Saracens maintained their 100 per cent Guinness Premiership record after labouring to an unconvincing 21-15 win over bottom side Leeds Carnegie at Vicarage Road this afternoon.

Sarries were far from at their best but it was still enough to send them back to the Premiership summit with their sixth win of the campaign. Kameli Ratuvou was the outstanding talent on show with two excellent tries seeing off the plucky visitors.

The Men in Black made a number of changes to the side beaten in Toulon in their last match. Glen Jackson returned at fly half with Kameli Ratuvou, Alex Goode and Noah Cato also restored to the team. South African hooker Schalk Brits was also brought in to face winless Leeds.

Jackson sent his first penalty attempt wide after a couple of minutes but the home side quickly took the lead when the Kiwi booted over their second penalty. But the struggling visitors deservedly levelled the match after 18 minutes when Ceiron Thomas kicked their first penalty.

But almost immediately Sarries regained the lead after Leeds conceded a penalty which Jackson converted. Thomas was handed another opportunity to tie the score within minutes and he easily kicked over the central penalty.

Saracens made an early change after 28 minutes when Justin Marshall, who suffered a calf strain, was replaced by Neil de Kock. Leeds were briefly reduced to 14 men when Thomas was sinbinned for killing the ball.

The hosts came close to the breakthrough when Cato burst towards the tryline but a knock on thwarted the attack. But Sarries had a major escape just before half-time when Goode made a last-ditch dive to prevent a shock away try.

Just as it appeared to be heading for a draw at the break the hosts finally produced some magic to carve out a narrow lead. Goode’s pass set Ratuvou clear and the Fijian flyer bulldozed his way down the left wing to dive over the line. Jackson’s conversion went wide as Sarries led 11-6.

Thomas returned to the pitch at the start of the second half and his first job was to fire over their third penalty which brought them to within two points of Saracens. But the Men in Black’s second try from Ratuvou put them on the way to victory. Centre Brad Barritt’s pass put the powerhouse through and he charged over the line. Jackson’s conversion extended the lead to 18-9.

The visitors were still keeping within touching distance thanks to a series of penalties and Thomas maintained his consistency with the boot by adding another three points. Jackson wasn’t firing on all cylinders and the fly half was off target with another penalty attempt.

Thomas missed his first penalty midway through the second half as Carnegie wasted the opportunity to put real pressure on Sarries. Attacking entertainment was in short supply but a fine break by Ernst Joubert, which almost led to a try, lit up a mediocre second half.

Replacement fly half Derick Hougaard made sure of the points with a late penalty but Saracens made hard work of a match where they might have expected to get a winning bonus point. A late drop goal from Thomas gave Leeds a deserved losing point and Hougaard worringly limped off on the stroke of full time with a hamstring injury.

Saracens: Goode, Cato, Ratuvou, Barritt, Wyles, Jackson (Hougaard, 58, Tagicakibau, 79), Marshall (De Kock, 28); Gill (Aguero, 50), Brits (Reynecke, 62), Nieto (Skuse, 50), Borthwick, Botha (Vyvyan, 56), Van Heerden, Saull (Melck, 68), Joubert

Leeds Carnegie: Hinton (Paul, 72), Welding, Rabeni, Barrow, Blackett, Thomas, Gomarsall (Mathie, 50); McGee (Hardy, 50), Nisen (Ma’asi, 55), Gomez (Swainston, 68), Murphy (Lund, 55), Wentzel, Myall, Fourie, To’oala

Scoring: 3-0, 3-3, 6-3, 6-6, 11-6 HT 11-9, 16-9, 18-9, 18-12, 21-12, 21-15

Referee: David Rose

Attendance: 7,123