Bath Rugby made 14-man Saracens pay a heavy price at the Recreation Ground with record 68-10 victory after flanker Toby Knight was red-carded in just the 14th minute for a high tackle on Ollie Lawrence

The Blue, Black and White ensured they head into 2025 leading the pack in the Gallagher Premiership, pulling five points ahead after second place Bristol Bears suffered a surprise 38-0 home defeat to Sale Sharks on Friday night.

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READ MORE: Bath Rugby 68-10 Saracens LIVE: Full reaction and highlights from statement win

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This was meant to be another stern test of Bath’s credentials as title favourites, but the hosts had the attacking bonus point wrapped up before half time as Saracen’s discipline deserted them from the early exchanges which saw Liam Williams yellow carded and concede a penalty try for slapping the ball out on the full with Joe Cokanasiga waiting to gather Finn Russell’s pinpoint cross-field kick. Further tries from Thomas du Toit, Cam Redpath and Will Muir saw Bath sitting comfortably in the driving seat at the interval.

And if anything the hosts upped the tempo in the second half with their superior bench making the desired impact as Muir added another brace of tries for his hat-trick along with Cokanasiga also finishing twice and dot downs from Sam Underhill and the outstanding Ollie Lawrence.

The result was a record ever defeat in the Premiership for perennial title challengers Saracens who were badly disrupted by a series of injuries throughout the contest that forced McCall to empty his bench early on.

The game began in lively fashion, with Bath awarded a penalty try by referee Karl Dickson after just five minutes. Russell’s cross-kick aimed for Cokanasiga was illegally flicked away from his grasp by Williams behind the line, meaning a yellow card for the Wales international and the visitors falling seven points behind.

Saracens also saw McFarland and Elliott go off injured during a frantic opening, then number eight Ben Earl had a try disallowed following a forward pass by scrum-half Gareth Simpson.

And just when Saracens might have thought things could not get any worse, Knight was dismissed before Bath flanker Ted Hill smashed through their defence and Du Toit powered over for a try that Russell converted.

A Burke penalty opened Saracens’ account after 20 minutes, yet Bath stormed back on to the attack and claimed a third touchdown when Redpath crashed over after collecting skipper Ben Spencer’s pass. Russell converted, making it 21-3.

Bath strived to make their numerical advantage count, and a bonus-point try arrived three minutes before half-time. Spencer made a sharp break from the base of a scrum, and his well-timed delivery allowed Muir an unopposed 25-metre run to the line.

Russell’s conversion made it 28-3 at the interval, with Saracens on a prolonged damage-limitation exercise after such a calamitous opening quarter.

Bath were in no mood to show mercy, and try number five arrived shortly after the break when Lawrence made a half-break and delivered a delicious one-handed pass to Cokanasiga, who scored easily. Saracens lock Nick Isiekwe did not return for the second half because of injury, then Williams went off for a head injury assessment ahead of Muir collecting his second try, converted by Russell, as Bath hit 40 points.

They maintained a hunger for the Saracens line, and replacement Underhill was the next beneficiary, rounding off a sweeping move that had Muir and Miles Reid at its heart.

Russell’s fifth successful conversion took Bath within touching distance of a half-century, although Saracens at least gained a consolation when Pifeleti went over and Burke converted, before Lawrence’s try took Bath past 50.

Bath predictably had the final word when Cokanasiga pounced for his second try, before Muir completed his hat-trick, and Russell converted both to complete a ruthless demolition job.

Bath Rugby: 15. Tom de Glanville, 14. Joe Cokanasiga, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 12. Cameron Redpath, 11. Will Muir, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben Spencer (c), 1. Beno Obano, 2. Tom Dunn, 3. Thomas du Toit, 4. Quinn Roux, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6. Ted Hill, 7. Guy Pepper, 8. Alfie Barbeary

Replacements: 16. Niall Annett, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Ross Molony, 20. Sam Underhill, 21. Louis Schreuder, 22. Max Ojomoh, 23. Miles Reid

Saracens: 15. Liam Williams, 14. Tobias Elliott, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Olly Hartley, 11. Rotimi Segun, 10. Fergus Burke, 9. Gareth Simpson, 1. Phil Brantingham, 2. Jamie George, 3. Fraser Balmain, 4. Maro Itoje (c), 5. Nick Isiekwe, 6. Theo McFarland, 7. Toby Knight, 8. Ben Earl

Replacements: 16. Kapeli Pifeleti, 17. Eroni Mawi, 18. Alec Clarey, 19. Harry Wilson, 20. Nathan Michelow, 21. Ivan van Zyl, 22. Sam Spink, 23. Angus Hall

Referee: Karl Dickson

Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum and Jamie Leahy

TMO: Peter Allan