Saracens 24 Harlequins 11: Maro Itoje on form as Sarries beat London rivals

Saracens' Liam Williams scores their first try against Harlequins (pic: Paul Harding/PA) (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Saracens enjoyed their debut at the London Stadium, easing to a 24-11 win over capital rivals Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership.

The north Londoners were by and large in control in the first half, with Liam Williams and Maro Itoje crossing for tries, while Alex Lozowski added eight points from the tee.

Though they could only score two Lozowski penalties in the second half, Sarries rarely looked troubled

With the Six Nations ending last week, Saracens took the chance to welcome their international stars back into the fold.

Williams, Sean Maitland, Richard Wigglesworth, Jamie George and Itoje were all recalled to the starting XV, while Mako Vunipola was on the bench.

However, England pair Owen Farrell and George Kruis both missed out after returning injured from international duty.

With Farrell absent, Lozowski was tasked with kicking duties from fly half, and kicked Saracens into a third-minute lead with a penalty.

The north Londoners extended their lead seven minutes later when Williams went over in the corner.

Maitland had made the initial break through the middle, cutting through the Quins defence with ease.

The Scotland international was tackled inside the 22, but the ball was recycled quickly and made its way out to Williams, who dotted down.

Lozowski superbly added the extras to hand Mark McCall’s men a 10-0 lead with little over 10 minutes on the clock.

It took Quins until the 24th minute to get on the score sheet, with fly half Demetri Catrakilis kicking a penalty midway inside the Sarries half.

Catrakilis kicked another penalty from a similar distance four minutes later to cut the north Londoners’ lead to just four points.

Saracens, though, were able to halt Harlequins’ momentum with their second try of the afternoon in the 31st minute.

After making good progress inside the Quins half, Wigglesworth passed to Itoje from a ruck.

The British & Irish Lions tourist broke through a couple of tackles on the 22-metre line, before running in unopposed.

Lozowski was unable to add the extras from distance, with the north Londoners leading 15-6.

The fly half, though, did kick his second penalty of the afternoon with the final action of the first half to send his side into the interval leading by 12 points.

Quins looked to be in for the first score of the second half through replacement Marcus Smith in the 44th minute.

Smith kicked past the Saracens defence and chased, but Williams was on hand with a good piece of defensive work to beat the promising fly half to the ball.

Four minutes later, another kick, this time from Tim Visser, caused chaos in the home defence, but his Scotland team-mate Maitland was on hand to clean up for the north Londoners.

Harlequins’ pressure finally told in the 52nd minute when James Horwill crossed from close range, though Smith missed the conversion.

Lozowski ensured Saracens had a swift response, though, kicking a penalty to make it 21-11 two minutes later.

Quins thought they were in for their second try of the half when Francis Salli ghosted through the defence in the 66th minute, but referee Tom Foley ruled there had been a forward pass earlier in the move.

Saracens were handed a blow four minutes later when replacement Max Malins was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on, reducing them to 14 men.

However, the Sarries defence held firm while Malins were off and even added to their lead with a Lozowski penalty in the 79th minute.

It proved to be the final action of the match, with the win the perfect platform for Saracens ahead of their European Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster next week.

Saracens: Goode; Williams, Bosch, Barritt (Malins 63), Maitland; Lozowski, Wigglesworth (Spencer 56); Barrington (Vunipola 48), George (Brits 48), Figallo (Lamositele 48); Itoje, Day (Cowan 52); Isiekwe, Burger (Earl 68), Wray.

Replacements: Wyles.

Yellow card: Malins 70 (deliberate knock-on).

Harlequins: Brown; Alofa, Marchant, Roberts (Salli 48), Visser; Catrakilis (Smith 30), Care; Lambert (Marler 48), Gray (Ward 76), Sinckler (Collier 76); Matthews (Luamanu 52), Horwill; Robshaw, Wallace (Clifford 48), Chisholm.

Replacements: Lewis.

Scoring (Saracens first): 3-0 (Lozowski pen 3); 10-0 (Williams try 10, Lozowski con); 10-3 (Catrakilis pen 24); 10-6 (Catrakilis pen 28); 15-6 (Itoje try 31, Lozowski missed con); 18-6 (Lozowski pen 40); 18-11 (Horwill try 52, Smith missed con); 21-11 (Lozowski pen 54); 24-11 (Lozowski pen 79).

Referee: Tom Foley.

Attendance: 55,329.