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Saracens suffered only their second defeat of the Premiership season when they went down 14-11 to Bath
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England lock Maro Itoje made his much-anticipated return to action after missing the Autumn internationals through injury
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Max Clark’s try combined with the boot of Tom Homer meant the black, blue & whites led 11-8 against the reigning champions at halftime
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Homer’s second half penalty was enough to secure the victory
Bath made it seven back-to-back home wins as the overcame reigning Aviva Premiership champions Saracens 14-11 at the Recreation Ground.
All eyes were on Maro Itoje today having his return to fitness, after six weeks out with a hand injury. He was heavily involved in the physical stuff as you might imagine but we did not seen so much of his ball-carrying skills though, as Bath largely dominated the possession.
A tense opening saw Tom Homer and Alex Lozowski trade penalties early on before Homer added a second to give the host a narrow 6-3 lead.
Bath’s pressure eventually paid off after 24 minutes as Ben Tapuai powered through before popping the ball up nicely to Max Clark, who had a clear route to the line for his first Premiership try. Homer missed the conversion.
The visitors though narrowed the deficit two minutes before the break as Sean Maitland finished superbly out wide. Lozowski’s conversion attempt missed, 11-8.
Lozowski levelled scores with a drop-goal, only for Homer to land his third penalty after 51 minutes.
Bath, urged on by a crowd of 14,509, survived a Sarries onslaught to win.
Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Clark, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tom Ellis, 6 Matt Garvey (c), 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Paul Grant, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Jack Wilson
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Mike Rhodes, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Titi Lamositele
Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Nathan Earle
Date: Saturday, December 3
Venue: The Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 12:15 GMT
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant Referees: Roy Maybank, Roger Baileff
TMO: Rowan Kitt