Saracens outmuscle Gloucester to end losing run

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Image caption,

Ivan van Zyl crossed for Saracens' bonus-point try

ByChris Harby

BBC Sport England

The Prem

Gloucester (14) 21

Tries: Thomas, Clark, Knight Cons: Byrne 3

Saracens (17) 30

Tries: Dan, McFarland 2, Van Zyl Cons: Farrell 2 Pens: Farrell 2

Theo McFarland crossed twice as Saracens beat struggling Gloucester 30-21 at Kingsholm to end a run of three successive Prem defeats.

Sarries' power game earned close-range finishes for Theo Dan and McFarland, but Gloucester hit back twice through Freddie Thomas and then Arthur Clark.

Only Owen Farrell's penalty separated the sides at the break, but McFarland's second and Ivan van Zyl's score quickly pulled the visitors 13 points clear.

A second Farrell penalty extended the lead, meaning Will Knight's last-gasp score was too little, too late for the Cherry and Whites.

Saracens move within two points of the play-off spots in sixth, while Gloucester remain second-bottom after a seventh defeat from eight.

Gloucester lost outside centre Will Butler and Ben Loader to injury inside the opening 20 minutes by which time they were already trailing after Dan drove low over the line.

But Cherry and Whites captain Tomos Williams, whose summer move to Sarries was announced on Christmas Day, showed Gloucester what they will be missing and the Londoners what they will gain as he kept the hosts in the contest.

His quick tap-penalty caught Sarries cold and second rower Thomas muscled his way over.

McFarland quickly restored the lead, forcing his way over after some irresistible forward drives before Williams sparkled again with a sublime moment of skill just before the break.

The Wales scrum-half wrongfooted Sarries with a weaving blind-side run from a scrum and, while falling into touch, tossed a one-handed offload back inside for Clark to dot down.

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Image caption,

Tomos Williams' brilliant one-handed offload teed up Gloucester's second try

Ross Byrne's excellent touchline conversion brought Gloucester back within three points.

However, playing with the strong wind after the turnaround, the Saracens forwards upped the intensity with a matchwinning push at the start of the second half.

After working through 12 phases, Farrell's perfectly weighted crossfield kick to the right corner found McFarland who leapt above a limping Williams to score.

Moments later, a blind-side burst from a line-out drive fed Jamie George whose neat back-of-the-hand offload in the tackle gave Van Zyl a simple finish.

Gloucester provided some thrilling moments as they sought a way back, but they were kept out of the red zone for the vast bulk of the second half.

Saracens had let a big lead slip at Exeter last time out to suffer their fourth Prem defeat in five, but Farrell's second penalty pushed his side three scores clear and out of sight.

With the game long since done and dusted, Knight finally broke the Sarries resistance, showing neat footwork and nice sidestep to finish in the left corner.

Gloucester head to the north east for a new year basement battle with Newcastle on Friday (19:45 GMT), while Saracens hit the road for a testing trip to Leicester on Sunday (15:00 GMT).

'The opportunities were there' - reaction

Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington told BBC Radio Gloucester:

"The opportunities were definitely there in the game. We created plenty that we didn't take and that's cost us, the same as last week (a 45-14 defeat by Leicester).

"They were pretty clinical using the wind and played a solid game, nothing too flash and managed to win.

"But again a similar story to last week, even a two-on-one at the end with no-one in front of us we didn't manage to execute and that's probably a summary of where we are.

"I haven't got a reason why we keep losing a couple of players at the start of every game but it does cause disruption."

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall:

"Overall, it was one of our better 80-minute performances. Today was good, but we have had inconsistent days.

"We could have beaten Bath and we could have beaten Exeter and been in a slightly different position to where we are.

"Today was important because have lost a few in a row and it was important to come down here and get a result."

(On Tomos Wiliams): "He is a great, great player. He didn't really have the best platform today, but everyone can see his quality every time he attacks."

Gloucester: Atkinson; Loader, Butler, Atkinson, Thorley; Byrne, Williams (c); Ruskin, Innard, Fasagbon, Thomas, Clark, Venter, Ludlow, Clement.

Replacements: Knowles, Knight, Ford-Robinson, Jordan, Taylor, Austin, Knight, Hathaway.

Saracens: Daly; Segun, Cinti, Tompkins, Malins; Farrell, Van Zyl (c); Carre, Dan, Street, Isiekwe, Tizard, McFarland, Onyeama-Christie, Willis.

Replacements: George, Mawi, Tuimauga, Martin Gonzalez, Earl, Bracken, Burke, Hartley.

Referee: Adam Leal.