LESS THAN A day after their relegation from the Premiership was confirmed, 14-man Saracens dug deep to beat Racing 27-24 at Allianz Park, putting themselves in contention for a Champions Cup quarter-final place with the kind of determined performance worthy of a doff of their critics’ (salary) cap.
The defending champions will set up a last-eight clash with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium unless Gloucester can rack up a big win away to Toulouse – either winning with a bonus point or a win which overturns a 12-point differential.
Sarries raced into a 14-0 lead through tries from Maro Itoje and Mako Vunipola, before Vakatawa hit back with a try for already-qualified Racing. An Owen Farrell penalty pushed Sarries a further three points ahead before a Dupichot try cut the gap to three points. The visitors then hit the front by four points with a second Vakatawa try just after the half-hour mark, and Sarries woes deepened before half-time when Will Skelton saw red for a high tackle on Dulin.
Itoje scored a second try of his own early in the second half to level the scores at 24 apiece, the final score of the game until Owen Farrell nervelessly converted a match-winning penalty three minutes from the end after a sustained period of pressure on the Racing line.
Advertisement
The win came at an -ahem – cost for Sarries, with Billy Vunipola taken off with an injury reported to be a broken arm, which would greatly curtail his involvement in this year’s Six Nations.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
72 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
14-man Saracens grind out Racing win to put themselves in frame for European quarter-finals
Saracens 27
Racing 24
LESS THAN A day after their relegation from the Premiership was confirmed, 14-man Saracens dug deep to beat Racing 27-24 at Allianz Park, putting themselves in contention for a Champions Cup quarter-final place with the kind of determined performance worthy of a doff of their critics’ (salary) cap.
The defending champions will set up a last-eight clash with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium unless Gloucester can rack up a big win away to Toulouse – either winning with a bonus point or a win which overturns a 12-point differential.
Sarries raced into a 14-0 lead through tries from Maro Itoje and Mako Vunipola, before Vakatawa hit back with a try for already-qualified Racing. An Owen Farrell penalty pushed Sarries a further three points ahead before a Dupichot try cut the gap to three points. The visitors then hit the front by four points with a second Vakatawa try just after the half-hour mark, and Sarries woes deepened before half-time when Will Skelton saw red for a high tackle on Dulin.
Itoje scored a second try of his own early in the second half to level the scores at 24 apiece, the final score of the game until Owen Farrell nervelessly converted a match-winning penalty three minutes from the end after a sustained period of pressure on the Racing line.
The win came at an -ahem – cost for Sarries, with Billy Vunipola taken off with an injury reported to be a broken arm, which would greatly curtail his involvement in this year’s Six Nations.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Champions Cup doff your salary cap racing 92 Saracens