Sarries grind out win

Saracens maintained their Aviva Premiership title push with a dour 12-6 victory over capital rivals London Irish at Vicarage Road.

The Sarries players came out determined to give rugby director Brendan Venter a winning send-off as he returns to South Africa with his family, and a hard-fought success takes them to within six points of leaders Leicester.

Young fly-half Owen Farrell kicked all 12 points for the hosts with Chris Malone replying with two successful kicks for Irish, who continue to flounder after a 10th-straight defeat.

Early pressure earned Farrell a chance to put his side in front but his seventh-minute penalty came back off an upright, and four minutes later he saw a second attempt rebound off the other post.

But the first quarter belonged to the hosts and it came as no surprise when they earned a 22nd-minute lead, Farrell making it third time lucky.

The Exiles' first decent attack saw them level the scores before the half hour mark though, Sarries failing to deal with pressure at the scrum to give Malone the opportunity to convert.

The full-back then kicked his side ahead following a ruck offence but the hosts responded aggressively to earn an offside call at the other end, Farrell levelling three minutes before the break.

Camped

Malone did have the chance to put his side in front at the interval after Carlos Nieto entered a ruck from the side, but his penalty attempt brushed the post on the wrong side.

Irish camped themselves in the opposition half in the early part of the second half, but were unable to capitalise on good position firstly after a knock-on and then a penalty conceded at a scrum.

The game descended into a kicking contest with neither side looking able to break the gainline, and Malone once again missed a chance to put his side ahead on 55 minutes after tempers flared.

Saracens finally broke their shackles with a sustained attack that was ended illegally, allowing Farrell to kick the go-ahead points with 15 minutes on the clock.

The teams continued to snuff out each other's attacking intentions, although the customary infusion of new blood in the final quarter did open things up to an extent.

But Malone then came under pressure in isolation and when he was penalised for not releasing, Farrell doubled his side's lead from 40 metres.

Irish needed a converted try to steal victory and they battled their way into the home 22 with a penalty kick to touch for a lineout three minutes from time.

However, Sarries' defence stood firm through a succession of drives and they finally came away with the ball, and the win.