Saracens claim sixth title with 35-25 victory over Sale
LONDON :Saracens won their sixth title and first in four years when they eventually overpowered a spirited Sale to triumph 35-25 in a superb English Premiership final at a sun-drenched Twickenham on Saturday.
Saracens, who finished top of the standings in the regular season, led 20-18 at halftime after a penalty try and one for Max Malins.
Sale, seeking a second title in their first appearance in the final since their sole triumph in 2006, hit back strongly with tries from Akker van der Merwe, Tom Roebuck and Bevan Rodd to edge ahead midway through the second half and threaten an upset.
Saracens, however, who lost to Leicester via a last-gasp drop goal in last year's final, delivered the telling blow with quickfire scores by Elliot Daly and Ivan van Zyl late in the second half to open a lead that Sale were unable to close.
"This was not redemption. We have moved on from last year, but it gets brought up a lot," said man of the match Owen Farrell. "It's about getting the best out of ourselves as we felt that we closed up shop a bit in the final last year.
"When people come to a club like this, not many people want to leave. It feels like a family when you've been together as long as we have and you want to keep fighting for the group to make it a place where people want to stay and fight for 10 or 15 years."
At 6-6 the game was held up when two protesters invaded the pitch and let off orange smoke bombs. After a brief delay, the action resumed and Saracens were awarded a penalty try when flanker Tom Curry tackled Malins off the ball.
Curry was sin-binned but while he was off Sale surged back to level through Van der Merwe.
Saracens, though, were looking full of energy and invention, as they have all season, and Malins put them