Will Muir grabs hat-trick as Bath pour on style in demolition of sloppy Saracens

It looks increasingly likely that when the fog of winter lifts, Bath will emerge top of the pile, perfectly placed to launch an assault on the Premiership playoffs. Saracens travelled west aiming to make it four wins from four in December, but were dismissed with contemptuous ease by Johann van Graan’s finely-tuned side. The visitors’ cause was not helped by a pair of early cards, one yellow and one red, but Bath were dominant in achieving their biggest-ever Premiership win against Saracens, with Will Muir scoring a hat-trick.

The bonus-point success sends them clear at the top, halfway through the season, and it would be a shock if they do not pay a second straight visit to Twickenham next June. Liam Williams, the visiting full-back, was sent to the sin bin after four minutes and Toby Knight, Saracens’ openside, was sent off for a high tackle on Ollie Lawrence 10 minutes later. That was yet another a split-second defensive misjudgement that resulted in another regrettably unbalanced contest. But it could be argued Bath had already taken a grip on the match, with the cards reflecting the fact, and that certainly applied to the earlier Williams incident.

The self-styled professional bomb defuser saw no option but to pat a sensational, swerving cross-kick by Finn Russell into touch with Joe Cokanasiga lurking behind him. It was both sensible and cynical, and a penalty try after four minutes resulted. Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, had made seven changes and that first score had stemmed from an error by Tobias Elliott under a high kick from the outstanding Ben Spencer.

Saracens soon lost Theo McFarland and Elliott to injury, too, before Ben Earl was denied a try with Saracens still down to 14, due to a forward pass by Gareth Simpson, after a neat lineout move. If McCall thought that may hint at a change in fortunes he was disappointed. Lawrence charged into midfield and was taken high by Knight. Karl Dickson, the referee, followed due process, and a red card was shown.

Bath’s precision was evident again after 15 minutes when the ever-dynamic Ted Hill ran straight through Alex Lozowski, close to the try-line, and the unstoppable Thomas du Toit dived over. Russell converted. Cameron Redpath darted over for Bath’s third on 24 minutes, making it 21-3, after Fergus Burke’s penalty got the visitors on the board. Saracens were battling, and built pressure in the Bath 22 on the half-hour, but after Williams appeared to waste an overlap, a wonky cross-kick by Burke relieved the pressure.

On the eve of the match Van Graan said coaching is a matter of blending art and science. That could be applied to Bath’s bonus-point clinching try before the break. Saracens were under pressure at a defensive scrum, and a beautiful piece of deception by Spencer in which he feinted to go to the openside before skipping down the blindside allowed Muir from the pass to race to the corner. That was 28-3 at half time, a rout much like Sale’s phenomenal shutout of Bristol on Friday on the cards.

Lawrence’s slick one-handed offload to Cokanasiga created Bath’s fifth try, five minutes after half-time, and Muir was soon sliding over for try No 6. Van Graan emptied his bench and Sam Underhill capitalised on some chaotic defending to barge over after more wonderful work from Spencer. A charge-down from Francois van Wyk allowed Lawrence to romp over for the seventh try. Van Wyk was then denied his own score by a knock on but it didn’t matter – Cokanasiga sprinted over for his second – and when Muir scored his hat-trick two minutes from time, the visitors biggest-ever Premiership defeat was complete. Exciting times for Bath, but Saracens will be back.