PREM Cup: Newcastle 12-35 Saracens: Future Sarries stars shine in away triumph over Red Bulls

Saracens started the better of the two sides inside the first five with good ball movement in the Newcastle 22 and were starting to ramp up the pressure on the Red Bulls. It would be Saracens who got under the posts by a good pick and go through Harry Wilson. It was great initial pressure from Sarries after Nathan Greenwood headed to the bin for a deliberate knock on, and the away side punished Red Bulls inside the first 10 minutes. Louie Johnson's conversion was good to add the points.

It was a great response from Red Bulls, who went up the other end with Max Clark powering over the line from five metres out to get the try. The earlier try from Saracens had kick-started the Red Bulls into life, with the home side making their first trip inside the visitors' 22 after the score from Sarries. Boeta Chamberlain converted to level the scores up.

Saracens looked like they would have their second try with Charlie Bracken at the heart of it, driving his side to the try line, but it would be a humongous tackle from Chamberlain to hold it up on the line to deny Sarries from extending their lead on the half-hour mark.

Bracken extended Saracens lead just before the break. The scrum half collected a pass well and got himself between the posts to tack onto his side’s tally. Johnson was on hand again to add two.

Saracens continued where they left off from the first half, striking straight after the restart with full back Angus Hall going over after quick ball movement across the line from Sarries. Johnson's kick went straight through the uprights to move the visitors’ lead to 14.

Sarries started to run away with it after adding the bonus point try through substitute, Harvey Beaton, just before the hour mark. The game was panning out similarly to last week’s match in the Prem at the StoneX, unfortunately for Newcastle, who could not cope with the Saracens attack. Johnson again added two.

Moments later Saracens would have another. A quality break from Alex Lozowski found Gareth Simpson on the inside to score between the posts. Johnson was good again to add the extras, seeing the North London outfit's score rise to 35.

Red Bulls would answer back with a try of their own, through winger Greenwood flying over on the right-hand side after great work from Sam Waugh with under 15 minutes to go, leaving the deficit to 23.

That would be the last score of the evening as Saracens came away from Kingston Park with the bonus point win in the Prem Cup.

Tries: Max Clark, Nathan Greenwood

Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain.

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Boeta Chamberlain (Sam Stuart, 62), 14 Stefan Coetzee (Harrison Obatoyinbo, 56), 13 Max Clark, 12 Rhys Beeckmans, 11 Nathan Greenwood, 10 Cameron Hutchison (Sam Waugh, 56), 9 James Elliott; 1 Connor Hancock (Micky Rewcastle, 45), 2 Bryn Gordon (Fraser Renwick, 45), 3 Luan de Bruin (Richard Palframan, 49), 4 Tim Cardall, 5 Finn Baker, 6 Reuben Parsons (captain), 7 Cameron Neild (George Bolam, 14), 8 Freddie Lockwood (Seb de Chaves, 19).

Tries: Harry Wilson, Charlie Bracken, Angus Hall, Nathan Michelow, Gareth Simpson

Conversions: Louie Johnson 5.

Saracens: 15 Angus Hall, 14 Finn Keylock, 13 Alex Lozowski (Luke Davidson, 65), 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Brandon Jackson, 10 Louie Johnson, 9 Charlie Bracken (Gareth Simpson, 51); 1 Phil Brantingham (Alex O’Driscoll, 59), 2 James Hadfield (Eoghan Clarke, 49), 3 Tietie Tuimauga (Harvey Beaton, 49), 4 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Olamide Sodeke (Tayo Adegbemile, 38), 6 Harry Wilson, 7 Charlie West, 8 Nathan Michelow (captain).

With the squads being heavily rotated, it was a chance for the future generation to showcase their skills under the lights at Kingston Park.

Bracken was at the heart of everything good for Sarries at Kingston Park. He controlled the tempo of their attack every time he had the ball in his hands and drove towards the Red Bulls' 22, countless times wanting to create something for his team. The 22-year-old even got in on the try-scoring action just before the break. The try was a very important one, with the game still in balance for both sides. The scrum half collected an inside pass and got himself between the posts to give the North London side their second try of the match at a pivotal time of the tie.

The former England U20 international has been a real breakout star this season for Sarries, featuring in both the Gallagher Premiership and the Investec Champions Cup, having played a combined 427 minutes across the two competitions. Bracken will be at the heart of the Saracens for years to come, and he is one to keep an eye on for the England nine shirt in the future.

Another Sarries player who impressed was fly-half Louie Johnson. The youngster was brilliant between the posts against his former side and was kicking with a point to prove. Johnson has not featured a lot this season, but his performance against Newcastle will put him in the minds of the Sarries coaching staff.

His 10 points tacked onto his already solid tally of points scored in the Prem Cup, making him the standalone top points scorer & top goal kicker in the competition so far, with an eleven-point buffer to second place in both categories.

All his points in the competition have come from his right foot, which is even more impressive, and you can see why, after he was perfect from every kick between the uprights against Newcastle. If Sarries won’t use the fly half, someone will eventually and performances like that won’t go unnoticed for teams across the Gallagher Prem looking for a good fly-half.

Centre Angus Hall is another youngster from the Sarries conveyor belt of talent that stood out at Kingston Park. Although predominantly a centre, the 20-year-old was at full back against the Red Bulls and did not look out of place one bit.

Hall has featured twice for England A this campaign, playing 160 minutes against a New Zealand XV & Spain. In 2024, he was also part of the England U20 side that won the World Rugby Championship in South Africa, scoring two tries against Fiji in a pool game, and he also started the final, where his side defeated France at the Cape Town Stadium to claim the World Rugby Championship.

What stood out in Hall’s game last night was when he had the ball in hand and the speed he generated, which the Red Bulls at times could not contain. He got his try at the perfect time, just two minutes after the restart, killing all hope for the home side and handing his side the victory early into the second half.

The try was curated by quick ball movement across the line from Sarries, and Hall went over to add five. Hall has been at Champ Club Ampthill for most of the season and has impressed and could warrant a more prominent role at Saracens for next season.

For the fourth player, it is not a Saracens player, and it is Red Bulls winger Nathan Greenwood who caught the eye at Kingston Park.

Newcastle didn’t have a lot to shout about against Sarries as they struggled for the majority to get any attacking momentum into the match, but if they did, Greenwood would be involved at some point.

The 22-year-old has only played seven times this season, but many of those appearances have been in the Prem Cup, and unfortunately, the academy product could be one of the many players to be let go in the summer with the Red Bull overhaul not looking to be stopping any time soon.

The winger got one of Newcastle’s two tries in the second half after a dominant start to the second half by the Saracens. It was great work from substitute Sam Waugh to find Greenwood on the right-hand side, who flew over to dot down the try.