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Louise Thomas
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England back row Ben Earl scored two tries as Saracens made it three wins from three in the Gallagher Premiership this season with a 29-14 victory over Exeter at the StoneX Stadium to move top of the table.
Once they hit the front, there was little doubt the Premiership’s only remaining 100 per cent record would be maintained by Sarries, for whom Tobias Elliott once again caught the eye on the right wing.
Second-bottom Exeter, meanwhile, are one of two teams in the division yet to record a win and unlike their previous two losses, the margin of victory was pretty clear-cut.
Both teams seemed to be feeling the other out in the opening stages, which took place almost exclusively in the middle portion of the pitch as not many phases were being put together.
The crowd was woken up in the 18th minute when Saracens broke the deadlock through England captain Jamie George, who had the honour of scoring off the back of a driving maul, with Alex Lozowski’s conversion striking an upright.
Exeter almost hit back within three minutes as fly-half Will Haydon-Wood broke through the middle only to be tackled about a metre short of the line.
Instead, Saracens extended their lead to 12-0 when Elliott made it three tries in three games this season by escaping around halfway before breaking clear of Josh Hodge’s attempted tackle, Lozowski this time converting.
Another pushover try for the hosts then followed in the 32nd minute, with Earl this time the man getting the ball down off the back of the maul.
The visitors looked to have a route back into the game when Hodge’s charged down kick fell kindly for Olly Woodburn, who passed the ball inside for Hodge himself to go clear under the posts.
But Sarries almost immediately hit back with their bonus-point try when Earl found Elliott on the right and the younger winger timed his pass to allow Fergus Burke to score his first try for the club.
This gave the hosts a 24-7 half-time lead and Exeter’s afternoon got even tougher when Ben Hammersley was sin-binned for making head-on-head contact with Andy Onyeama-Christie in the first minute of the second half.
Saracens quickly made the most of their man advantage as Elliott continued his impressive showing by getting a lovely off-load away for Earl to saunter in for his second try.
No further scores came while Hammersley was off the field and it was the Chiefs who scored next in the 62nd minute when quick hands from Woodburn and Hammersley allowed Hodge to bag his own double.
The contest kind of finished as it started, albeit now in drizzly conditions, although nobody at Saracens was complaining, as the six-time champions’ perfect start to the campaign continued.
PA
