Saracens made a statement of intent as they beat Northampton Saints 57-13 in their Champions Cup opener in Northampton on Sunday.
The champions scored eight tries in a convincing victory away from home that sends a strong message to the rest of the teams in their pool and the entire competition.
Saints opened the scoring with a Stephen Myler penalty before Sarries scored the opening try when Liam Willaims crossed over in the left corner.
Owen Farrell added a penalty before Brad Barritt gathered from the back of a drivng maul to score Sarries' second try.
Williams scored another, this time in the right-hand corner after gathering a loose ball.
Myler added another penalty to reduce the deficit but Northampton suffered a setback when David Ribbans was sent off before Sarries scored again just before half-time through another powerful driving maul which Calum Clark finished, making the half-time score 29-6 to the away side.
Vincent Koch scored for Saracens very early in the second half following an excellent dummy and break from Farrell. Koch's fellow prop Mako Vunipola also went in, crashing through three defenders on his way to the whitewash in the 55th minute.
Alex Lozowski came off the bench and continued his fine form by scoring after taking an inside ball from Williams off the back of a great backline set move.
Mike Haywood scored a consolation try for the home side but Ben Spencer showed great instinct to dive on a loose ball at the back of a Saintsruck on their try-line to secure an emphatic victory for Saracens.
The scorers:
For Northampton:
Try: Haywood
Con: Mallinder
Pens: Myler 2
Yellow Card: Ribbans
For Saracens:
Tries: Williams 2, Barritt, Clark, Koch, Vunipola, Lozowski, Spencer
Cons: Farrell 7
Pen: Farrell
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 George North, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Harry Mallinder, 23 Tom Collins
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Duncan Taylor
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon (France), Jean-Luc Rebollal (France)
TMO: Éric Gauzins (France)
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