Saracens miss out on play-offs despite Bath win
Elliot Daly's try helped Saracens to a bonus-point win which was not enough to get them into the top four. [PA Media]
Gallagher Premiership
Saracens (19) 36
Tries: Segun, George 2, Daly, Dan, Burke Cons: Burke 3
Bath (7) 26
Tries: Green, Offiah, Tuipolutu, Hennessey Cons: Bailey 3
Saracens chalked up the bonus-point win over Bath they needed to retain any hope of making the Premiership play-offs but results elsewhere thwarted their bid.
Sarries needed a bonus-point victory and for two of the teams above them to fail to prevail on the final day of the regular season, and were always in charge against an under-strength Bath side.
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Dan George scored two tries, and Rotimi Segun, Elliot Daly, Theo Dan and Fergus Burke all crossed the line but with Saracens' rivals all winning, they could not move out of sixth place.
The win gave Alex Goode, playing his 402nd and final game before retirement, an emotional send-off but scorelines in other parts of the country meant the Men in Black failed to finish in the top four for only the third time since 2009.
Bath handed debuts to seven players and their youngsters staged a big finish as 18-year-old Tyler Offiah, son of rugby league legend Martin, marked his debut with a second half try, quickly followed by scores for Kepu Tuipolutu and Louie Hennessey.
Saracens' chances of making the top four were effectively ended a fortnight ago by a late Northampton Saints try which saw them go down 28-24 but on a tense final day they could still have finished second, behind Bath, with the right set of results.
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A hopeful home crowd was soon silenced as the very young Bath pack, without a single starter above 23 years old, began brightly. They ran the ball directly at the Sarries line for Green to burrow over and put the visitors ahead.
That youthful exuberance in attack, however, was soon swamped by the stark reality of trying to defend against an efficient and well-practised set of Sarries forwards who soon put them under intense pressure.
Saracens hit back immediately as Fergus Burke's fine kick took them to five metres and a quick switch to the left sent Segun over.
The Sarries pack took full control after that, George finishing two maul tries either side of Daly's try, which came from an angled run onto Ivan van Zyl's pass from the base of the scrum.
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With the bonus-point banked, George was taken off ahead of what would probably have been a hat-trick, and his replacement Dan pocketed the third maul try of the day within 90 seconds of going onto the field as the home forwards imposed themselves.
Burke, whose kicking was poor on the day, bagged a try by latching onto van Zyl's chip and then himself lobbing the cover before gathering to go over under the posts.
Bath, who will face local rivals Bristol next Friday in the first play-off semi-final, had the final say with a flourish which gave their supporters a taste of the future.
Offiah had a sparkling cameo on his league debut, producing a finish of which his father would have been proud and then coming up with a break that laid the platform for another prospect, 19-year-old Tuipolutu.
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Bath staged a big finish as Hennessey ran in an interception try which momentarily put the result in doubt until Sarries closed the game out.
Saracens: Carre, George, Riccioni, Itoje, Isiekwe, McFarland, Onyeama-Christie, Willis, van Zyl, Burke, Segun, Tompkins, Daly, Elliott, Goode
Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Beaton, Tizard, Gonzalez, Earl, Bracken, Cinti
Bath: Kirk, Spandler, Griffin, Jeanes, Richards, Staddon, Cowan, Green, Schreuder, Bailey, McConnochie, Parry, Hennessey, Emens, Woods.
Replacements: Tuipolutu, Cordwell, Verden, Graham, Timmins, le Roux, Offiah, Stewart.
Referee: Karl Dickson
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