Newcastle vs Saracens match report: Billy Vunipola helps Sarries finish with a flourish to maintain run

Newcastle 3 Saracens 38

Billy Vunipola goes over for Saracens’ fourth try (Reuters)

Saracens’ director of rugby Mark McCall admitted his side’s win at Newcastle was not always great entertainment but highlighted the impact made by replacement Billy Vunipola.

The reigning Aviva Premiership champions scored three late tries to turn a turgid, kicking-dominated match into a bonus-point victory which takes them back to the top of the table and maintains their unbeaten record this season.

No 8 Vunipola, who entered the fray in the 56th minute, got the all-important fourth try in front of the new England head coach Eddie Jones who was watching from the stands.

“It wasn’t the most attractive of games,” McCall said. “Newcastle came with a kicking plan and I was pleased with the patience and energy we showed and we stayed with it until the end and proved it’s very important to be able to bring impact players like Billy off the bench.”

Jones was at Kingston Park running the rule over several potential members of his first Six Nations squad, but with the ball being kicked from hand 84 times it spent almost as much time in the air as in the players’ mitts.

The star man of the frustrating clash was veteran Saracens fly-half Charlie Hodgson, who chipped in with a 21-point haul that included four penalties and a late breakaway try.

Hodgson capped off his own performance by intercepting just outside his own 22 and racing away for Saracens’ third try in the 79th minute.

Saracens had delivered the killer blow in the 62nd minute with Nick Tompkins’ try.

Samuela Vunisa’s pulverising run was backed up by Maro Itoje and after Saracens skipper Jamie George fell just short of the line Tompkins snapped up the ball to roll over and score.

Both McCall and his Newcastle counterpart, Dean Richards, said afterwards they had not spoken to Jones. “I didn’t even know he was here,” McCall added.

Richards felt that, despite the defeat, there are a number of Falcons players who are worthy of international recognition. “I’ve not spoken to Eddie Jones, but I would have thought a lot of our guys should be in with a shout for England in the future, especially our hooker George McGuigan – he has come on leaps and bounds.”

Richards added: “It was 13-3 at half-time after we gifted them a try and when it was 23-3 we started to push and made mistakes and conceded those two late tries. We started to chase the game and that fell right into their hands. They have a huge kicking game and they are very accurate in what they do. It enables them to sit back and wait and in the end their accuracy was far greater than ours.”

Newcastle: Penalties Catterick.

Saracens: Tries Vunisa, Tompkins, Hodgson, B Vunipola; Conversions Hodgson 2, Goode; Pens Hodgson 4.

Newcastle: A Tait; Agulla (C. Harris, 57), Powell, Socino, Watson; Catterick (Willis, 70), M Young (Takulua, 65); Vickers (Rogers, 63), G McGuigan (Lawson, 63), Welsh, Robinson, Green (Botha, 65), M Wilson, Welch (Vea, 63), Latu (Hogg, 58).

Saracens: Goode; Ellery, Tompkins (Streather, 64), D Taylor, Wyles (Ransom, 65); Hodgson, Spencer (De Kock, 56); Barrington (M Vunipola, 52), George (Saunders, 71), Figallo (Du Plessis, 55) Itoje, Kruis, Wray (Rhodes, 64), Fraser, Vunisa (B Vunipola, 56).

Referee: A Small (RFU).