Saracens vs Bath match report: Sparkling Maro Itoje presses England case once more

Saracens avoided falling at the first hurdle, as the Premiership entered a phase of eight weekends spent without the England players, thanks to the dual efforts of a diamond-bright young star and one of the league’s most venerable guiding lights. Maro Itoje did the battering and Charlie Hodgson added the goal-kicking and territorial prodding, as the champions fought back from spending more than an hour behind to the team they beat in last season’s final.

Bath raised big questions over Saracens’ ability to survive the absence of Jamie George, George Kruis and the Vunipola brothers from their pack, but ultimately succumbed to their fifth loss on the trot.

Between them the two teams had 12 England players unavailable, including Saracens’ suspended Chris Ashton, but all Bath’s were backs and, aside from the Scotland No 8 David Denton, they were at strength in the front and back rows. Prop Nick Auterac went off early with a shoulder injury but otherwise their disappointing ninth place in the division appeared illusory as they built a 13-0 lead by half-time, and were still 13-6 ahead with 11 minutes to go.

Instead, Itoje launched the Saracens comeback with a run down the right flank of staggering ferocity. The 21-year-old lock, who was released from the wider England squad at the start of the week, blasted aside the Samoan flanker Alafoti Faosiliva and it needed three other white jerseys to halt him. A few phases later, Schalk Brits charged onto a flat pass from the replacement scrum-half Ben Spencer for a try converted by Hodgson and it was 13-all.

Turning the screw with a presence of mind beyond his years, the energetic Itoje next forced a pair of penalties – over the ball after a tackle by Kelly Brown on Charlie Ewels, and with a chop tackle of his own. “I’m happy to be part of a special team,” Itoje said afterwards, as Saracens extended their winning form to 18 in 19 matches, but he is special himself and may yet receive an England debut in Italy on Sunday week.

Itoje’s jackalling was rewarded by Hodgson kicking a penalty from 40 metres, and when Brown was clattered in a line-out, Hodgson swept over another. If that all seemed smoothly routine for the 35-year-old No 10 whose all-time Premiership points record is north of 2,500 in his 245 appearances, it was also a recovery from a troublesome first half playing into a diagonal cross-wind.

Bath were the only one of England’s six competing teams to be knocked out of the European Cup at the pool stage last weekend, amid a slight air of disarray surrounding various ins and outs. Rhys Priestland started yesterday but is expected to leave in the summer after changing his mind about wanting to represent Wales. His country are likely to need him for the bench in Ireland next Sunday, and as Ollie Devoto will be with England, and the recent signing Dan Bowden took a bang on the head here, resources are going to be tested.

Bath might have scored in the second minute when Matt Banahan smashed through Hodgson, but it was not long before Bowden, making his first Premiership appearance since the 2014 semi-final for Leicester, was instrumental in a try by Tom Homer after a line-out and a maul that crabbed towards the posts.

Priestland’s boot brought Bath their 13-point buffer but penalties by Hodgson in the 45th and 48th minutes began a turnaround that was aided by Brad Barritt’s powerful ball-carrying. “He was magnificent,” said Ford’s counterpart, Mark McCall.

Saracens: B Ransom; D Taylor, M Bosch (N Tompkins, 57), B Barritt (capt), C Wyles; C Hodgson, R Wigglesworth (B Spencer, 68); R Barrington (T Lamositele, 57), S Brits, P Du Plessis, M Itoje, J Hamilton (H Smith, 69), M Rhodes (K Brown, 41), J Burger, J Wray.

Bath: T Homer; S Rokoduguni, M Banahan, D Bowden (M Clark, 59), H Agulla; R Priestland, C Cook; N Auterac (M Lahiff, 18), R Webber (T Dunn, 68), H Thomas (D Wilson, 58; sin-bin, 79), C Ewels, D Day (T Ellis, 58), M Garvey (G Mercer, 72), F Louw (capt), L Houston (A Faosiliva, 65).

Referee: D Richards (Berkshire).