the visitors the perfect start.

Carre bundled his way over after the home side drove the Bulls pack backwards, as Saracens' international stars showed all their experience to take the initiative.

Mark McCall's side might have led by more than three points but fly-half Burke endured a challenging half with the boot.

With the wind causing havoc, the New Zealander smacked the post from 15 yards with one penalty and had a conversion attempt blown well wide of the posts by a powerful gust.

England back Elliot Daly also fell foul of the stormy conditions when he attempted to find touch with one of his booming kicks, only to see the ball blown backwards.

When Burke nailed a kick, the crowd raised an ironic cheer but it gave his team-mates a huge lift as they went into the break with a vital lead.

Jamie George stops the ball from blowing off the tee as Fergus Burke lines up a conversion

The forwards tightened Saracens' grip on the match in the second half.

Itoje had the ball knocked out of his hands as he went to dive over the line but, with the Bulls down to 13 after Kirsten made head contact with Rotimi Segun in a high tackle and De Klerk infringed moments later, the Saracens captain played a key part in the try for his international skipper George.

Itoje rose high to take a line-out ball, the pack pushed the Bulls back and George dropped down over the line, thumping the turf with his fist in celebration.

Eroni Mawi powered through after Theo McFarland charged down a Bulls kick and presented Willis with the chance to score the third.

Earl's try was the best finish. The England number eight, who came on in the second half, beat one defender with neat footwork and then held off another to ground the ball despite being tackled as he dived over in the corner.

The three-time champions will travel to Paris next weekend to face a Stade Francais side beaten 33-7 by Munster after having two players sent off.

'We weathered the storm - quite literally'

Saracens lock Nick Isiekwe, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live:

"You want to get off to a good start [in the competition]. All I was thinking about all week was executing the plan - the coaches did a great job of putting the plan together this week.

"The first half was difficult against the wind, it was blowing a gale, but we weathered the storm - quite literally - and then in the second half we executed when we needed to.

"We got good field position and we've got some great players on our team who can do some magical things - give them the ball and they'll create.

"I'm grateful for those guys to be able to finish it, but for us to be able to put ourselves in a good position."

Line-ups

Saracens: Daly; Elliott, Cinti Luna, Tompkins, Segun; Burke, Van Zyl; Carre, George, Riccioni, Itoje (capt), Isiekwe, McFarland, Gonzalez Samso, Willis

Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Clarey, Wilson, Earl, Simpson, Eden, Parton

Bulls: Le Roux, De Klerk, Moodie, Kriel, Williams; Goosen, Papier; Steenekamp, Grobbelaar (capt), Klopper, Vermaak, Van Heerden, Van Staden, Wiese, Hanekom

Replacements: Van der Merwe, Tshakweni, Smith, Kirsten, Coetzee, Johannes, Dyantyi, Vorster

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)