Sarries scrape Wembley win
Saracens moved back to the top of the Guinness Premiership table as they came from behind to beat Worcester at Wembley.
Last Updated: 13/02/10 5:34pm
Saracens moved back to the top of the Guinness Premiership table as they came from behind to beat Worcester 25-20 at Wembley.
Sarries looked set for a third Premiership loss on the bounce as they fell eight points behind at 20-12 just after half time and with a man sent to the sin-bin.
However, despite Carlos Nieto's yellow card reducing them to 14 men, they went on to complete a superb recovery in front of a crowd of 40,163 at the home of football.
Fly-half Glen Jackson finished with six successful penalties from seven attempts while also converting Neil de Kock's 57th-minute try for a third Saracens victory at Wembley this season.
Leicester will reclaim top spot if they win at Leeds on Sunday, while Worcester stay second-bottom despite this losing bonus point.
Bright start
The Warriors started well, penning Brendan Venter's men back in their half and earning two penalties that Willie Walker slotted over in the third and eighth minutes.
After weathering the storm, Sarries finally got a grip and they levelled at 6-6 thanks to two Jackson penalties, conceded by the visitors at the breakdown.
Worcester went back in front though in the 25th minute as South African scrum-half De Kock's poor clearance from his own in-goal was charged down by Kai Horstmann, the ball rebounding to Tom Wood who pounced to ground for the try.
Walker added the extras to make it three from three from the boot and although Jackson did likewise with a 31st-minute penalty to make it 13-9 at the interval.
Only Jackson's penalties had kept Saracens in the game, and he added a fourth two minutes into second period claw back to within a point, but the away side were still looking far more threatening.
Penalties
The pressure told when Sarries conceded two penalties, leading to substitute Nieto being sent to the sin-bin. Worcester opted for an attacking scrum and when that was halted illegally referee Dave Pearson ran out of patience and awarded a penalty try.
Jackson again hit the target to keep their slim hopes alive, but a full length of the field move ended with De Kock crashing over following Goode' kick and collect, and Sarries were ahead just before the hour.
Jackson added a sixth penalty to put his team 25-20 up and despite a fierce ending, which saw Worcester's Greg Rawlinson see yellow, Saracens held on for the win.
