Saracens' win over league leaders Bath in vain as play-offs escape them

Saracens overcame a heavily-weakened Bath but their limp 36-26 victory at StoneX was not enough to secure a place in the Gallagher Premiership play-offs.

For only the third time since 2009, the six-times English champions will be missing from the knockout phase of the competition, following on from 2020 when they were relegated because of salary cap breaches and 2021 when they competed in the second tier.

Runaway leaders Bath had already booked a home semi-final on Friday, enabling them to pick an entirely-new matchday 23 to the one that defeated Lyon in the Challenge Cup final last weekend, and they were duly dispatched.

But victories for Sale and Bristol meant a top-four finish was out of Saracens’ reach, regardless of events in north London and they finished a disappointing campaign in sixth place.

A week that began with speculation over Owen Farrell’s potential return to StoneX Stadium – following a disappointing debut season at Racing 92 – ended with another club favourite in Alex Goode making his final appearance before retiring.

Apart from the result, it was not the climax to 23 years as a professional and over 400 Saracens appearances that Goode would have envisioned, especially given the way his side fell away in the last 10 minutes.

Bath fielded seven debutants in their squad but there was no sense of inferiority as they raced into an early lead when a series of strong carries ended with number eight Arthur Green powering over.

By the end of the first quarter Saracens had moved 12-7 ahead, however, with a skilfully-constructed try finished by Rotimi Segun and Jamie George’s touch down from a line-out drive placing them in charge.

It had taken an athletic run by Nick Tompkins to relieve the early pressure that had built on the home 22 amid a stuttering start from Mark McCall’s men, whose haste to play resulted in several snatched passes.

But by the half-hour mark they were dominating and having laid siege to the Bath line, they pulled the trigger when Fergus Burke sent Elliot Daly sprinting over, the England centre riding a tackle as he crashed over.

Daly was the next to spill the ball forward as Saracens continued to make hard work of the league leaders’ second team but George’s second maul try in the 48th minute helped with the jitters.

Bath wing Austin Emens diffused an attack by reading Daly’s pass intended for Segun, but the visitors’ Achilles heel had been exposed as they leaked a third maul try, this time to Theo Dan.

Successive chip kicks invited Burke over for Saracens’ sixth try before the StoneX rose to its feet to cheer Goode from the pitch after the former England full-back had embraced most of his team-mates in turn.

Tyler Offiah touched down in the left corner for Bath and the westcountry club’s late revival continued when Kepu Tuipulotu crossed in the same spot and Louie Hennessey picked off an intercept.