Saracens hold on for Premiership win despite rousing Bath fightback

Not a lot to see here you might think. Saracens top again, winning again, collecting maximum points again. Bath losing again. All so familiar. But the plot of this one had depth. And it ended in a cliff-hanger. Obviously. The seemingly vanquished rousing themselves against all odds. That idea really is a stereotype in the Premiership nowadays.

Less familiar is the sight of Saracens team sheets without Alex Goode on them, as is occasionally the case these days, but the club’s typesetter reverted to that most familiar cliche “15 A Goode” for this one. The same stereotype was quickly entered into the try-scorers column, and the sheer class of the event itself was even more familiar.

Theo McFarland, whose status as Saracens cliche is surely on its way, charged down, Eliot Daly was on to it, and the speed of rucks and handling in the moments that followed were exceptional and beautiful in equal measure. Goode threw a dummy; the defence parted; over he strolled.

That was in the third minute, and we figured the plot of this narrative was looking as well worn as any cliche, but Bath were not up for playing the part expected of them. Their defence was energetic throughout and in Ollie Lawrence they had all the threat a team could need, practically a one-man show.

Indeed, Bath briefly had the lead within a few minutes. It soon became apparent that Saracens, for all the ambition of their approach, were not quite on it this time. Goode, of all people, spilled a pass, and Matt Gallagher, once his understudy, hacked on and scored.

An Orlando Bailey penalty earned Bath that lead, but three penalties by Owen Farrell before the break earned Saracens a six-point lead. And then the narrative unfolded as expected. Three Saracens tries