Saracens vs Bristol Bears report: Max Malins masterclass draws ‘young Beauden Barrett’ comparisons

Saracens boss Mark McCall compared man-of-the-match Max Malins to a young Beauden Barrett after the full-back helped the reigning Premiership champions swat aside Bristol Bears 47-13 with a devastating second-half display.

Malins scored twice from full-back as Saracens ran in six unanswered tries in response to a fast start from the Bears, who were kept scoreless for the entire second half, and their biggest win of the season sees the gap to Leicester Tigers cut to 17 points and potential Premiership safety. At this rate of scoring, Saracens will be off the bottom by the end of February.

Much of the Allianz Park landslide win came through Malins, who despite being required to continue in his role at full-back in the absence of the injured Liam Williams and Alex Goode belied his inexperience to steal the show. It was the 22-year-old who showcased his awareness on the stroke of half-time to ensure Saracens went in with the lead and he added a second soon after when Saracens were back to their rampaging best to trigger comparisons to the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year All Black.

“He is an interesting player, he started life as a fly-half and came through school and England grade ages there and that was his preferred position,” director of rugby McCall said.

“He reminds me a little bit of a young Beauden Barrett who wants to play fly-half but played 15 in the early years for the Hurricanes and All Blacks. Max has got an acceleration that not too many have and the ability to make things happen really fast – like the try he scored. He can play 10 and 15 at a high level.

“That relationship that he has with Owen Farrell on the field is really encouraging too. He makes good decisions in the back-field and is a runner rather than a kicker.”

That Malins was thrust into the fire against Munster last weekend was all the more impressive given he has only been back in training for three weeks since breaking his foot in pre-season training three months ago.

But after a somewhat sluggish start, Saracens delivered something close to what took them to the title last season.

A one-point game at half-time looked more than worth what Bristol delivered, making the most of Saracens’ sloppiness to capitalise on their chances. The visitors stunned Allianz Park in the 12th minute when they took the lead thanks to scrum-half Andy Uren’s interception, which after being halted by Elliot Daly saw the naturally-talented fly-half Callum Sheedy kick cross-field to wing Luke Morahan to score, with Sheedy converting.

Saracens responded immediately, with Mako Vunipola burrowing over from close range two minutes later, though Sheedy very nearly set-up another score for Bristol when he charged down Owen Farrell’s grubber kick and flicked the ball into his hands to hack downfield, only for Ben Spencer’s mistake to go unpunished as the ball beat Toby Fricker to the dead-ball line.

Sheedy did add two penalties to restore the lead, but Saracens struck back on the stroke of half-time with a decisive blow following five minutes of resistant Bristol defence – though they were lucky to stay at 15 men after a series of penalties invited on the pressure. A tackle-of-the-season contender from Fricker on Brad Barrett halted the tide coming their way, but a poor exit kick saw the attack resume and when Malins smartly fooled Sam Bedlow with a dummied cross-field kick, he darted between the covering defence to score and give Sarries the lead at the break.

With the wind now behind them and their tails up, Saracens came flying out of the blocks. Such had been the change in momentum, what had been a defiant Bristol defence allowed a first-phase scrum move to beat them, with Sean Maitland passing to Barrett who used the dummy run of Farrell to full effect to send Nick Tompkins through for his first try, with the centre rounding Fricker to finish.

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As the penalties mounted, Bristol eventually saw yellow with hooker Harry Thacker sin-binned, and the hosts put 12 more points past them as punishment. Firstly Ben Earl went over via a smart run off Farrell’s outside shoulder to secure the bonus point, then a dubious score saw Maitland dance his way down the wing thanks to a beautiful long-pass from Tompkins, with his inside offload ricocheting off a Bristol head and falling kindly for Malins to touch down for his second – with referee Tom Foley happy despite claims of Maitland’s foot being in touch and Malins losing control of the ball.

With the floodgates open, Barrett powered his way over from close range to score the sixth before setting up Tompkins for his second with a chip over the middle for his centre partner to run onto and score, and despite failing to hit the half-century, there was plenty for Saracens to be pleased with – not least in cutting the gap between themselves and the rest of the pack.

“We are not counting the points,” added McCall. “We don't think we have been playing as well as we could be. But I am really pleased with some of the young lads again.

“We had 13 players who started the game who were English qualified and of that I think most of them have come through our academy. Nick, Ben and Max are the guys who are on the way up and want to achieve what Jamie George, George Kruis, Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and others have.”

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Bristol’s director of rugby Pat Lam refused to criticise the effort his side put in, but rued the period after the restart for the heavy defeat.

“We defended on our line for five minutes but then unfortunately conceded the try,” Lam said. “Ten minutes after half-time were the worst 10 minutes we have played all year. You cannot give them anything, you have to go toe-to-toe with them because once they get two scores ahead, their machine gets going and they are very difficult to stop and unfortunately we conceded soft scores after half-time.

“We will just flush this one. There is no point reviewing it because we will just get into Wasps. It is a short week and we need to get ready for Friday. We only have two sessions. There is nothing we can do about this game, we have to move on.”

Saracens: Max Malins; Sean Maitland, Nick Tompkins, Brad Barritt, Elliot Daly; Owen Farrell, Ben Spencer; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Vincent Koch; Maro Itoje, George Kruis; Nick Isiekwe, Ben Earl, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Jack Singleton, Rhys Carre, Titi Lamositele, Will Skelton, Jackson Wray, Richard Wigglesworth, Duncan Taylor, Alex Lewington.

Bristol: Charles Piutau; Luke Morahan, Piers O;Conor, Sam Bedlow, Toby Fricker; Callum Sheedy, Andy Uren; Jake Woolmore, Harry Thacker, John Afoa; Joe Joyce, Chris Vui; Steven Luatua, Jake Heenan, Nathan Hughes.

Replacements: Will Capon, James Lay, Max Lahiff, Ed Holmes, Luke Hamilton, Harry Randall, Ioan Lloyd, Alapati Leiua.