This mightily impressive Saracens victory came with a touch of the slapstick – 50mph winds can make any player look silly – and a stark reminder of the farce that is Tom Willis’s continued England omission.
The No 8 turned in an imperious display, demonstrating precisely what can be achieved with a back-row forward who can blast his way over the gainline. That it was against South African opposition too – albeit not of the calibre of the starting Springboks – should not be lost on Steve Borthwick.
It was Willis’s second-half try that rubber-stamped Saracens’ victory, getting the three-times champions up and running in the Champions Cup and giving their supporters another of the defiant performances they would habitually display in this competition not so long ago. For one or two England internationals, there seemed to be something particularly satisfying about getting one over the Springbok veteran Willie le Roux too.
Maro Itoje was at his disruptive best, Jamie George fired up from the first whistle but it was Willis – whose only England cap came in the summer of 2023 in a World Cup warm-up match – who shone brightest.
“Tom has played well all year and I know that Steve Borthwick was really keen to see him and how he was going to play at an elevated level and that’s a big pack we were playing against, full of Springboks, and Tom still stood out,” said Saracens’ director of rugby, Mark McCall. “Hopefully they’ll take notice.”
It was also the perfect way for Saracens to respond to last week’s shock defeat by Newcastle and, in filthy conditions, against vaunted opposition, the stage was perfectly set for them. The Bulls head coach, Jake White, described “unbelievable conditions” and conceded the toss – won by Saracens who decided to go into the wind in the first half – took on additional importance. “I don’t think some of those Saracens players played in conditions like that,” said White. “We lost the toss. It was a bit like cricket, we didn’t want to bat last on a pitch that was going to turn.”
The visitors were missing a handful of Springboks forwards but still brought with them a beastly pack, featuring a hulking back-row and a 6ft 5in loosehead prop. As a result, Saracens’ challenge appeared hard enough but playing into the teeth of the wind, McCall’s side found themselves camped in their own 22. That they weathered what came at them, taking an 8-5 lead into the interval, had McCall purring. “It felt like the old days at times, just watching us get off the line and knock people down.”
On the rare occasion they could clear they lines Fergus Burke found yards hard to come by from the boot and when Sebastian de Klerk finished off the opening try in the right corner for the Bulls after a delightful pass off his left hand from Le Roux, you briefly wondered how big the deficit might be at the interval. To Saracens’ credit, however, they rallied.
Exeter fell to a 39-21 defeat against the Sharks in Durban. The Chiefs took an early lead through Dan Frost’s try while they were down to 14 with Greg Fisilau in the sin-bin. Frost claimed a second score at the end of the first half, but by then the Challenge Cup holders had crossed four times themselves. Phepsi Buthelezi, Makazole Mapimpi, Grant Williams and Siya Kolisi dotted down for a 26-14 interval lead.
Kolisi’s second try stretched the Sharks’ lead before England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso claimed a crossfield kick for Exeter’s third score. Despite the Sharks being reduced to 12 men for about six minutes later with three players sent to the sin-bin in quick succession, Exeter could not score a fourth try and register a bonus point.
Harlequins and Sale both lost away, with the London club going down 23-12 at Racing 92. The French hosts seized control with 11 unanswered points in the final quarter after Alex Dombrandt and Will Porter scored tries for Harlequins and Marcus Smith added a conversion.
The Glasgow scrum-half George Horne claimed a first-half hat-trick in their 38-19 victory over Sale at Scotstoun Stadium. Kyle Rowe, Huw Jones and Scott Cummings were also on the try sheet, while Sale replied through Arron Reed, Joe Carpenter and a penalty try.
Stade Français played with 13 men for the final 27 minutes of their 33-7 defeat at Munster. Pierre Azagoh was sent off for catching Peter O'Mahony with a flying arm and Baptiste Pesenti saw red nine minutes later for a dangerous tackle. Munster secured a bonus point with tries from Thaakir Abrahams, Shane Daly, Alex Kendellen and Tom Farrell.
Clermont Auvergne shut out Benetton in a 28-0 victory Stade Marcel-Michelin. Peceli Yato and Barnabe Massa both crossed twice with Benjamin Urdapilleta converting all four tries.
Toulon overcame a 14-10 interval deficit to record an impressive 24-14 success away to the Stormers in Cape Town. Gabin Villière, Facundo Isa and Baptiste Serin crossed for the visitors, while Warrick Gelant and Joseph Dweba scored tries for the South African hosts. PA Media
Burke missed a sitter from the tee – walloping his kick against the right post – before Saracens, emboldened, turned down kickable penalties and restored parity at 5-5 when the powerful Wales front-rower Rhys Carré forced his way over. Burke did his best from the tee but Storm Darragh was having none of it, instead playing havoc whenever either side put boot to ball.
The Bulls turned the screw at the scrum but a Willis turnover demonstrated that he has lost little of the form that made his exclusion from England’s autumn squad such a headscratcher. Burke had another go from the tee in front of the posts soon after, this time making no mistake.
With the wind at their backs and two extra men after Jannes Kirsten was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on De Klerk, Saracens were in the ascendancy after the break and extended their lead with George going over at the back of a lineout drive. It felt like the telling score and then Willis got the try his performance deserved from close range and Ben Earl added a fourth to secure the bonus point.
