By Frank Dalleres
Saracens’ mission to Pretoria to face the Bulls in their opening match of this year’s Investec Champions Cup was always going to be a baptism of fire.
But while they suffered a 27-16 defeat and lost Billy Vunipola to a red card, the 15,000 mile round trip to South Africa was far from fruitless for the Premiership title-holders.
With Vunipola sent off for making direct head contact and both Alex Goode and Maro Itoje shown yellows, they battled gamely with a numerical disadvantage for much of the match.
More importantly, they denied the Bulls a bonus point which could prove to be decisive in the rapid-fire pool stage devised for this season.
Home advantage was all the more beneficial, given that the hosts are accustomed to playing at altitude and in temperatures wildly at odds with north London in December.
Predictably, the Bulls dominated through their physicality and pace out wide to race into a 20-6 half-time lead with tries from David Kriel and Janko Swanepoel.
Canan Moodie added a third to extend the lead after half-time, but then 14-man Saracens rallied, hitting back with tries from Elliot Daly and Theo McFarland.
Owen Farrell could not convert either, however, and the England captain was booed by home fans when lining up his kicks in his first appearance since announcing a break from international rugby to preserve his mental health.
Sarries boss Mark McCall declined to comment on Farrell’s treatment but warned his team they have no room for error in next week’s fixture against Connacht.
“The scoreline was 20-6 at half-time and I think that reflected the half, but the team showed some grit in the second half to fight back when we were down to 14 men,” he said.
“It is a wonderful place to play, an iconic place to play, and we are pleased to have come here but we would have liked to have played a lot better than we did.
“This competition is unforgiving – you’ve only got four games and we’ve lost the first one. We’ve got zero points and next week is really important.”
Saracens’ defeat was the only one of an otherwise perfect Friday and Saturday for English clubs in the Champions Cup.
While Irish, Welsh and Scottish teams could not muster a victory between them, Premiership sides won four out of five.
Exeter’s 19-18 triumph at Toulon was the standout performance, but Bristol also impressed in a rollercoaster 36-34 home win over Lyon.
Bath continued their promising start to the season with a 37-14 home win over Ulster, while on Friday Northampton Saints won 28-19 at Glasgow.
