Saracens 38 Northampton Saints 15: Tom Vickers' review and player ratings

You need to be perfect in your performance. Saints weren’t.

You need the bounce of the ball. Saints didn’t get it.

You need the officials to get key calls right. They didn’t.

Nothing encapsulated all of those things better than the opening five minutes of the match, which were so hard to stomach from a Saints perspective.

First, they had the chance to apply real pressure but knocked the ball on deep inside the 22.

Then, there was an inexplicable decision not to show Saracens wing Sean Maitland a card after he made contact with the head of George Furbank during an aerial collision.

Saracens were awarded a breakdown penalty that was extremely dubious before throwing a really wonky lineout into play.

And Maitland scored from the resulting move, enjoying a huge slice of luck as Alex Goode’s kick ahead bounced perfectly into his path and away from the covering Alex Mitchell.

It left Saints 7-0 down when they could easily have been at least level and one man up.

From then, Saracens did what Saracens do, making the most of any chink in the armour in expert fashion as Owen Farrell expertly executed a nudge in behind for Maitland (yes, that man again!) to score his second.

Ivan van Zyl’s quick thinking punished Alex Waller for conceding a cheap penalty and Saints had a steep mountain to climb as they headed in 21-3 down at half-time.

The black, green and gold are no stranger to mounting comebacks, but it’s a much tougher task than most when you are trying to do it against Saracens.

This is a side renowned for their defensive resilience, the wolfpack mentality that has won them so many trophies, and Saints really struggled to trouble them until Mitchell delivered some trademark magic.

The black, green and gold, who had struggled for tempo up to that point, then summoned a head of steam, scoring again in fine fashion to ignite hopes of a comeback.

But they were then undone as a ball again bounced perfectly for Saracens, Ian Tempest, who was running the line, missed Farrell being in touch, allowing the hosts to put the squeeze on Saints in their own half before another harsh breakdown penalty went the way of the men in black.

It meant the hosts could kick to the corner and earn a penalty try that would end the game as a contest.

It was another key sequence of events that didn’t go Saints’ way, and they were entitled to feel hard done by come the final whistle.

However, having finished top of the table, no one can begrudge Saracens their place in the final.

And for long periods against Saints, they showed just why they are so good and why they will once again be so tough to move from the top of the English tree.

They had experience running through their team, making it count at times against a Saints side with plenty of players who are still under the age of 25.

Saints will hope to grow and get better as they continue to try to take a step past the semi-finals, the stage at which they have fallen in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

But unlike back in 2013/14, when they finally made the leap to win their first, and so far only, Premiership title, they don’t have the financial firepower to just go out and add three world class players.

Back then, they brought in Alex Corbisiero, Kahn Fotuali’i and George North to ‘take them to the next level’.

But now it is about searching for solutions from within as the realities of modern-day rugby bite so many clubs up and down the country.

It was emphasised on Saturday as Saints had an extremely talented but still-so-young Fin Smith at fly-half against England star Farrell, a man who has been at the top of the game for so many years.

Saints had Dan Biggar earlier in the season, but the lure of France, as has so often been the case during the past decade, proved too strong.

So while Saracens have been able to hold on to so many huge players and personalities, Saints have lost some of them.

And how they bridge the gap to Mark McCall’s men remains to be seen.

But what can’t be questioned is the work they are putting in to try to come up with the solutions.

Behind the scenes and on the field, they are giving everything they have got.

It’s just that sometimes that is not quite enough.

How they rated…

GEORGE FURBANK – did well to recover from the early injury and largely looked assured, but Saracens stopped his attacking threat… 6

JAMES RAMM – finished a fantastic first season at Saints with a try but would have hoped for more of the ball… 6

FRASER DINGWALL - scored a hat-trick against Saracens at StoneX Stadium earlier in the season but didn’t have anywhere near the same level of opportunity here… 6

RORY HUTCHINSON – grew into the game and looked a bit of a threat at times as he and Mitchell seemed most likely to make inroads… 6.5

TOMMY FREEMAN – finally got a chance to run during the second half but the damage had been done by then and the flying wing couldn’t help his team over the line… 6

FIN SMITH – a tough day for the talented young fly-half but one that he will learn a huge amount from going into his first full season at Saints… 5

ALEX MITCHELL – made two huge try-saving tackles during the first period and was the man who sparked Saints into life with a fine finish in the second half… 7.5

ALEX WALLER - will be ruing the concession of a cheap penalty that allowed Ivan van Zyl to score a hugely important try that put Saracens 21-3 up… 5

TOM CRUSE – wouldn’t have expected to be starting a play-off semi-final when he joined Saints but he did, and he largely did okay… 6

TREVOR DAVISON – no shortage of desire and ability to carry from the prop, and he will look forward to a full season at Saints next time round… 6

DAVID RIBBANS – gave it his all in his final game for the club but Saracens met fire with fire to stop him having a huge say… 6.5

ALEX MOON – the Premiership’s top tackler got stuck in once again but Saracens stood up to him well… 6

COURTNEY LAWES – showed his class time and again, and Saints will be glad they still get to call on this guy again next season… 7

LEWIS LUDLAM – the skipper put in another huge shift in a season full of them but his hard work went unrewarded on this occasion… 7

JUARNO AUGUSTUS – the big man did what he could to try to bulldoze Saracens but they dealt with him well and he wasn’t able to get enough front-foot ball… 6.5

Replacements (who played more than 20 minutes)

ETHAN WALLER (for A Waller 40) - was given a tough time at the scrum by Marco Riccioni and couldn’t have the impact he would have hoped… 5

ROBBIE SMITH (for Cruse 50) – made a quicker than expected return from injury and tried to have an impact though Saracens were a tough nut to crack… 5.5

PAUL HILL (for Davison 50) – helped to win one penalty at the scrum but Saracens refused to relent up front as they closed out the game… 5.5

LUKHAN SALAKAIA-LOTO (for Moon 57) – the Australian ace should be a key figure for Saints next season after a strong first season at the club and he was up for this… 6

SAM GRAHAM (for Augustus 57) – added a real spark for Saints, winning them a couple of penalties and almost grabbing a late try… 6.5

CHRON STAR MAN - Owen Farrell (Saracens)