Rhys Priestland kicks Bath to 18-9 win over Saracens

Bath Rugby 18-9 Saracens, Recreation Ground
Scorecard

Rhys Priestland kicked all six penalties of Bath Rugby as they stunned defending champions Saracens 18-9 in their Gallagher Premiership clash at Recreation Ground on Friday.

The win means Bath are at the sixth place in the table with 39 points from 16 games while Saracens are still at the second place with 58 points.

In a game where there was no try scored, it was down to the kicking abilities of Priestland and Alex Lozowski with the latter struggling in windy conditions at the Rec.

Priestland got Bath off the mark with a fifth minute penalty kick but the scores were levelled 3-3 when Lozowski slotted a three-pointer in the 12th minute. Mark McCall's men conceded a total of 20 penalties in the entire game and Priestland kicked two more of it in the final 10 minutes of the first half as the teams headed into the break with a 9-3 scoreline.

Lozowski brought the visitors back into the game with two three-pointers at the start of the second half that levelled the scores once again before their momentum was hampered by a sin-bin to Ben Earl in the 61st minute following which Priestland kicked a penalty goal to make the scoreline 12-3.

Bath's Ross Batty was yellow-carded in the 70th minute that left the home side down to 14-men for the final 10 minutes but despite the setback Priestland managed to kick two more penalties to complete a 18-9 victory for Todd Blackadder's men.