Owen Farrell hails ‘tremendous’ Saracens for close win over Bath - ‘We’ve gone back to being ourselves’

Owen Farrell said Saracens were “back to being ourselves” again after the defending Gallagher Premiership champions claimed a gritty 15-12 win over Bath at The Rec.

Sarries led 12-0 at half-time but were pegged back to 12-12 after the break before Farrell slotted a penalty from in front of the posts for what could prove to be a crucial four points in the battle to make the play-offs.

The result saw the two sides swap positions in the table – Saracens up to second and Bath down to third – ahead of the weekend fixtures and with two further rounds to go before the semi-finals.

“It’s a tough place to come, always has been, but especially this year,” Farrell told TNT Sports after scooping the player-of-the-match award.

“They’re a top side and have showed it all year, so for us to come here and stick in the fight like we did after a couple of tough results we’ve had of late was tremendous, so we’ll celebrate that.”

It has been a tough old slog of late for a Saracens side so used to success both domestically and in Europe.

They were dumped out of the Investec Champions Cup after being thrashed by Bordeaux Begles and hadn’t won any of their last six away fixtures ahead of the showdown with Bath.

What, then, was the difference this time?

“We’ve gone back to being ourselves a little bit more today,” Farrell added. “We felt more comfortable.

“We felt more comfortable when it wasn’t going our way and by no means was that perfect today, there were loads of mistakes, but we fought for each other and we enjoyed doing it.”

With two tough fixtures to come away to Bristol Bears and at home to Sale Sharks, the victory sets Saracens up for another tilt at the title.

It would be a seventh for the club should it come to fruition and with a number of stalwarts set to depart in the summer, it would likely carry extra significance.

Farrell is one of those calling time on his Sarries career as he begins another chapter in the French Top 14 with Racing 92 and was asked about his desire to go out on a high.

“The most important thing for me is that we’re ourselves and we enjoy it,” he continued. “That we rip in together.

“What happens after that, we’ll see.”

TNT Sports pundit Lawrence Dallaglio heaped praise on Farrell for dragging his side over the line for a welcome victory.

Aside from the match-winning penalty, Farrell pulled the strings from fly-half and set up Romiti Segun for a try on the stroke of half-time with an exquisite chip over the Bath defence.

“It’s absolutely huge for Saracens,” Dallaglio said. “They were ruthless and clinical. They knew exactly what they came here to do. They got Bath into an arm wrestle and Saracens were a little bit stronger.

“Bath have been unbeaten in seven games at home and Saracens have been finding it hard to win on the road but what a time to pull out a performance.

“That man, the skipper Owen Farrell, set up the try for Segun in the first half, kicked the winning penalty, and just had enough to get over the line.”

Defeat will have been tough to take for Bath having got back in the game with two tries in seven minutes either side of the hour mark.

Johann van Graan’s side would have expected to go on and complete the comeback in front of their home fans, but with a trip to Newcastle Falcons and the visit of Northampton Saints to see out the regular season, Austin Healey is confident they’ll secure a semi-final spot.

“You’ve still got to fancy Bath with the run-in that they’ve got,” Healey said. “They’re currently on 50 points, they go to Newcastle now where you’d hope they get five [points] so that’s almost enough.

“And then they’ve got a home game against Saints in the last game of the season and Saints will have probably already qualified in first, so my money is still on Bath to finish second in this competition.

“They’ll need to play slightly better if they want to go all the way but I think there’s another gear in there.”

- - -

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.