SARACENS started their pre-season campaign with a 31-7 win over London Welsh at Old Albanian on Friday, August 24, but it was a far from accomplished performance.

A convincing first half display saw the Men in Black take a 26-0 lead into the break thanks to tries for debutant Edd Thrower, Adam Powell, Matt Cairns and David Seymour, with fly half Glen Jackson fluffing his lines just the once with his trusty boot.

Director of rugby Alan Gaffney fielded an entirely different pack for the second half, and the wholesale changes certainly had an adverse affect on Sarries despite having extended their lead further through Richard Haughton's early try.

The Exiles deservedly got on the scoresheet when full-back Paul Sampson finishing off breathtaking break from deep as Sarries' second half side failed to click.

"I thought we played well for the first 40 minutes," said Gaffney. "But the amount of errors we made in the second half was very disappointing, especially as the guys were not being put under any extreme pressure.

"We talked a bit at half time about trying to build the phases, trying to take control, making sure we had a good structure and being efficient at the breakdown, but we failed in all those areas."

"The first half was better than what I expected and the second half was worse than what I expected," added the Aussie.

"It's always difficult to change 13 guys at the break and a couple more during the second half, but it does not excuse us from what we did. We should have been much better than we were in the second half."

Sarries signalled their intent early on when Dan Scarbrough showed the bursts of speed and twinkle toes which saw him hit form towards the end of last season.

It did not take them long to open the scoring, however, as former Wasps wing Edd Thrower marked his senior debut with an eighth minute try after Richard Haughton had showed his marker a clean pair of heels following a near-side line out.

Jackson missed the conversion but made amends two minutes later after young centre Adam Powell crossed the whitewash following good work from his midfield partner Kevin Sorrell.

New Men in Black skipper Neil de Kock, Jackson, Scarbrough and Haughton all combined well in another searching break from deep which finished in a line out on the London Welsh 22.

The third try arrived on 19 minutes when Matt Cairns touched down from a catch and drive five metres out.

Seymour then waltzed through unchallenged as Saracens headed to the dressing room in total control.

They carried on where they left off after the break when wing Haughton caught replacement fly-half Gordon Ross's clever chip into the right hand corner.

Things then started to get a bit niggly, emphasised by a rash of skirmishes involving Ross, Kris Chesney and Andy Kyriacou.

The visitors took advantage of Sarries' lack of cohesion and precision with a superb break that culminated in Sampson touching down underneath the posts.

Looking far sharper than their Premiership opponents, London Welsh exerted more pressure on Sarries and were far more adventurous going forward. Sarries, in contrast, could not get out of first gear as pass after pass went astray.

Gaffney expected his side to be rusty but they will have to iron out the frustrating flaws in their approach play if they are to give Munster a run for their money in their final pre-season warm up in two weeks time.

Saracens (first half): Scarbrough, Haughton, Sorrell, Powell, Thrower, Jackson, de Kock; Lloyd, Cairns, Mercey, Ryder, Vyvyan, Gustard, Seymour, Skirving.

Saracens (second half): Thrower, Cato, Penney, Powell (Goode), Haughton, Ross, Dickens; Yates, Kyriacou (Walker), Liffchak, Chesney, Vyvyan (Preocanin), Matadigo, Hill, Hall.