Liam Williams lets his talents shine through to the delight of his Saracens teammates

It’s taken Liam Williams just five appearances to prove that he is capable of replacing the void left at Saracens by Chris Ashton’s departure after starring in the 57-13 rout of Northampton Saints this weekend, with the Welsh wing already leaving an impression on his new teammates.

Man-of-the-match Williams scored twice as reigning European Champions Cup holders Saracens opened their 2017/18 account in style at Franklin’s Gardens, inflicting the heaviest ever home defeat on Saints in their club history.

Williams’ double helped Sarries secure a bonus point before half-time as they romped away from their Premiership opposition, but the 26-year-old summer signing from Pro12 champions Scarlets displayed more than just his cutting edge finishing as he contested repeatedly for high kicks and defended well on the right wing.

His talent in the air – something that shone through on Sunday much brighter than on the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand where he was yellow carded for conceding two successive penalties for poorly timed aerial challenges – is music to the ears of Saracens scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth, whose knack for putting his box-kicks on a sixpence gives the European champions yet another prong to their attack.

“We knew when we were getting Liam we were getting a class player,” Wigglesworth said. “He is brilliant in the air and that’s great for me and my left foot and he is always onto me to make sure the kick allows him to compete for the ball. He is also a good character to have around and has fitted in really well to the squad.”

That character was on display as Saracens celebrated the victory in the changing room after the match, with Williams following fellow summer acquisition and former Saints forward Callum Clark in leading the chant made famous by Billy Vunipola, following last May’s Champions Cup final victory.

The victory – a second 50-point-plus thrashing of Saints in the space of six weeks – was described by Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall as the “best performance of the year” so far, and Wigglesworth was in full agreement following the eight-try demolition of an in-form side placed third in the Premiership table.

“We are in a ridiculously difficult pool and needed to get off to a good start and there was a real edge to training in the week because we have been really patchy this season, both week to week and in games,” Wigglesworth added.

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“In training we tried to make sure we are physical and into it for the entire 80 minutes.

“That is the best we have played this season by a country mile and while it wasn’t error free, attitude wise and how composed we were with a ‘next job’ mentality when there were mistakes. When we are like that there is a really good feeling on the pitch.”

Saracens return to Allianz Park this weekend to face Welsh side Ospreys in their second European pool fixture, with the looming threat of back-to-back games against Clermont Auvergne symbolising the difficulty that Pool Two poses McCall’s side. Clermont were outpowered and outplayed when they met Saracens in the final last season, but Ospreys proved they will threaten the two European giants after securing a losing bonus point against Clermont in Sunday’s 26-21 defeat, a result that Saracens have already taken note of.

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“Ospreys played well against Clermont and last year we had Scarlets at home and although the result was good, we were patchy in our play and that is something to learn from,” warned Wigglesworth.

“We have to make sure it is an 80 minute performance next weekend and that means setting a standard we are happy with. I don’t know if we are better than last season because that is the first time we have played well. We did play well in the first half at Twickenham against Northampton but since then we have been frustrated with ourselves and this is now the standard we have set for ourselves and we want to live up to that standard. “