Theo Dan leads Saracens rout of Newcastle to tionue Premiership revival
Saracens continued their post-World Cup resurgence and moved to within one win of the Premiership summit with a 50-12 thrashing of bottom club Newcastle Falcons on Sunday.
England hooker Theo Dan scored two tries, while Elliot Daly, Alex Lewington, Tom Willis, Juan Martin Gonzalez and Manu Vunipola also crossed for the visitors at Kingston Park.
Sebastian de Chaves had put Newcastle in front but champions Sarries soon asserted their superiority and raced to a bonus-point win, despite Bryan Byrne also touching down for the hosts.
Saracens’ third consecutive victory, after starting the season with back-to-back defeats, lifted them to sixth in the table, five points behind leaders Harlequins.
Elsewhere, Fin Smith starred as Northampton Saints climbed to fourth with a 34-19 win at home to 14-man Exeter Chiefs.
Fly-half Smith kicked 14 points at Franklin’s Gardens, including converting tries from Tommy Freeman, Curtis Langdon, Alex Mitchell and Fraser Dingwall.
Jacques Vermeulen, Scott Sio and Ethan Roots crossed for Exeter, who had Niall Armstrong sent off for dangerous play 12 minutes from time.
The bonus-point win saw Northampton leapfrog Chiefs, who sit fifth in the Premiership and have now lost their last 10 league games away from Sandy Park, a run stretching back to October last year.