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Saracens rout Worcester

London - Alex Lozowski scored 20 points on his Saracens debut as the English Premiership champions kicked off their title defence with a 35-3 demolition of Worcester on Saturday.

Fly-half Lozowski scored a try and booted three penalties and three conversions in an influential display at Twickenham.

Hooker Jamie George, South African back row Schalk Burger and replacement Ben Spencer also bagged tries to put European champions Saracens firmly in control.

Worcester's solitary riposte was a first-half Ryan Lamb penalty as they were overwhelmed for twenty minutes after the break.

But demanding Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall was still disappointed with a relatively slow start from his side and made it clear they must improve.

"Overall, I am probably not happy with that," McCall said.

"It was a hugely rusty performance but we defended very well. Give Worcester credit for the way they played in that first-half.

"They were really physical and they made life difficult for us at the breakdown.

"But I was pretty calm at half-time and I thought we were pretty ruthless in that 15 minutes of the second-half and that set us up to get the win."

Elsewhere on the opening weekend of the English top-flight season, Bath held on for an 18-14 victory over Northampton despite a late fightback from the hosts at Franklin's Gardens.

George Ford kicked all Bath's points as the visitors controlled a dreary game with no try-scoring chances until, with six minutes to go, replacement scrum-half Nic Groom scored two tries in four minutes.

Bath survived the final two minutes to record a victory that gave new director of rugby Todd Blackadder a winning start.

For Northampton's Louis Picamoles, the French international who made a much-hyped move from Toulouse in the close-season, it was a disappointing debut with the Saints.

Harlequins were given a fright by newly-promoted Bristol before securing a 21-19 win at Twickenham in the second match of the opening weekend double-header at the national stadium.

The start of John Kingston's reign as Harlequins coach following the departure of Conor O'Shea was an underwhelming affair.

Bristol's seven-year absence from the top flight proved no obstacle as they led for most of the match and it was only when Nick Evans slotted a 65th-minute penalty that Harlequins were able to breathe a little easier.

Samoa international Tusi Pisi, a close-season arrival from the Suntory Sungoliaths in Japan, provided a touch of class at fly-half for Bristol, who could easily have caused an opening weekend shock.

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