2GS The Sunday Times May 1, 2022 13Rugby Union
Malins was
the key man
for McCall’s
sidefoothold in the contest. Smith’s
three penalties kept the visitors
down to only an eight-point
advantage at the break as the
Worcester defence stood strong on
the stroke of it, denying Segun a
second try as he attempted to cross.
Malins doubled up within a
minute of the second half, bursting
on to a pass and showing his speed
by dashing through a large gap and
over for a finely worked try that
Farrell converted. Malins strolled
over in the left-hand corner for his
hat-trick after Saracens hadSaracens
lifted by
four tries
from
Malins
Max Malins gave Eddie Jones four
more impressive nudges in his
attempt to secure a place on
England’s plane to Australia this
summer as Saracens edged closer
to a home play-off place.
The full back gave a dismal
Worcester Warriors side the run-
around at Sixways and paved the
way for a comfortable afternoon
for a team now firmly
believing they can add a
sixth Gallagher Premiership
trophy to their well-stocked
cabinet. Malins ran in four
tries in a game for only the
second time in his career,
with Owen Farrell and
Billy Vunipola also
showing they are hitting
their straps as they enter
the run-in.
The Saracens director of
rugby, Mark McCall, praised
Malins, 25, who was
dropped by Jones for England’sfinal Six Nations game after playing
in the previous matches, insisting:
“Max is one of those players who
makes things happen and he has a
habit of scoring tries for us.”
Saracens can now focus on their
European Challenge Cup visit to
Gloucester on Friday after an
impressive performance in which
they did not need to get out of third
gear. They were firmly in control
early on as three first-half tries
demonstrated their attacking intent
and skill plus the home side’s lack
of physical presence in defence.
It was all too simple for the
London side, with Malins finishing
off a move from one side of the field
to the other. The ball was moved
and juggled across the line until it
reached the England man, who
darted through some weak tackling
to cross for the opening try. Farrell
converted but failed with his next
two attempts, as first Ben Earl
intercepted a botched Warriors
lineout and then the wing Rotimi
Segun rounded off a Saracens
lineout drive for the third score.
The boot of the fly half Fin Smith
enabled Worcester to keep astretched their rivals again, and
Malins scooped up Elliot Daly’s
lobbed pass to score with ease.
Try No 4 came as another
decisive attack opened up a huge
gap in the Worcester defence and
Malins strolled through.
The wing Tom Howe crossed for a
late score but it had been another
tough lesson for Worcester. Their
director of rugby, Steve Diamond,
said: “I was proud of how the boys
kept going and trying, but really and
truly we were outclassed. We now
have a ridiculous five-week break
and I will give the guys ten days off.
But it is a weird end of the season.”
Star man Malins (Saracens)
Worcester: Try Howe (78min). Con Searle. Pens
Smith 3. Saracens: Tries Malins 4 (4, 41, 56, 71),
Earl (14), Segun (18). Cons Farrell 3, M Vunipola.
Worcester N Heward; P Humphreys, O Morris (A
Beck 65), F Venter, T Howe; F Smith (B Searle 50),
G Simpson (W Chudley 50); R Sutherland (E Waller
57), N Annett (I Miller 57), C Judge (M McCallum
57); J Batley (A Kitchener 61), G Kitchener; K
Hatherell, T Hill (c), M Kvesic (S Lewis 50).
Saracens M Malins; R Segun, E Daly, N Tompkins,
S Maitland (D Taylor 56); O Farrell (c) (M Vunipola
70), A Davies (I van Zyl 60); E Mawi (R Barrington
50), J George (K Pifeleti 66), V Koch (A Clarey 60);
N Isiekwe, T McFarland; A Christie (J Wray 25, C
Hunter-Hill 52), B Earl. B Vunipola.
Referee A Woodthorpe. Attendance 7,745.P W D L F A B Pts
Leicester 22 18 0 4 679 437 14 86
Saracens 22 16 1 5 720 417 16 82
Harlequins 22 14 0 8 581 483 18 74
Northampton 22 13 0 9 661 571 16 68
Gloucester 22 12 1 9 607 49017 67
Exeter 22 12 0 10 504456 14 62
Sale 2210 3 9 501 469 13 61
London Irish 22 9 4 9 594 597 14 58
Wasps 21 11 0 10 555 522 13 57
Bristol 22 7 0 15 514 643 15 43
Newcastle 22 6 1 15 405568 7 33
Worcester 23 5 1 17 408787 8 30
Bath 22 4 1 17 407 696 9 29WORCESTER WARRIORS GALLAGHER PREMIERSHIP
16SARACENS 38
counterattack that Ashton joined on
halfway as he picked a clever support
line and took the pass to race to the
line for the hat-trick, with Ford con-
verting. Back came Bristol, forcing a
lineout close to the Leicester line and
when the forwards were repulsed,
Toby Fricker, the wing, dived over.
Porter ensured Leicester would be
heading into half-time with a comfort-
able advantage, inter-passing with
Youngs, who scored to establish a
deserved 15-point lead at the break.
Moroni scored straight after the
restart courtesy of Tommy Reffell’s
charge-down and next over the line
was Steward, and after Ford had con-
verted he departed along with a host
of other key Leicester players to
ensure they were going to be ready for
that Leinster contest. Jasper Wiese
then crashed over for a try converted
by Freddie Burns, who also added the
extra points after Harry Potter had
rounded off Leicester’s tryscoring.
Leicester’s intensity dropped a
level and Bristol made the most of this
easing of the pressure to create tries
for Harry Thacker and Chris Vui.
Pat Lam, the Bristol director of
rugby, said: “The score doesn’t reflect
the effort the boys put in — it reflected
the silly, stupid turnovers. Leicester
are the gold standard at the moment.
This is their time. Everyone has their
day and we will get our day back.”Star man Chris Ashton (Leicester)
Scorers: Leicester: Tries Ashton 3 (4min, 24, 28),
Youngs (36), Moroni (42), Steward (58), Wiese
(67), Potter (74). Cons: Ford 4, Burns. Pen: Ford 2.
Bristol: Tries Bates (9), Fricker (33), Thacker (72),
Vui (77). Cons Sheedy, Eden.
Leicester Tigers F Steward; C Ashton, M Moroni,
G Porter (N Nadolo 50), H Potter; G Ford (F Burns
59), B Youngs (R Wigglesworth 56); E Genge
(capt, J Whitcombe 59), J Montoya (C Clare 50)
D Cole (J Heyes 59), H Wells, C Green (E Snyman
66), H Liebenberg, T Reffell, J Wiese.
Bristol Bears I Lloyd; T Fricker (W Capon 73)
J Bates, P O’Conor, H Purdy (A Leiua 59);
C Sheedy (T Eden 37), H Randall (A Uren 56);
J Woolmore (J Benz-Salomon 70), H Thacker,
J Afoa (J Armstrong 59), J Joyce, C Vui, S Luatua
(capt, J Hawkins 65), S Jeffries (J Thomas 56),
F Harding. Referee Karl Dickson.The retiring
Tom Youngs
acknowledges the
Welford Road
crowd for the
last timespace and with Guy Porter missing his
tackle, the Bristol centre cantered
over for Callum Sheedy to convert.
With Ford happy to put the ball
deep into the Bristol half it was about
how well the opposition could run out
of defence. Two penalties under-
mined their cause and they were
indebted to Ion Lloyd for his trysaving
tackle on Ashton but it was only a tem-
porary reprieve as Ellis Genge barged
his way out of a tackle and fed Freddie
Steward, who gave Ashton a run to the
line with Ford converting.
Genge knocked over Randall ten
metres from the Leicester posts to
break up a threatening attack and
Moroni and Ben Youngs initiated adown and break the record.
Ford then kicked a penalty and as
the crowd settled down for another
routine Leicester win, they were
stunned to see Bristol suddenly join
the party with a try that started from a
midfield scrum. Piers O’Conor held
back his pass to put Jack Bates into‘It’s been a dream
come true and this
field, team and
badge means so
much to me’and this was their seventh away defeat
in a row in the league while Leicester
remain unbeaten on their own pitch.
After the final whistle, Tom received an
award from his brother, Ben, with both
teams applauding and said: “It’s been a
dream come true and this field, team
and badge means so much to me.”
Leicester rode the wave of emotion
generated as Tom Youngs led the team
out one more time, to work Ashton
over for the first of his tries after four
minutes. Harry Randall could not
catch one of George Ford’s high kicks
and quick hands got the ball to Matías
Moroni whose chip ahead bounced
up for Ashton to collect and stay in the
field of play long enough to get the ballAshton gives Youngs fitting farewell
T
hey know how to throw a
farewell party at Leicester
Tigers and a chance to say a
final goodbye to the retiring
Tom Youngs turned into a
raucous celebration of
securing a home Premier-
ship semi-final and a record
breaking hat-trick of tries for Chris
Ashton, the former England wing.
It was Bristol Bears’ bad luck to be
cast in a supporting role and while
they did claim a try bonus point, this
was all about Leicester and their
remarkable season. A performance of
power and pace delivered an eight-try
victory to warm everyone up for the
Heineken Champions Cup quarter-fi-
nal at home to Leinster next weekend.
The bonus point win sealed home
advantage for Leicester in the play-
offs and that was ensured early in the
contest as Ashton scored a hat-trick in
24 minutes — the quickest by a Leices-
ter player in the league — to take him
ahead of Tom Varndell in the all-time
tryscoring list. Ashton has crossed 95
times to prove that far from being a
spent force, he has rediscovered his
mojo after a succession of clubs.
Ashton admitted he feared he
wouldn’t get the chance to break the
record and said: “I had three months
at home thinking that was it. When
Steve [Borthwick] rang I said I would
be there tomorrow and it was a very
easy decision. I am grateful to him for
giving me the opportunity.”
Bristol did score two late tries when
the match had ceased to be a contestChris JonesLEICESTER TIGERS 56
BRISTOL BEARS 26
DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGESGALLAGHER
PREMIERSHIP