After taking a 41-0 tonking from Wasps last week Saracens did remarkably well to restrict Bath to three tries and but for some very wayward kicking from Castaignede the Vicars of Watford could have snatched a vital home win. They must be disappointed to come away from a game, that saw them the stronger side in the final quarter, with no points: Castaignede could have snatched a losing bonus at the death but again he missed a very kickable penalty. It is not difficult to see from this performance why Saracens are languishing in the basement of the Premiership, this could have been the Bath side of the last two seasons.

Mike Tindall, making his first start of the season for Bath, started the game in bright form when he dashed up-field after seven minutes only to see Andrew Higgins drop his pass in a move that could have opened the visitors' account. However it was Saracens who scored first through a Castaignede penalty.

But the home side lead was not to last long. At the re-start, Olly Barkley won his side a line-out, from which he created the gap by means of a grubber kick for Tindall to dive under the posts. There was great cheer from the hordes of Bath supporters but these were soon muffled as it became clear that in scoring his try, Tindall was seriously hurt. After watching the Bath centre being stretchered from the field the common view was a broken leg but there is currently some confusion as to the extent of the injury. 

Kevin Maggs replaced Tindall but when Matt Perry had to leave the field just before half-time, with a recurrence of his groin injury, it seemed the Bath back's jinx had struck again: and in a week when Robbie Kydd had moved on to Saracens because of salary cap issues and Wylie Human had his contract extended for a few more weeks. 

Another Bath penalty saw the half-time score reach 3 -10.

The second half started exactly as coach John Connolly would have planned. Alex Crockett, who had replaced Matt Perry just before half-time, scooped up a clever Olly Barkley chip forward, which he laid on to Andrew Higgins, who in turn skipped past the bewildered Saracens defenders to score in the corner. 

Castaignede missed another kick at goal after 45 minutes to keep the score at 3 -17 and the Saracens coaching staff knew they had to make a few changes. One of the substitutions was Robbie Kydd and it was slightly ironic that he should be involved in the next Bath score. However before Bath could get more points Saracens scored their first try through Paul Bailey and brought the game back to 10 -17.

Just as the game entered its final quarter Simon Danielli made ground in the opposition twenty-two and fed Olly Barkley on the wing, Barkley chipped the ball in to the in-goal area but was tripped by Kydd and the referee deemed it to have been a scoring chance and so awarded a penalty try. Kydd was lucky to have stayed on the pitch for this transgression, one can only assume referee Fox believed there to be no malicious intent by Kydd.

Within a few moments Kydd almost redeemed himself with his new team mates as he dashed towards the Bath line but a fumble saved the visitors and for the rest of the game it was all hands to the pump for the Bath defence. For the most part Bath were solid but in the 78th minute Castaignede broke their resolve and took the score to a nerve-wracking 15 - 24. At the end it was Bath who were glad to hear the final whistle. The coaches will have much to reflect on over the coming weeks as we prepare for the clash against Wasps but it will be the physios who may have as much to do with a victory as the players and coaches.

Let's have a look at the latest league table.

Scorers

Saracens 15-24 Bath Tries: Bailey Castaignede Tries: Higgins Tindall Pen Try Cons: Castaignede Cons: Barkley 3 Pens: Castaignede Pens: Barkley