Allianz Park outfit held to 15-15 draw at Sharks last weekend

Saracens will want to return to winning ways in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Sunday when they play host to Worcester Warriors.

On their most recent outing last Friday, the Allianz Park outfit were held to 15-15 draw at Sale Sharks.

The game represented the first time Sarries had failed to win this term after triumphing in all nine of their previous matches in all competitions.

The north Londoners gave it their all late on in the hope of finding a score that would have made it 10 wins from 10 games this term.

And centre Marcelo Bosch, who started for Saracens at Sale, could only reflect on what might have been after the Allianz Park side were held in the North West.

“It was a tough game, but we knew it would be as every time we come to Sale it is,” the Argentina international told the club website.

“We improved our discipline from the first performance and defensively we were okay. We had moments in the second half where we were very good, but there was a shift in momentum.

“We didn’t capitalise when we had big chances to score and we should have given ourselves more of an advantage, but I think the draw is fair for both teams.”

Joel Kpoku and Matt Gallagher both dotted down for Saracens in the draw at Sale, while Max Malins added five points from the tee.

The result, though, saw the north Londoners slip to second in Pool Two behind Worcester with two games remaining in the group stage, including the ‘Derby Day’ clash at Harlequins.

And senior academy coach Adam Powell knows Sarries must learn quickly from last Friday’s disappointment to avoid an early exit from the cup.

Powell told the club website: “We were in a position to win the game and we didn’t. The boys are gutted, and they know we didn’t quite execute things the way we wanted, but the effort was there.

“We put a lot of pressure on them in the first half without converting it into points simply by not being patient with the ball and forcing offloads when we were actually creating good opportunities.

“We still created opportunities late in the game, but we didn’t quite execute a few things and we let them get back into the game and dropped our energy a bit. It’s a big learning curve for us.”