Saracens claim first Premiership title in four years with victory over Sale

27 May 2023 , 15:58

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Max Malins scored one of Saracens' four tries as they won the Premiership final

Saracens claimed the Premiership title at Twickenham as they saw off Sale in a hotly contested game at Twickenham.

Victory is Saracens first since they were relegated to the Championship in 2020 for salary cap breaches. They lost out in the final last season to Leicester but were able to go one better as they made their year-long dominance count.

Saracens led 20-13 at the end of the chaotic opening period.

Two penalties apiece from Farrell and Ford left the game at 6-6 at the time of the protest.

Sarries went ahead through a penalty try shortly after the resumption of play, with Curry sin-binned for his off-the-ball tackle on Max Malins.

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The Sharks drew level through Akker van der Merwe’s converted try before Malins crossed at the other end, with Farrell adding the extras.

Tom Roebuck's second-half try had Sale very much in the contest

Sale reduced the deficit to just two points early in the second half after wing Tom Roebuck seized on hesitancy from Saracens replacement Elliot Daly to dive over in the right corner.

Ford was narrowly off target with the tricky conversion, leaving Sarrries 20-18 ahead.

Daly looked to have made swift amends for his dithering but his score was chalked off after replays showed his foot was in touch when he took possession.

Sale led 25-23 going into the final quarter of the contest.

Replacement prop Bevan Rodd bulldozed over to claim his side’s third try of the afternoon, with Ford landing the conversion.

Elliot Daly scored a crucial late try

Daly had a chance to restore Saracens’ lead but his penalty from halfway drifted wide.

Saracens hit back to open up a 10-point lead at 35-25 going into the closing stages.

Daly dived over in the left corner to restore Sarries’ advantage before Ivan Van Zyl’s score was awarded on review, with Farrell converting.

In front of a crowd of 61,875, Saracens held on in the final minutes to become Premiership champions for the sixth time.

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Victory in the London sunshine avenged Sarries’ last-gasp loss to Leicester 12 months ago to give Mark McCall’s side their first title since returning to the league following relegation in 2020.

PA Staff