Saracens are now all-but qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions Cup as they have now won four from four in their Pool matches so far.
This 55-13 win against Oyonnax also saw them get their third bonus point which sees them sit top of Pool 1 with 19 points and 10 points clear of 2nd placed Ulster although they have a game in hand, but it is now all but certain that Saracens will make the knockout stages.
The scoreline of this match really says it all as Saracens were by far the better team in the contest and Oyonnax have lost interest in the competition as they focus on making sure that they are in the Top 14 next season.
However, don’t let that take anything away from a great performance from the North Londoners as they ran in 8 tries including a hatrick from Man of the Match, Chris Ashton, who is really putting his hand up for England selection and is one of the form wingers in Europe this season. Also those three tries meant that he is only the third person to score over 30 tries in European Rugby (along with Brian O’Driscoll and Vincent Clerc). Further scores came from a scintillating solo try from Alex Goode, Mike Ellery, Jamie George and a brace from Samu Vunisa, who has now scored three tries in as many games for his new club after leaving Zebre last season in hope of more success. Farrell converted four times and slotted a penalty while Hodgeson converted twice.
Once again though Oyonnax were able to puncture the Saracens defense late in the second half and Fetu’u Vainikolo, the old Exeter winger, crossed for the consolation score, with the other points going to Clegg with a conversion and Lespinas with two penalties.
This leaves Saracens with 10 victories on the bounce and Oyonnax with a lot of improvement to make although Saracens still feel as though they are yet to put in a perfect performance and will be hoping to do so at the Ricoh next week when they take on Wasps.
