Chick grabs debut hat-trick as Saints start season with cup win at Saracens

JJ van der Mescht also dotted down on his debut, but there were some more injury issues as Rory Hutchinson had to withdraw before the game and summer signing Amena Caqusau had to be helped from the field during the second half.

Chick was also forced off as he had to have a head injury assessment and did not come back on.

But the No.8, a close-season recruit from Newcastle Red Bulls, had more than done his work by the time he headed off as he landed a first-half treble, making the most of some strong overall play from the Saints pack, who put real pressure on Saracens at scrum time and in the maul.

It was a real roller coaster of an encounter as neither side could every really keep control, keeping the opposition in the game.

But it was Saints who eventually prevailed as two second-half tries from James Ramm finally put the game beyond doubt.

The black, green and gold will now prepare for the start of their Gallagher PREM campaign, at home to Exeter Chiefs on Sunday, September 28.

But Saints will be assessing their injury situation in the build-up to that battle as Hutchinson was added to the injury list before the game, bringing Tom Litchfield into the starting line-up and James Martin on to the bench.

But when the action got going, the Saints pack made a strong start as they won a scrum penalty from a Saracens put-in before booting the ball to the corner and rumbling over through captain Chick.

Anthony Belleau slotted the conversion, but Saracens quickly responded, securing a penalty inside the Saints half and opting to go for goal, with Louis Johnson notching the three points.

Ill discipline was starting to bite the black, green and gold, giving Saracens field position, from which they engineered a try for Rotimi Segun, who collected a Max Malins crossfield kick and dotted down.

Saracens were trying to turn the screw, upping the tempo as penalty after penalty came their way.

Saints did produce a period of strong defence to force a knock-on, but the pressure soon came back on as another string of penalties extended more invitations to Saracens.

Eventually the home side made their territory pay as Malins found a way through, but Johnson hit the post with the conversion attempt to leave the gap at eight points.

Saints needed to summon a response, and it didn't take them long as they won a penalty of their own inside the home half before going to the corner again, setting up a massive lineout drive that allowed van der Mescht to score on his debut.

Belleau's conversion reduced the deficit to just a single point with 22 minutes played in an already eventful encounter.

Saints now finally had some momentum and they came close to a score as George Hendy juggled the ball near the home line and Belleau picked up and dotted down, but referee Anthony Woodthorpe ruled it was a knock-on from Hendy.

The black, green and gold would not be denied though as they won a penalty from the resulting scrum and powered over through Chick.

Belleau converted and Saints, who had earlier lost hooker Craig Wright to a head injury assessment, which he eventually passed, withdrew lock van der Mescht, who received some ice from a medic as he sat on the bench.

The disruption didn't hinder Saints as they pushed on and Chick showed great physicality to power over for his hat-trick try just before the break.

Belleau converted and the men in gold seemed to have a grip on the game, but with seconds to go before the half-time whistle, Saracens pouched a bouncing ball inside the away half and sent Segun over for his second try of the night.

Johnson converted from the touchline and Saints' lead stood at 28-22 at the interval, with the try bonus point already in the bag for the away side.

Saints brought on two international props at the break as Italy's Danilo Fischetti was introduced for his competitive debut, along with Scotland's Elliot Millar Mills.

Fischetti and Millar Mills helped to earn Saints yet another penalty against the head at scrum time, but the away side were soon struck by a sucker punch.

After playing some sharp rugby and working their way into the home half, the black, green and gold were hit on the counter as Archie McParland's pass was picked off by Andy Onyeama-Christie and Saracens worked the ball for Jack Bracken to score.

Johnson converted well to give his side a one-point lead, but, as had been the case so often in the contest, the lead was short-lived.

Belleau's clever kick put Saracens under pressure and after Hendy bundled an opposition player into touch, Saints won a penalty.

Hooker Wright showed superb awareness and conviction as he tapped and went, going it alone and refusing to be stopped as he scored a timely try for his team.

Belleau converted and Saints were back in front at 35-29 up, but Saracens landed another blow out of nowhere soon after as Bracken somehow grabbed the ball inside his own half and raced away to score.

Johnson missed the conversion to leave Saints ahead, but they lost Chick to a head injury assessment, bringing Fyn Brown into the action.

Saints soon gave themselves some breathing space with a key try as Ramm ran a lovely line and finished well after McParland found him after picking the ball up from a scrum.

Belleau easily converted from in front of the posts and the black, green and gold now held an eight-point lead.

Saints lost Caqusau to injury, with the summer signing having to be helped from the field just 13 minutes after coming on for his competitive debut for his new club.

Former Coventry wing Martin was introduced for a debut of his own and the game started to get even scrappier than it had been before.

Saints landed another blow on Saracens when Ramm cruised in on the right after collecting a lovely long pass from Belleau.

The French fly-half added the extras in tidy fashion before Saracens went down to 14 men, losing replacement Tietie Tuimaga to a yellow card.

The game was as good as over though, and the final whistle was blown after the impressive Belleau won a breakdown penalty for his team.

Saracens: 15 Max Malins (cc) (Luke Davidson 61); 14 Jack Bracken, 13 Sam Spink (Brandon Jackson 45), 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Rotimi Segun; 10 Louis Johnson, 9 Charlie Bracken (Gareth Simpson 52); 1 Rhys Carre (Alex O'Driscoll 40), 2 Theo Dan (Eoghan Clarke 51), 3 Marcus Street (Tietie Tuimaga 40); 4 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Olamide Sodeke (Kennedy Sylvester 51); 6 Harry Wilson (Charlie West 71), Andy Onyeama-Christie (cc), Nathan Michelow.

Saints: 15 George Hendy; 14 James Ramm, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Toby Thame, 11 Edoardo Todaro (Amena Caqusau 49 (James Martin 62)); 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Archie McParland (Jonny Weimann 62); 1 Emmanuel Iyogun (Danilo Fischetti 40), 2 Craig Wright (Henry Walker 52), 3 Trevor Davison (Elliot Millar Mills 40); 4 Ed Prowse, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht (Sam Graham 34); 6 Angus Scott-Young, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Callum Chick (c) (Fyn Brown 56).

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe