Saracens began their Heineken Cup season with a 42-17 bonus-point win over Treviso on Sunday that puts them top of Pool 5 after Round 1.
It was a special debut for Springbok John Smit, who emerged from the bench to claim his new side's fifth and final try of the win over the Italians.
He came on at hooker in the 58th minute for fellow South African front-row star Schalk Brits.
But it will not be Smit who'll dominate the rugby headlines in Monday's morning's newspapers, as England prospect Owen Farrell once again put in an impressive performance for his club side.
Outside centre Farrell picked up 22 points in all with a try, four conversions and three penalties.
Sarries didn't have it all their own way at Vicarage Road though and were only 16-3 to the good at half-time thanks to Farrell and David Strettle.
But they soon clicked into gear in the second stanza, with Farrell the creator for most that was good for the home side as Treviso's recent RaboDirect PRO12 away form fell away.
It was a win aided a great deal by Saracens' dominance up front and it was fitting that a forward got the all-important bonus-point try. That man was number eight Ernst Joubert, who added to USA Eagles full-back Chris Wyles' earlier five-pont effort.
Replacement hooker Franco Sbaraglini did get over for Treviso along with replacement lock Gonzalo Padro but Saracens were already comfortable at that point and move top of the Pool before their next clash, away to Biarritz. Treviso will play host to the Ospreys.
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Farrell, Strettle, Wyles, Joubert, Smit
Con: Farrell 4
Pen: Farrell 3
For Treviso:
Tries: Sbaraglini, Padro
Con: De Waal 2
Pen: De Waal
Saracens: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 David Strettle, 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 James Short, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Hayden Smith, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 George Kruis, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Adam Powell, 23 Alex Goode.
Treviso: 15 Ludovico Nitoglia, 14 Benjamin de Jager, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Brendan Williams, 10 Willem de Waal, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Benjamin Vermaak, 5 Cornelius van Zyl, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Diego Vidal, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet, 18 Pedro di Santo, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Gonzalo Padrņ, 21 Manoa Vosawai, 22 Kris Burton, 23 Tobias Botes.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Comments
Lucasrg says...
I'm just back from the game, Sarries were truly impressive. Well Done!
Posted 20:04 13th November 2011