Following a 47-12 victory for Saracens over Clermont Auvergne in the Champions Cup, here are our five takeaways from Saturday\u2019s Pool One clash at StoneX Stadium.<\/p>\n
The top line<\/p>\n
Noah Caluori marked his Investec Champions Cup<\/a> debut with a spectacular try as three-time winners Saracens<\/a> launched their tournament with a seven-try demolition of Clermont in north west London.<\/p>\n The teen sensation struck from long range just after half-time, powering around and through the French defence to add another impressive entry to his burgeoning rugby CV.<\/p>\n Two tries by Lucio Cinti and one each for Max Malins, James Hadfield, man of the match High Tizard and Theo Dan, capped an excellent day for Mark McCall\u2019s side.<\/p>\n Caluori continues to catch the eye.<\/p>\n The 19-year-old wing announced himself to the rugby world by scoring five tries on his first Gallagher PREM start against Sale Sharks in October.<\/p>\n Since then, he has endured more challenging outings against Northampton and Bath, but a try for England A against Spain last month got him back in the mood and here he was once again too hot to handle.<\/p>\n Twice in the opening quarter, Caluori missed out on a try by just a matter of inches, once from a chip by Owen Farrell, the second a neat inside pass. Clermont\u2019s luck could not last.<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew he was going to be hard to handle,\u201d said Clermont\u2019s Australian centre Alex Newsome. \u201cHe ran round me once. He\u2019s an impressive player isn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n Plastic not fantastic for Clermont<\/p>\n Saracens love their 5G pitch but not everybody else does. You can add Clermont to that list after twice falling foul of it in this mauling.<\/p>\n With 10 minutes on the clock, Caluori leapt highest to tap the ball back into the path of Elliot Daly. Using the outside of his boot, the England star skilfully fashioned a kick down the right touchline.<\/p>\n Clermont assumed it was going out but Saracens know better to assume. Sure enough the ball took a favourable bounce and there was Cinti to collect and score.<\/p>\n Later in the first half Saracens attacked the opposite flank. Owen Farrell kicked into space where Max Malins won the race to get the next touch. His hack-on should have been easy meat for Bautista Delguy but he fumbled on the plastic, the ball squirted loose and Malins pounced on the loose ball.<\/p>\n The \u2018genuinely freakish\u2019 talent England greats claim is a \u2018cheat code\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Shrinking\u2019 Hugh Tizard is a growing influence<\/p>\n Tizard has been a big presence in this Saracens side since joining from arch-rivals Harlequins at the start of 2022\/23 season \u2013 but now less so.<\/p>\n Last season, Sarries decided to experiment with him adding weight to see if it made him more effective in the enforcer role. Their conclusion was that it did not, so over the past six months he has shed 12 kilos.<\/p>\n The upshot has been remarkable. He not only appears more dynamic, he is more powerful despite carrying less bulk. Clermont were undone by him at maul time in particular.<\/p>\n