Saracens 45-26 Sale: No Farrell, no problem as Sarries lack his snarl but are still far too good for Sharks

There is still a pile of cardboard masks of Owen Farrell in the storeroom of the StoneX Stadium. It will take a long time before Saracens move on from the departure of their favourite son, but two wins from two will take the edge off their step into the unknown.

In Farrell’s absence, Alex Lozowski kicked 22 points. The place feels a little quieter without Farrell’s constant shouts of ‘Hit ‘im!’, but others will fill the void. On Saturday, it was Andy Onyeama-Christie and Nick Tompkins who led the rush defence that stifled Sale.

Post-Farrell Saracens lack the snarling intensity of the past, but life was made easier when Sale’s own talisman, George Ford, limped off after four minutes. Leading 3-0, Ford pulled his second shot at goal and injured his quad in the process.

‘George just felt his quad when he went for that long distance kick,’ said Navdeep Sandhu, Sale’s head of medical. ‘He felt like he could carry on, but he was slightly aware of it.

‘It would have got worse if he carried on, so we made the choice. He’s a little bit sore and we’ll get some imaging done on Monday morning. We suspect it’s something but we don’t know what yet.’

Ford watched Rob du Preez cut through the guts of Saracens’ blitz defence, setting up the only try of the first half for Gus Warr.

But there was little he could do to halt his team’s penalty count. Easing the pressure on Farrell’s successor, Fergus Burke, Lozowski and Elliot Daly combined to kick Saracens ahead. Sarries banked their penalty kicks, but lacked the heavyweight punch they used to have through the Vunipola brothers.

They did not capitalise on Sam Dugdale’s first yellow card, with Du Preez snatching back the lead for the visitors just before half-time, after Theo Dann was penalised at the ruck.

‘Our energy and physicality wasn’t quite at the level we wanted to be in the first half,’ said Mark McCall, Saracens’ director of rugby, who offered a positive prognosis after Maro Itoje limped off just 50 seconds into the second half.

‘Maro got a bang on a grumbly knee so we took him off to preserve that,’ McCall said. ‘He’ll be fine but we’re not sure whether he’ll play next week.’

Sarries star Alex Lozowski kicked seven penalties in a dominant victory at the StoneX Stadium

Others will grow into the voids left by Farrell’s exit. Burke showed a flash of his potential when he put Lozowski through a hole to split open Sale’s defence.

Lozowski threw a long pass off his left hand to 21-year-old wing Tobias Elliott, who in May was playing for Championship club Ampthill, but here turned on his pace to beat Tom O’Flaherty and score down the right wing.

‘Fergus is highly viewed by the group,’ McCall said.

‘It’s clear he’s got the skills and the rugby IQ that’s required. Everybody just needs to be patient with him. The longer you play in that position, the better you’ll get at it.

‘And Alex is one of those people who has been waiting to emerge as a voice in a squad. He enjoys the responsibility of goal-kicking. We obviously got something right in the second half.’

Tobias Elliott was among the try scorers on Saturday as he crossed the line before half-time

Penalties from Du Preez kept Sale in the game until Saracens unloaded their experienced bench. Alex Goode showed the Midas touch with his first involvement, handing off Tom Roebuck and kicking through to set up Daly’s first try.

Jamie George added his voice, protesting to the referee in the manner that Farrell used to do when he was captain of this side. Hooker George scored a try from a lineout, before O’Flaherty scored for Sale after some loose defensive play.

In overtime. Dugdale was sent off after his second yellow card, leaving space for Daly to score the bonus-point try in the final play.