SARACENS STEADIED THE ship ahead of next weekend’s Champions Cup trip to face Munster at Thomond Park with a 35-26 victory over Bristol Bears in the English Premiership.
Leinster loanee Harry Byrne made his debut off the bench for the visitors, whose 10-game unbeaten road run came to an emphatic end at StoneX Stadium.
Byrne entered the field at out-half on 44 minutes with his side in a 27-7 hole. He recovered from a shaky first couple of possessions to steer Pat Lam’s side towards a try bonus point in defeat.
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Byrne, 25, lost an intercept with his first pass and soon afterwards bounced another one off the head of a teammate, but his passing stood out thereafter as he blended seamlessly into Bristol’s free-flowing attack.
The Leinster man was eventually partnered at half-back by fellow replacement and former Connacht and Ireland scrum-half Kieran Marmion.
Byrne, a four-cap Irish international, converted second-half Bristol tries by Kavaleti Ravouvou and Harry Thacker, the latter from the touchline. However, his final effort from the tee, an equally difficult conversion from Jake Heenan’s bonus-point try, drifted agonisingly wide to deny Bristol a second match point with the clock red.
In truth, though, this was a game dominated by Saracens, for whom Tom Willis was totemic.
The 25-year-old number eight, younger brother of Toulouse and England back row Jack Willis, finished two superb tries to surely factor his way into Steve Borthwick’s thinking ahead of the Six Nations.
Saracens responded in style to their record defeat to Bath at The Rec last week, out-half Fergus Burke also scoring a brace of tries with Lucio Cinti adding a further score.
Victory moved Saracens to within a point of Bristol in third place in the Premiership table. They face Munster at Thomond Park in the Champions Cup a week from today.
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Saracens bounce back as Harry Byrne makes debut for beaten Bristol
SARACENS STEADIED THE ship ahead of next weekend’s Champions Cup trip to face Munster at Thomond Park with a 35-26 victory over Bristol Bears in the English Premiership.
Leinster loanee Harry Byrne made his debut off the bench for the visitors, whose 10-game unbeaten road run came to an emphatic end at StoneX Stadium.
Byrne entered the field at out-half on 44 minutes with his side in a 27-7 hole. He recovered from a shaky first couple of possessions to steer Pat Lam’s side towards a try bonus point in defeat.
Byrne, 25, lost an intercept with his first pass and soon afterwards bounced another one off the head of a teammate, but his passing stood out thereafter as he blended seamlessly into Bristol’s free-flowing attack.
The Leinster man was eventually partnered at half-back by fellow replacement and former Connacht and Ireland scrum-half Kieran Marmion.
Byrne, a four-cap Irish international, converted second-half Bristol tries by Kavaleti Ravouvou and Harry Thacker, the latter from the touchline. However, his final effort from the tee, an equally difficult conversion from Jake Heenan’s bonus-point try, drifted agonisingly wide to deny Bristol a second match point with the clock red.
In truth, though, this was a game dominated by Saracens, for whom Tom Willis was totemic.
The 25-year-old number eight, younger brother of Toulouse and England back row Jack Willis, finished two superb tries to surely factor his way into Steve Borthwick’s thinking ahead of the Six Nations.
Saracens responded in style to their record defeat to Bath at The Rec last week, out-half Fergus Burke also scoring a brace of tries with Lucio Cinti adding a further score.
Victory moved Saracens to within a point of Bristol in third place in the Premiership table. They face Munster at Thomond Park in the Champions Cup a week from today.
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