Aviva Premiership

Gloucester 31 Saracens 23

FORMER Thornbury Bronco Mako Vunipola has given England national coach Eddie Jones a big boost ahead of Saturday's Six Nations Championships clash with Italy by coming through his return from injury at Gloucester on Friday night unscathed.

Jones was in the stand to cast his eye over Vunipola, among others, for the visit of the Italians to Twickenham, but he had more to view than just Saracens as the Cherry and Whites put the Londoners to the sword and gave Sarries their first defeat in almost two years.

Gloucester found themselves on the back foot after just 13 minutes in a topsy-turvy match as Saracens went into a seven point lead early in the first half.

With regular goal-kicker Greig Laidlaw sidelined with ligament damage, sustained when playing for Scotland in France the previous Sunday in the Six Nations Championship, fly-half Billy Burns landed a lengthy forty metre shot at goal to put the Cherry and Whites ahead.

Yet an attack into the home 22 saw Saracens gain their initiative. And it was Vunipola, playing his first game for the Londoners since a knee injury nine weeks ago, who helped enormously in putting hooker Schalk Brits over for the score as Vunipola passed to centre Marcelo Bosch for the Saracens ace to feed Brits.

Fly-half Alex Lozowski converted before Bosch boomed over a penalty almost on half-way to give his side a 10-3 advantage.

Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys made his feelings well and truly known to his side after a shocking performance the previous week at Leicester and would have demanded an immediate response.

It came when Gloucester battered the Saracens defence inside their 22 and, after good work by hooker Richard Hibbard, full-back Tom Marshall bashed his way past the defence to score.

Burns added the conversion from the touchline and Gloucester began to assert themselves on the Premiership's defending champions.

Lozowski and Burns swapped straight forward penalties but Burns seized the initiative and sent Gloucester into the break three points to the good with a superb touchline penalty in injury time.

But Gloucester soon had the champions on the rack again in the second-half and were rewarded, although somewhat controversially, when lock Jeremy Thrush intercepted the ball from Saracens flanker Will Fraser although there appeared to be a knock-on from Cherry and Whites scrum-half Willi Heinz as Fraser got rid of the ball.

And Gloucester showed enormous defensive fortitude just before the hour as they kept Saracens out on their own line, with Burns making a brilliant try-saving tackle on Sarries replacement Matt Gallagher centimetres from the corner.

Indeed, Burns suffered a bang near his head as a result and spent several minutes laying on the pitch, with a stretcher called for the fly-half. He was taken off after play was stopped for ten minutes to attend to the stricken player who was taken to hospital after the game with a neck problem.

But, after replacement Paul Doran-Jones was sin-binned by ref Wayne Barnes, Saracens drew level when flanker Will Fraser was at the bottom of pile of bodies that rolled over the line, with Lozowski adding the extras.

And when the business end of a match comes to the fore, Saracens are masters at finishing games off. They put Gloucester under the cosh but a Bill Twelvetrees penalty edged Gloucester to 26-23 and hooker Richard Hibbard put the seal on an excellent victory with a last-gasp try.