Aviva Premiership: Saracens 48-18 Worcester
Last Updated: 28/11/15 5:34pm
Saracens scored six tries in a 48-18 thrashing of Worcester in the first of two Twickenham fixtures on Saturday.
Chris Ashton scored twice as scrum-half Ben Spencer, Jackson Wray, Schalk Brits and Ben Ransom all crossed for Saracens in an expansive performance from the home side.
Saracens opened the scoring early in ominous fashion. Spencer broke round a ruck after throwing a dummy and ran all the way up to the final defender. He chipped ahead for Ashton to chase and the winger caught the ball on the bounce to score in the fifth minute, Charlie Hodgson converting from out wide for a 7-0 lead.
Worcester nearly hit back immediately with Cooper Vuna tackled into touch centimetres from the line, but with the referee playing advantage for a collapsed maul prior to that, Tom Heathcote was given a shot at goal only for the fly-half to send the chance wide.
Maro Itoje then broke from a turnover early in the second quarter and sent Chris Wyles up the left touchline. Wyles popped the ball back to Spencer in support, with the scrum-half crossing for Saracens' second and a 14-0 lead following the Hodgson conversion.
Hodgson slotted a penalty in the 31st minute after a period of stubborn defence from Worcester ensured the third try eluded the defending champions, before Heathcote finally got Worcester underway with a pair of penalties.
Hodgson had the final say of the half from the tee to hand his side a 20-6 lead at the break.
Jackson Wray opened the scoring in the second-half when Saracens set up a lineout close to the Warriors' line and Wray got on the back of a driving maul to crash over near the poles.
What followed was a series of lineouts and driving mauls from Worcester on the back of several indiscretions from Saracens, but Mark McCall's side eventually held the ball up successfully to halt their opponents' momentum.
A Worcester kick was then taken at the back by Brits and the hooker danced through the entire cover defence before unleashing Hodgson, who passed to Ashton on the switch for the bonus-point try.
Further tries were added by Brits and Ransom as Worcester lost a man to the bin and the game was taken away from them, but the Warriors refused to give up.
In the final 10 minutes Joe Rees and Gerrit-Jan van Velze scored tries to give the scoreline an element of respectability, but Dean Ryan's men could not overcome the deficit.
