Saracens may not know where they will be playing their home matches in the first half of next season after their move to a new permanent home at Barnet Copthall Stadium encountered planning delays, but on the field they know exactly where they are going.
A pragmatic, hard-nosed victory yesterday against Bath, whose own play-off hopes were all but extinguished, featured a stunning score by David Strettle on the stroke of half-time.
Saracens are where they want to be, keeping pace with Leicester at the head of the Aviva Premiership, and the prize of a home play-off semi-final — given to the top two teams in the regular season — is the first ambition they aim to realise in the campaign’s final weeks.
This week the Saracens squad will be in Florida to swap training ideas with the Miami Dolphins American football team. “We want to re-energise,” Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, said. “Everything we do is focused on getting to the Premiership final on May 29 — that’s what counts. But, as a group, we feel very comfortable with where we are at the moment, especially compared to this time last year when we had to win our last five games to get into the play-offs.”
Bath, smarting from a heavy home defeat against Leicester the previous week, had all the life squeezed out of them. Matt Stevens impressed again in his third start since his new year comeback and Steve Borthwick, also playing against his former club, led an uncompromising forward effort with relish.
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This was Saracens’ eighth successive win and the smooth goalkicking of Alex Goode, who landed five penalties, was seemingly as effortless as the classy performances at half back by Richard Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell, who is still only 19 but who has the composure of a veteran.
“I would be very surprised if Stevens is not in England’s World Cup squad,” McCall said. “As he showed today, his ability to play on both sides of the scrum is outstanding.”
Edward Griffiths, the Saracens chief executive, said the club were in discussions with six other parties as they search for a temporary venue to stage home matches from September until January. It could be that Saracens will stay on at Vicarage Road, despite the existing tenancy agreement with Watford Football Club ending next month. Other venues believed to be under consideration include Loftus Road, Craven Cottage and the stadium:mk in Milton Keynes, with a couple of high-profile matches planned for Wembley.
Scorers: Saracens: Try: Strettle (40min). Penalty goals: Goode 5 (11, 23, 55, 67, 71). Bath: Penalty goals: James 3 (35, 57, 69).
Scoring sequence (Saracens first): 3-0, 6-0, 6-3, 11-3 (half-time), 14-3, 14-6, 17-6, 17-9, 20-9.
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Saracens: A Goode; D Strettle, C Wyles, B Barritt (rep: A Powell, 75), J Short (rep: N Cato, 71); O Farrell, R Wigglesworth (rep: K Barrett, 75); M Stevens (rep: P du Plessis, 59), S Brits (rep: J George, 75), C Nieto (rep: R Gill, 41), S Borthwick, H Smith (rep: M Botha, 50), K Brown (rep: J Burger, 50), A Saull, E Joubert.
Bath: N Abendanon; M Banahan, B Williams, S Hape, M Carraro (rep: J Cuthbert, 78); B James (rep: S Vesty, 78), M Claassens (rep: M McMillan, 78); D Flatman (rep: N Catt, 67), L Mears (rep: P Dixon, 67), D Bell (rep: D Wilson, 41), S Hooper, P Short (rep: I Fernández Lobbe, 67), B Skirving, L Watson, S Taylor (rep: G Mercer, 15).
Referee: N Owens (Wales). Attendance: 9,653.