Owen Farrell guides Saracens to handsome win over Exeter and playoffs

Nothing is yet settled in this season’s Premiership but several things became clearer on a breezy day in north London as Saracens secured their playoff place. The most glaring is that it will take something special to beat Sarries on their own artificial pitch if they do secure a home semi‑final draw while fifth-placed Exeter now have it all to do simply to be involved in the knockout stages.

There was also no ignoring the contribution of Owen Farrell as his team scored 28 second-half points to turn a 15-10 half-time deficit into a significant bonus-point victory which has propelled them within four points of leaders Leicester.

“Phenomenal” and “incredible” were two of the words used by Mark McCall to describe his captain and there was no disputing the steely influence which rightly earned Farrell the award for player of the match.

With three games left, starting with a trip to Worcester this weekend, it is also worth noting that Maro Itoje sat out this fixture while Max Malins was forced to drop out on the eve of the match. McCall also believes Farrell, having missed a big chunk of rugby through injury, has plenty of improvement still left in him.

“His passing and his kicking and his offloads – all of that was phenomenal, really,” McCall said. “In terms of what he did during the game he was outstanding but emotionally he was incredible. He hasn’t played many games for us in the Premiership so it’s great to have him back. He looked OK to me today but he’s going to get better.”

The wind blowing straight down the field inevitably played its part in Sarries’ increasingly strong performance but this was also a game which neatly summed up Exeter’s whole season. At times they looked purposeful and slick with the ball, with