Owen Farrell helped himself to a personal tally of 18 points, as Saracens got their hands back on the Premiership trophy, beating Bath 28 / 16 and becoming the 1st side to finish outside the Top 2 in the regular season and go on to be crowned champions.
Saracens got off to a flying start as flyhalf Farrell touched down after only 6 minutes and England teammate Jamie George followed him over the whitewash shortly after.
And Chris Wyles added a 3rd try as Saracens went into the break 25 / 3 ahead, Bath having just a solitary George Ford penalty on hte board.
But Bath, appearing in their 1st Premiership Final since 2004, came out stronger after the break and Jonathan Joseph’s try and the boot of Ford got them back into the contest as they trailed 16 / 25 with a quarter of the game to go.
However, man-of-the-match Ford stretched Saracens lead with a penalty and from then on Mark McCall’s men never looked like relinquishing their lead as they got their hands back on the trophy for the 1st time since 2011.
Bath enjoyed early territory but Saracens were soon in the ascendency and after David Strettle threatened to go over in the right corner, the ball was moved wide left and some great handling from Farrell and Duncan Taylor saw the former over in the 6th minute, the flyhalf dusting himself off to make the conversion from the touchline.
Saracens threatened again 5 minutes later as Farrell kicked into the right corner, but Strettle couldn’t hold on as Bath’s semifinal hat-trick hero Matt Banahan kept a close eye on him and the Sarries wing knocked on.
But Saracens didn’t have to wait long for their 2nd try as Ross Batty fumbled a Kyle Eastmond pass and George celebrated his call up to England’s World Cup training squad by racing away for a try, Farrell narrowly wide with the conversion.
Things went from bad to worse for Bath too as just before a quarter of the game was up Anthony Watson was replaced permanently by Ollie Devoto, the fullback having been clattered early on by Farrell with this his 50th appearance for the club.
Bath were then pinged at a scrum and Farrell made amends for his early conversion miss to put Saracens 15 / 0 up with a quarter of the game gone.
This seemed to wake Bath up and Semesa Rokoduguni looked to race onto his own chip down the right touchline only to be stopped illegally by Alex Goode, Ford stepping up to send a penalty through the posts to get his side up and running after 26 minutes.
However, Saracens were soon back on the front foot and it took a last-ditch tackle from Joseph to prevent Strettle from touching down after the Sarries wing had shown superb footwork to control a pass.
But the ball was moved from right to left and after Mako Vunipola recovered from a fumble, George put Wyles in on the left, the America going over for Saracens’ 3rd try just after half an hour, Farrell added the extras and the flyhalf booted Saracens further ahead with a penalty after David Wilson was pinged for an early tackle on Maro Itoje as the 2011 champions headed into halftime 25 / 3 ahead.
Bath were 1st on the scoreboard after the interval as Ford sent over his 2nd 3-pointer of the match, and the vocal West Country support had more to shout about soon after as Rob Webber and Nick Auterac were introduced off the bench and immediately helped their side win a scrum against the head.
Mike Ford’s men were well and truly on the front foot and their early 2nd-half dominance paid off when Joseph saw a gap and touched down for Bath’s 1st try of the game after 52 minutes, Ford with the conversions.
With 20 minutes remaining Ford sent the ball through the uprights again with another penalty, only for opposite number Farrell to stem the Bath flow with a 3-pointer of his own at the other end.
Bath threatened again when Neil De Kock’s kick was charged down, but as they pressed for the line Matt Garvey knocked on and Saracens could breathe again.
And that was as close Bath came to a comeback as Saracens professionally saw the game out, a late Charlie Hodgson drop goal miss doing little to dampen spirits as they enacted revenge for last year’s heartache.
Man of the match: George Ford kept his side in the match with his kicking accuracy, while Peter Springer marshalled the troops well. Jonathan Joseph was always a threat with ball in hand. Let’s not beat about the bush, the Saracens forwards all put their hands up, especially in the 1st half when they raced into a 25 / 3 lead. However, the general that dictated play was Saracens flyhalf Owen Farrell – who also kicked a crucial penalty under pressure in the 2nd half.
Moment of the match: This one goes to the Jamie George try in the 13th minute. Picking up a lose pass and sprinting about 30m for the try. It is always fun seeing a big boy sprint.
Villain of the match: None
Scorers:
Saracens:
- Tries: Owen Farrell (1), Jamie George (1), Chris Wyles (1)
- Conversions: Owen Farrell (2)
- Penalties: Owen Farrell (3)
Bath:
- Tries: Johnathan Joseph (1)
- Conversions: George Ford (1)
- Penalties: George Ford (3)
Teams:
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Sam Burgess, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (Captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Paul James
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Matt Garvey, 21 Carl Fearns, 22 Chris Cook, 23 Ollie Devoto
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Wyles, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (Captain), 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Chris Ashton
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: JP Doyle, Greg Garner
TMO: Graham Hughes
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