Sarries book home play-off spot

Brits dives over for Saracens' first try

Saracens clinched a home berth in the Aviva Premiership play-off semi-finals with a comfortable 35-12 win over top four rivals Gloucester.

First-half tries from the outstanding Schalk Brits and Ernst Joubert put Sarries in command before Matt Stevens and David Strettle touched down to seal the bonus point victory after the break.

Man of the match Alex Goode, who controlled the home side's kicking game throughout, booted 15 points as the hosts claimed their ninth straight league win.

And the victory ended any hopes Gloucester harboured of climbing above their opponents in the table.

Saracens dominated from start to finish but found it tough at times to break down a dogged defensive display from the visitors.

And clinical tries from James Simpson-Daniel and Henry Trinker gave the visitors some cheer ahead of the business end of the season.

Organised

Sarries started the brighter and Gloucester were handed an early let-off when Goode pulled a fourth minute penalty just wide of the left hand post.

Gloucester had plenty of ball in hand as the game passed the quarter hour mark but could not break the line of the organised home defence, which has conceded fewer tries than any other Premiership side this season.

However, they had the chance to go ahead with a long range penalty in the 19th minute.

Freddie Burns' kick smashed the post and seconds later the miss was punished by a sweeping Saracens attacking move.

Goode calmly ran the ball out from the rebound before three quick passes sent winger James Short rampaging down the left touchline.

After fending off several Gloucester challenges he made a sweet offload to supporting hooker Brits who showed great pace and power to finish off for a wonderful try.

Goode made no mistake from in front of the posts to add the extras.

Deserved

Gloucester looked to hit back immediately but home scrum-half Neil de Kock allievated the pressure with a deep kick which the hardworking Short chased down to force Gloucester's covering scrum-half Dave Lewis into touch.

And an excellent Saracens line out saw Joubert claim possession before grounding the ball from a huge drive for a deserved 12-0 home lead on the half-hour mark.

Goode failed to convert from the left touchline and out of nothing Gloucester gave themselves a glimmer of hope.

An arcing break by Charlie Sharples sliced open the Saracens defence for Voyce to make good ground before Simpson-Daniel raced home to clinically finish a quickfire move.

Seconds later the away side showed their attacking instincts again as Simpson-Daniel nearly broke clear for a second time in quick succession.

The game burst into life with the match swinging to the other end as Strettle sidestepped past the Gloucester backline in the 37th minute but was held just short.

And a trio of Gloucester defenders then squeezed out Saracens in the corner with some desperate defending.

Blood

But the mounting pressure finally told when Goode calmly converted a penalty seconds before the half-time whistle for a 15-5 lead.

If they already faced a uphill battle then Gloucester were left with a mountain to climb shortly after the restart.

Saracens replacement Richard Wigglesworth quickly burst from the base of the ruck and produced a great back handed offload for Stevens to touch down for the simplest of tries.

The conversion was booted by Goode and the full-back edged Saracens 28-5 ahead by adding two more penalties by the 56th minute.

It meant Saracens had the smell of blood in the final quarter as they searched for a big win.

However, Gloucester were given the faintest glimmer of hope when Henry Trinder raced from inside his own half to touch down. Ryan Mills narrowed the gap to 28-12 with a fantastic conversion.

But Strettle claimed the bonus point try in the dying stages to cap an excellent Saracens display.