Share

Saracens crush Oyonnax

London - Saracens continued their perfect start to the season with a dominant eight-try rout of over-matched French outfit Oyonnax in the European Champions Cup on Saturday.

England international wing Chris Ashton scored a hat-trick and Fiji-born Italy No 8 Samuela Vunisa added a brace with Alex Goode, Mike Ellery and Jamie George also crossing the whitewash.

The 55-13 victory, a tenth out of 10 matches this season, stretched Sarries' Pool 1 lead to 14 points ahead of Ulster's trip to Toulouse on Sunday.

And it came a week after a six-try 45-10 win at Oyonnax a week ago.

Debutants Oyonnax are now sure to miss out on the knock-out rounds after a third defeat in a row in the competition.

They did, however, get a second-half interception try from Fetu'u Vainikolo.

Saracens were a lick of paint away from taking the lead when wing Ellery touched down in the left corner but his heel had just brushed the touchline before grounding.

Yet the hosts stole Oyonnax's line-out and following barging pressure form the forwards, they span the ball wide right where Ashton dived over in the corner on 12 minutes.

England Sevens international Ellery was on fire early on and his break from Duncan Taylor's inside pass almost set up Ashton for a second score.

Just as was the case a week ago in France, the English champions threatened to run away with the match before half-time.

Only a forward pass by early replacement hooker George denied Ashton a second touchdown in the right corner.

But he didn't have to wait long for that to come as fly-half Owen Farrell's clever grubber sent Ashton clear of the Oyonnax backline.

Although Farrell kicked one penalty, Saracens regularly demonstrated their intent to secure the attacking bonus point as soon as possible, and put several kickable penalties into touch for an attacking line-out.

From one of those on the stroke of half-time, Vunisa was driven over by an unstoppable rolling maul for the third try and a 20-6 lead going into the break that reflected their concentration on gleaning a bonus point rather than on killing off dominated opponents.

Straight after the restart the hosts repeated the trick with Vunisa again driven over as Oyonnax simply couldn't handle the Saracens power up front.

With the bonus point secured, Sarries let loose.

A few minutes later, fullback Alex Goode dissected a ponderous Oyonnax defence and ran half the length of the field before sliding over the line.

Oyonnax's defence was crumbling, as was their attack, allowing Ellery to pick up a wayward pass down the French line before sprinting clear from inside his own half to score the sixth try.

George then made up for his earlier indiscretion by running a perfect line and showing a surprising turn of pace to take replacement fly-half Charlie Hodgson's pass and score the seventh try.

Vainikolo's score 12 minutes from time was nothing but scant consolation as Ashton had the last word after a Richard Wigglesworth grubber that was a carbon copy of the try Farrell set up in the first period.

On Friday night, New Zealand legend Dan Carter kicked three penalties as Racing 92 drew 9-9 at Northampton Saints, for whom Stephen Myler also had three successful kicks at goal.

That left unbeaten Racing two points ahead of Saints in Pool 3, but also with a game in hand.

The big match later on Saturday sees champions Toulon travel to fellow three-time winners Leinster on Pool 5.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
67% - 874 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
33% - 430 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE