Saracens survived a late scare as they maintained their 100 per cent record in the Guinness Premiership with a 12-11 win at Bath.

The visitors appeared to be in control of the match after first-half tries from Andy Saull and Noah Cato but the home side staged a fightback after Rhys Gill was sinbinned and Michael Claassens went over in the closing stages for Bath. Ryan Davis had a conversion to pinch the win but his miss allowed Sarries to hold on for their seventh consecutive league win.

Brendan Venter named a strong side for the trip to the Rec. Neil de Kock returned to the starting lineup in place of scrum-half Justin Marshall and Hugh Vyvyan came in for England captain Steve Borthwick. In the former Bath lock’s absence, Wikus van Heerden took over Saracens’ captaincy.

The Men in Black stormed into the lead after just four minutes with a superb breakaway try. Schalk Brits picked up the ball in his own half and burst through the home defence before offloading to Brad Barritt whose pass found Saull and the forward easily raced clear to score. Glen Jackson fired over the conversion as the visitors opened up an early lead.

Bath were struggling to make any impact on the visitors’ defence but they did get off the mark midway through the half from a close-range penalty by Davis. The young fly half had another opportunity minutes later but his long-range effort missed the target.

Saracens were given a penalty five minutes before half-time after Bath pulled down a scrum but Jackson could not find the target. Bath suffered another setback before the break when Tom Cheeseman was given a yellow card for taking out Alex Goode off the ball.

The Premiership leaders took full advantage of the extra man by adding the second try with the last action of the half. Brits again threatened before being tackled but wing Cato picked up the ball and barged his way over the line. Jackson missed the conversion but Sarries still went off firmly control of the match.

The home side badly needed some inspiration at the start of the second half and they gained some momentum with a fine penalty by Jack Cuthbert. Bath conceded a penalty at the breakdown but Jackson uncharacteristically fluffed his effort.

Saracens gave away another penalty but Bath failed to take the opportunity with Cuthbert firing wide. The visitors should have put the match away after 64 minutes when Saull set up Cato but he spilled the ball only yards away from the tryline.

The Men in Black were reduced to 14 men in the 76th minute when replacement prop Gill was punished for stopping the ball after Bath tried to take a quick tap penalty. Saracens paid the price when Bath drove a maul forward and Claassens crossed over the line to set up a tight finish. But Davis missed a difficult penalty which left the hosts trailing by one point.

Saracens were left hanging on at the end as Bath mounted a late attempt to steal the points but they nervously held on to extend their winning run.

Bath: Cuthbert, Carraro, Cheeseman, Hape, Stephenson, Davis, Claassens; Flatman (Barnes, 65), Dixon, Jarvis, Short, Grewcock, Hooper, Salvi, Skirving (Faamatuainu, 14)

Saracens: Goode, Cato, Ratuvou, Barritt, Wyles, Jackson, De Kock; Aguero (Gill 60), Brits (Ongaro, 76), Nieto (Skuse, 54), Vyvyan (Melck, 60), Botha (Ryder, 54), Van Heerden, Saull, Joubert

Scoring: 0-5, 0-7, 3-7, 3-12 HT 6-12, 11-12

Referee: Chris White