‘A weird and emotional day’ – Tom Willis upstages brother as Saracens beat Toulouse

Investec Champions Cup Pool 1

Saracens (17) 20

Tries: Segun 2, T Willis Con: Burke Pen: Farrell

Toulouse (7) 14

Tries: Kinghorn, Lebel Cons: Ramos 2

Saracens produced an outstanding performance in testing conditions to beat Toulouse 20-14 and all but secure their place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup.

They held a blunt review of their stuttering season after a poor defeat at Leicester last weekend, saying they had “confronted what was wrong” and were ready to “do the talking on the field” against the six-time European champions.

Mark McCall’s side did just that at a wet and windy StoneX, fronting up to the star-studded Toulouse side with their best display of the season.

Number eight Tom Willis, whose elder brother Jack was in Toulouse’s back row, gave another stellar performance to underline how much he will be missed when he moves to Bordeaux at the end of the season.

Rotimi Segun scored two of their tries and man of the match Willis bagged the other as Saracens scored 17 unanswered first-half points to take control of the match.

“A lot of people thought we were going to lose that game and probably rightly so because of some of our performances so far this season,” said captain Maro Itoje.

“The challenge for us now is to make sure we’re consistent. We’re not saying that we’re going to win every game, but the fight and the mentality needs to be consistent.

“For me, it actually wasn’t really about the result. It was about the character of the team and how we were going to show up.”

Things looked ominous when Toulouse fly-half Blair Kinghorn scored the opening try following sustained pressure, but Saracens responded with three tries in 10 minutes.

The first came when Samoan flanker Theo McFarland charged down Antoine Dupont’s kick and raced forward to gather the ball. Jamie George and Willis took over the charge before the ball was eventually moved left to Segun to finish.

Three-time champions Saracens almost scored again moments later. Fly-half Fergus Burke produced a brilliant burst of speed and sent an enticing kick through only for Alex Lozowski to fumble the bouncing ball as he dived over the line.

Lozowski, making his comeback from an Achilles tendon injury, made amends with an outrageous dummy pass that released Segun, who raced past his marker to score his second.

Saracens forwards struggled early on against the huge Toulouse pack, but with the momentum now in their favour the hosts surged towards the line again. Willis stretched over, letting out a massive roar as he rose to his feet having helped his side secure a healthy 17-7 lead.

Toulouse scored early in the second half through wing Matthis Lebel but with conditions deteriorating rapidly, and their captain Dupont strangely quiet, that was their last score of the game.

Willis made a crucial turnover to prevent a possible try but otherwise the French league leaders lacked any sort of fluency in attack.

Owen Farrell and Ben Earl came on to lend their experience, and the former England captain stretched the lead to six points with a penalty.

Saracens held on without any major scares to secure a famous win – and bragging rights for Tom over his brother Jack.

“Tom is a massive player for us,” added Itoje. “He’s a great ball-carrier. He’s probably the most awkward ball-carrier I’ve seen.

“He finds a way to go forward off a standing start and he can just wriggle his body, wriggle his hips through contact. He was fantastic.

“Both Willises played well but I’ll give it by just a slight nudge to Tom.”

Tom said it had been “a bit of a weird and emotional day” playing against his brother.

“He banged me early on, I knew he was dialled in for it,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “He’s a brilliant player and caused us havoc at the breakdown as always.

“I saw him on Friday and Saturday but a few hours before kick-off he went a bit quiet. I tried to wind him up but it didn’t work.”

Sarries will bid for the top spot in Pool 1 when they face group leaders Glasgow Warriors away next Sunday, but a losing bonus point would be enough to guarantee their progress to the knockout stage.

Toulouse have now lost two group games, having been humbled 28-21 by Glasgow in December, and head into their final match at Sale on Saturday potentially needing to win to go through.

Saracens: Daly; Caluori, Lozowski, Hartley, Segun; Burke, Van Zyl; Mawi, George, Street, Itoje (capt), Tizard, McFarland, Gonzalez, Willis.

Replacements: Hadfield, Carre, Riccioni, Onyeama-Christie,Earl, Bracken, Farrell, Malins.

Toulouse: Ramos; Delibes, Costes, Chocobares, Lebel; Kinghorn, Dupont (capt); Ainu’u, Marchand, Aldegheri, Flament, Meafou, Willis, Jelonch, Roumat.

Replacements: Mauvaka, Bertrand, Mallez, Brennan, Elias, Banos, Graou, Vigneres.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)

Assistant referees: Ru Campbell (Sco), Federico Vedovelli (Ita)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (Ita)