Another desperate afternoon for Bath, and not a great one for England with Jonathan Joseph hobbling off with an ankle injury that may jeopardise his place on the summer tour of South Africa.
For Saracens it was an emphatic bonus-point victory, confirming their place in the play-offs for the ninth season in a row, but the contrast between their resurgence and Bath’s bleak slump could not be more stark.
The Bath director of rugby, Todd Blackadder, was hopeful over Joseph but he needed crutches to take his place on the bench after going off in the first half and he will be assessed in the coming days. “He’s given his ankle a really good tweak,” Blackadder said. “Hopefully it won’t be too serious.”
Certainly, it is another blow for Bath in a season full of them. They are already without the England trio of Anthony Watson, Semesa Rokoduguni and Sam Underhill and a fourth successive defeat leaves them in eighth and staring down the barrel of Challenge Cup rugby next season.
All told it has been a thoroughly frustrating campaign and Blackadder’s job must surely be in danger considering the directors of rugby in the four teams below Bath have all headed, or are heading, for the exit. “If somebody wants to make those decisions, it’s not something that I can control,” he said.
It was not as if Bath did not show glimpses of quality but they were given an abject lesson in finishing by a Saracens side who are coming to the boil nicely. Both of their first-half tries had elements of fortune to them, however, or rather misfortune for Bath. A loose pass from Francois Louw eventually led to Schalk Brits’s try, via three penalties kicked to the corner.
Owen Farrell converted and it was his covering tackle that indirectly led to Liam Williams’s try. Aled Brew burst down the left but really ought to have passed to Ben Tapuai outside him. When Bath recycled, Rhys Priestland’s pass struck the unaware Louw on his side, Nick Isiekwe gathered the loose ball and fed Williams to run nearly the length of the field.
Isiekwe’s most eye-catching contribution was still to come. Taulupe Faletau showed his class with a scything break up the left and a delightful offload inside to Brew. He went back outside to Kahn Fotuali’i who looked certain to score until Isiekwe’s last-ditch tackle dragged him out of play – an intervention every bit as impressive as Underhill’s for England against Wales.
Two Priestland penalties had at least got Bath on the board but Farrell nailed one of his own into the wind just before half-time and with the conditions in their favour in the second half Saracens raced through the gears. Richard Wigglesworth went over in the right-hand corner before Farrell picked off a loose pass from Priestland and cruised over to seal the bonus point.
Schalk Burger and Ben Spencer were on hand for tries five and six while Saracens were able to welcome back Michael Rhodes off the bench after an injury lay-off since January. In truth, they had far too much firepower for Bath and you have to wonder why Mako Vunipola played when he was due a rest according to an agreement between the Premiership and the Rugby Football Union. He was excellent again but you get the feeling Saracens would have been fine without him.
He and the rest of the squad do at least have a week off now, and they are then set to have Billy Vunipola back at their disposal for the run-in. Exeter are setting the pace but Saracens are going to take some stopping. “There’s real determination to finish the season well,” the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, said. “We’re in a good position, we seem to be getting people healthy at the right time as well.”
