Rising star Noah Caluori marked his first Gallagher Prem start by plundering five tries as Saracens overwhelmed Sale 65-14 at StoneX Stadium.
The 19-year-old wing made a try-scoring debut off the bench against Newcastle on the opening weekend but that was just a teaser for the fireworks to come against the Sharks.
Caluori, an England Under-20 international, used his 6’4″, 15 stones 8lbs frame to torment Sale in the air and also displayed his ruthless streak with five blistering finishes.
It was his two touch downs early in the second half that swept Saracens clear on what became a harrowing evening for the Sharks, who before arriving in north London had conceded just six tries in three matches only to be breached 10 times by their title rivals.
Adding to the indignity of conceding their highest number of points for six years was the 20-minute red card shown to hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie for a dangerous tackle, endangering his availability for England’s autumn opener against Australia on November 1.
Remarkably given the final scoreline, it was hard to separate the rivals in a tight first half that matched Saracens’ excellent kicking game – much of it targeting Calouri – against Sale’s physical defence.
Each team crossed early on with forward tries, the Sharks the first to go over when Bevan Rodd barged over after Cowan-Dickie had bounced off Lucio Cinti in a muscular run.
Juan Martin Gonzalez then breached the whitewash from close range following a show of strength from Saracens’ maul.
Sale were finding holes in the home defence and in the 19th minute they conjured a second try with Rob du Preez sweeping over through a show and go after sharp handling from the Sharks.
Farrell landed a penalty and then Saracens engineered the highlight of the first half when Caluori raced through the midfield after taking a pass from Jamie George and capitalising on the confusion caused by Ben Earl’s decoy run.
Caluori was creating havoc in the air and, in a sign of the frustration he was causing opposite number Arron Reed, the Sale wing shoved him into a TV camera as he caught a kick in the dead ball zone.
The offence incurred a penalty, allowing Saracens to escape downfield where Tom O’Flaherty took out Caluori as the pair contested a kick, resulting in a penalty try and a yellow card.
Sale trailed 22-14 heading into the interval, but were blown away over the next 40 minutes with Caluori doing most of the damage.
Hugh Tizard went over from close range and to compound the Sharks’ problems Cowan-Dickie was given his marching orders, meaning his side were down to 13 men – and Caluori took advantage by striking twice in three minutes.
Clever passes from George and Earl allowed him to sprint into the corner and he then caught a loose pass and evaded three tackles in a dynamic run to the line.
By now Sale’s defence had disintegrated and Fergus Burke and Earl completed simple scores before Caluori added crossed two more times, on both occasions showing his speed and athleticism.
PA
