Bath surpass 60 points in thrashing of Saracens

The Prem

Bath (31) 62

Tries: Muir, Bayliss, Barbeary, Arundell 2, Spencer, Tuipulotu, Pepper, Van der Linde Cons: Russell 7 Pen: Russell

Saracens (15) 15

Tries: Elliott 2 Con: Farrell Pen: Farrell

Bath showcased a scintillating attacking display to score nine tries and surpass 60 points as they blew away Saracens on their return to Prem action.

Tobias Elliott scored twice for Saracens - the first inside two minutes - but tries from Will Muir, Josh Bayliss, Alfie Barbeary and Henry Arundell secured a try-scoring bonus point for the hosts before the interval.

Ben Spencer then ran clear on the counter, replacement prop Kepu Tuipulotu added their sixth and a second from Arundell meant Bath cantered comfortably clear as Saracens were held to zero points throughout the second half.

A moment of Finn Russell magic in the closing minutes helped set up Guy Pepper's try, before Bernard van der Linde capped a night that belonged to Bath, who moved top of the table as they laid down a marker after the league's eight-week break.

The smoke was still swirling from the pre-match fireworks when Theo McFarland charged down Spencer's kick and Elliot Daly's delayed pass allowed Lucio Cinti to dart through and Elliott to score in a fast start for Saracens.

Owen Farrell's penalty made it 10-0 in a good opening spell for the visitors but as the penalty count repeatedly allowed Bath into their opposition's 22, they grew into the half.

Quick passing through the hands following a scrum put Muir over in the corner, before a superb Russell 50:22 swung momentum further and Bayliss side-stepped out of a tackle and weaved his way to the line to push Bath 14-10 ahead.

Bath piled on more pressure and Barbeary punched through at pace to score their third, two weeks after his move to Sarries for 2026-27 was confirmed.

Saracens had a reply as Theo Dan broke the line to gain crucial territory and, when the ball was recycled wide, Elliott was on the overlap to score his second in the same corner, making it 21-15.

But quickly Bath came back and while Saracens' defence held firm to twice keep them from crossing, there was no stopping England winger Arundell when he pounced on a Farrell pass at the other end and with his first carry sprinted the length of the pitch to dot down under the posts.

The previous time Saracens visited the Rec in December 2024, they were humbled 68-10 after going down to 14 men early on.

While Bath did not quite hit the same heights, the script followed much the same.

Spencer, one of eight internationals in Bath's side straight from the Six Nations, reacted fastest to scoop up a loose ball and cruise into the corner and Tuipulotu - one of seven imperious replacements sent on at once - took the score to 41-15.

Saracens' effort was compounded when Dan was sent to the sin bin with 18 minutes still on the clock, but they also saw two tries of their own go begging as Max Malins spilled the ball and they were held up on the second attempt.

Arundell had his second when another rapid counter-move saw Bath racing in a five-on-one to cross the 50-point mark, but it was Russell's dummy pass to open up space for Pepper to score which brought the home crowd to their feet.

Van der Linde added a ninth in the closing seconds to complete a convincing win.

Bath host Saracens again on Saturday, 4 April in the last 16 of the Champions Cup.

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan:

"We knew that it will take a few minutes to get accustomed to each other again and then we found our rhythm at 10-0 [behind] and we managed to score quite a few tries.

"Very happy with the overall performance both sides of the ball, defensively we scrambled really well and then the hunger to attack - we've worked on a few bits.

"We used our opportunities well but for me it was the attitude of the players - like Thomas [du Toit] and Santi [Carreras] that had five weeks of holiday how they returned, how the international players returned, some of them played a Test match on Saturday evening, then the whole group.

"We got our five points which we worked very hard for, it was a tough game - satisfying."

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall:

"With that period either side of half-time, it just got away from us fast and in the last half-hour we looked a bit shell-shocked and got blown away.

"At the start of the second half we had a couple of chances down their end and that could have had us back in the game and they went 100 metres and scored and it seemed to knock us massively.

"It's a really poor performance and we've got to deliver something better for our supporters next week now.

"You've got to be able to handle the momentum swings that inevitably come, the ups and downs of the games, and it feels that when the momentum goes against us we're not handling it as a a group as well as we could."

Bath: De Glanville; Arundell, Lawrence, Ojomoh, Muir; Russell, Spencer (capt); Obano, Dunn, Griffin; Roux, Ewels; Bayliss, Reid, Barbeary.

Replacements: Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Du Toit, Hill, Pepper, Van der Linde, Carreras, Underhill.

Saracens: Daly; Elliott, Cinti, Tompkins, Segun; Farrell, Van Zyl (capt); Mawi, Dan, Street; Isiekwe, Tizard; McFarland, Gonzalez, Willis.

Replacements: Hadfield, O'Driscoll, Riccioni, Onyeama-Christie, Earl, Simpson, Burke, Malins.

Sin bin: Dan (61)

Referee: Matthew Carley