Second-half blitz helps Saracens beat Newcastle

The Prem

Saracens (7) 39

Tries: George, Va'enuku, Knight, Tompkins, Caluori, Daly, Segun Cons: Farrell 2

Newcastle (17) 31

Tries: Kok, Graham, Hodge, Hearle Cons: Hodge 4 Pen: Hodge

A dominant second-half display from Saracens saw them move back into the top-four as they overcame Newcastle Red Bulls with a bonus-point triumph at the Stone X Stadium.

Tries from Werner Kok and Sam Graham had given the Red Bulls a 10-point cushion at half-time with Jamie George's try sandwiched in between as they went in search of successive wins.

But a loss of discipline from the vistors in the second period changed the game as Graham and Alex Hearle were both yellow-carded.

In the 17-minute spell in which Saracens had at least a one-man advantage, they scored 22 unanswered points with tries from Sione Va'enuku, Toby Knight, Nick Tompkins and Noah Caluori.

Further scores from Elliot Daly and Rotimi Segun followed to make the game safe before two late efforts from Ollie Leatherbarrow and Hearle grabbed Newcastle a bonus point.

But despite that, a fourth loss in five matches sends them into the November break bottom of the Prem.

Newcastle's Scotland prop Elliot Millar-Mills limped off inside the first five minutes, seven days away from New Zealand's visit to Murrayfield in the first of the Nations Championship matches next month.

But the Red Bulls confidence from an opening win against Sale Sharks eight days ago was evident as they shrugged off that setback with Josh Hodge kicking an early penalty and minutes later Kok came off his wing and charged right through the middle of the defence for his second Prem try.

Sarries, with 10 changes from the side that lost the London derby to Harlequins in disappointing fashion, took time to warm to the task but it was old hand George who got them on the board, getting it down at the back of a maul as the forwards drove over from a five-metre lineout.

However, a sense of adventure allowed Newcastle to pull further clear with Hodge attacking the line and releasing Kok. The South African appeared to be tackled and falling into touch only for a sensational offload to Graham, who went over in the corner.

But it was a different story after the break. Graham was sin-binned for killing a ruck not far from his own line and with him off the field, Va'enuku crossed.

Then Hearle was punished for a deliberate knock-on and with two players extra, Knight went over and Tompkins and Caluori both crossed before Newcastle could get back to parity.

By now, the momentum was completely with Saracens and Daly and Segun got their names on the scoresheet.

However, the Red Bulls showed commendable spirit to find two tries in the last five minutes through new Scotland call-up Leatherbarrow and Hearle as the rebuilt side maintained a record of picking up a point or better in all five of their Prem games so far.

Saracens head coach Joe Shaw said:

"It's probably best to forget about that first-half because it wasn't a pretty watch and was unexpected.

"Red Bulls did what they had to do to stop us getting across their line but I can't remember seeing the team make so many handling errors.

"We left so many chances out there on the field and it made things much harder for us than they should have been.

"Fortunately, the guys improved a lot with their execution after the break and we created several fine tries."

Newcastle Red Bulls head coach Dan McFarland told BBC Radio Newcastle:

"Ultimately, it was very disappointing. In the first half we felt we did a lot of very good stuff, in particular around our defending. But we hadn't made the most of our opportunities.

"But in the second half, two yellow cards against us - so we played nearly 20 minutes with 14 and even a chunk with 13 - and they scored four tries in that period. That's what changed the course of the game.

"We're sat in the dressing room and we're disappointed because that was a game we had an opportunity get a grasp of and we let it slip away."

Saracens: Daly; T Elliott, Tompkins, Va'enuku, Segun; Farrell (c), James; O'Driscoll, Dan, Street, Isiekwe, Tizard, Michelow, Knight, Barbeary.

Replacements: George, Brantingham, Clarey, Martin, Earl, C Bracken, Malins, Caluori.

Newcastle: Hodge; Wade, Hearle, Rigg, Kok; Connon, Benitez Cruz; Rakete-Stones, McGuigan, Millar Mills, Usher, Jordan, Hicks, Christie (c), Graham.

Replacements: Adejimi, West, Moreno, Baker, Leatherbarrow, J Elliott, Henry, Harris.

Sin-bin: Graham (45), Hearle (52)

Referee: Ian Tempest