Saracens hit Harlequins with half-century to move second in Premiership

Saracens secured London bragging rights in thumping fashion, thrashing Harlequins 52-7 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Saracens were as rampant as Quins were rudderless, with tries from Alex Lewington, Theo Dan and two from Sean Maitland giving the hosts an unassailable half-time lead.

Dan crossed again at the start of the second period before a consolation try for Quins’ Alex Dombrandt.

Argentina pair Lucio Cinti and Juan Martin Gonzalez got in on the act before a seventh try from Alex Goode sent Saracens into second place ahead of a trip to leaders Northampton next weekend.

After a special tribute for Owen Farrell’s 250th club appearance, Saracens came flying out of the blocks looking to make it a milestone to savour.

Dan pierced a gap in the defensive line to carry Sarries inside the Quins 22 and wing Lewington finished off a fine first move in the corner inside two minutes after bouncing off a poor tackle from Marcus Smith.

Harlequins’ indiscipline was the story of the opening quarter and they were a man down after a maul misdemeanour from captain Stephan Lewies.

Saracens smelt blood and several backs poured in to the resulting lineout drive to help them over the line, with hooker Dan the man to touch down for his sixth try of the season.

Flyer Maitland was a late call-up in place of Rotimi Segun but was quickly the toast of Tottenham, sliding in for the first of two scores in quick succession.

Conductor-in-chief Farrell sprayed a flat miss pass to Maitland for the first and he had the simplest of run-ins for Saracens’ third try.

Maitland’s second and Saracens’ bonus-point score came on 26 minutes and encapsulated the performances of both teams in a thoroughly one-sided first half.

After an overthrown Quins lineout, Dan gobbled up the loose ball and after some swift hands, player of the match Elliot Daly produced an audacious through-the-legs pass to present Lewington with a two-on-one.

Sarries’ top scorer unselfishly tipped on to Maitland and the Scot fought off a couple of desperate covering defenders to cross for a second time, doubling his tally for the season in the process.

There was no let-up after the break and after Joe Marler and Will Evans were penalised at the breakdown, Saracens re-established their base in the Quins corner. Dan found the whitewash again as the league’s most prolific maul notched their 11th collective try of the season.

Quins finally managed to get themselves on the board after 50 punishing minutes as Dombrandt stretched over, but any hopes of a comeback were quashed by a lovely team try finished off by Cinti.

Pumas team-mate Gonzalez then picked up a loose ball to score on the hour mark before turning provider for replacement Goode as Saracens leapfrogged their fierce rivals into second in style.