Saracens crashed to a hugely disappointing 33-16 defeat to London Irish in their Premiership opener at Twickenham this afternoon.

The Men in Black went into the season with great expectations but they can have no real complaints about the result. Ernst Joubert and Schalk Brits efforts handed them a 10-6 lead at the break but it was quickly wiped out after the restart. A yellow card to Alex Goode proved critical as Sailosi Tagicakibau and Delon Armitage fired Irish in front. Sarries made too many handling errors and another one killed them off as Topsy Ojo scored twice to put the result beyond doubt.

Brendan Venter handed league debuts to England scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth and Scotland forward Kelly Brown. Alex Goode was given the opportunity to impress at fly-half and wing Noah Cato was also given the nod. Michael Tagicakibau lined up against his London Irish brother Sailosi for the first time.

The Exiles dominated the first ten minutes of the match and came close to scoring the first try but they were denied by strong defending from the Men in Black. London Irish were given a kickable penalty after 13 minutes but Ryan Lamb’s shocking effort did not even threaten the posts.

Saracens started the match very slowly but they mounted their first attack when Goode offloaded to Brad Barritt. The England centre charged towards the line but he was tackled as the move broke down.

Venter’s side were beginning to come to life and Chris Wyles set up Cato who rampaged down the wing before being tackled. But the Exiles were reduced to 14 men as Delon Armitage was given a yellow card for a late tackle on Wyles in the previous move.

It took a while but the first try was worth the wait as Sarries took the lead with a brilliant move. Wigglesworth released the ball and Brits found Wyles whose ingenious flick enabled Joubert to dive over in the corner. Goode’s conversion was way off target but the Men in Black had struck the first significant blow at Twickenham.

The hosts were awarded another penalty 11 minutes from the break and Lamb produced a much better kick as he brought them within two points of Saracens.

Sarries put distance between the sides with five minutes remaining in the first half when they scored their second try. Joubert burst through the middle of the pitch and was hauled down. Wigglesworth collected the ball and found Brits who shimmied between the defence to dive over the line. Goode’s conversion again failed to find the target.

The Exiles kept themselves within touching distance as Lamb converted his second penalty of the match.

London Irish made a bright start to the second half and received a major boost when Goode was sinbinned. Ojo raced clear and released Lamb but the fly-half’s pass was deliberately knocked on by Goode and he was ordered off. Lamb’s penalty cannoned in off the post as Irish closed within one point.

The Exiles took the lead for the first time nine minutes into the second half when the Armitage brothers combined as Steffon’s offload released Delon for a finish in the corner. Lamb’s conversion missed the target.

It got worse three minutes later for the Men in Black when Lamb’s clever kick across the field fell perfectly for Sailosa Tagicakibau to score their second try. Lamb added the conversion and the Exiles were in control with a 21-10 lead.

Derick Hougaard was brought on for Cato after 54 minutes and the South African’s first job was to kick three crucial points from a penalty for Sarries.

The Exiles were temporarily reduced to 14 men when Paul Hodgson was also penalised for deliberately palming away the ball from Barritt’s pass. Hougaard fired over another penalty to keep Sarries’ hopes alive.

London Irish sealed the win with eight minutes left when a misplaced pass allowed Ojo to race clear. Kevin Barrett pushed him over as he approached the line and this led to a yellow card and a penalty try. Lamb’s conversion gave the Exiles a 28-16 lead.

A miserable start to the campaign for Sarries was sealed with the final attack as Ojo was in acres of space to score and give London Irish a bonus point.

London Irish: D Armitage, Ojo, Seveali’i (Malone, 71), Bowden, S Tagicakibau (Joseph, 60), Lamb, Hodgson; Dermody, Paice (Buckland, 45), Rautenbach (Corbisiero, 45), Roche, Casey, Danaher, S Armitage, Stowers

Saracens: Wyles, Cato (Hougaard, 54), Powell (Ratuvou, 50), Barritt, Tagicakibau, Goode (Barrett, 67), Wigglesworth; Gill (Carstens, 50), Brits (Reynecke, 75), Nieto (Du Plessis, 50), Vyvyan, Botha (Kruis, 50), Brown (Melck, 71), Burger, Joubert

Scoring: 0-5, 3-5, 3-10, 6-10 HT 9-10, 14-10, 19-10, 21-10, 21-13, 21-16, 26-16, 28-16, 33-16