Connacht concede eight tries as losing start continues against Saracens

A 55-36 defeat to Saracens on Saturday afternoon made it two defeats out of two for Connacht in this season's European Champions Cup.

It wasn't all plain-sailing for Saracens at the StoneX Stadium with Connacht leading by nine points approaching half-time, before England hooker Jamie George’s try double just before the interval settled Saracens down.

Flanker Juan Martin Gonzalez claimed an early touchdown, while centre Olly Hartley marked his first Champions Cup start by collecting the bonus-point touchdown after 43 minutes and then posting another score.

Wings Sean Maitland and Lucio Cinti also crossed, as did hooker Theo Dan, with skipper Owen Farrell kicking three penalties and three conversions as Saracens scored 35 unanswered points between the 33rd and 61st minutes.

Connacht, crushed 41-5 at home by Bordeaux-Begles in their Champions Cup opener, saw centre Bundee Aki, scrum-half Caolin Blade, flanker Cian Prendergast, plus substitutes JJ Hanrahan and Joe Joyce score tries, which meant a losing bonus point, with Jack Carty booting two conversions and a penalty on his 200th appearance for the province. Hanrahan added two late conversions to his own tally with Carty having been replaced.

Pete Wilkins' side will look to dust themselves down once more after being on the receiving end of a big scoreline for the second consecutive weekend.

Next up for Connacht is a trip to Ulster in the URC on Friday night before they host Munster in the same competition on New Year's Day.

Champions Cup holders La Rochelle, meanwhile, suffered an agonising defeat against the Stormers in Cape Town – their second successive loss of the tournament – following a late Andre-Hugo Venter try that Manie Libbok converted to secure a 21-20 verdict.

Watch