Player Ratings: Saracens v Munster

Saracens march into the final of the Champions Cup after the dispatched Munster 32-16 at the Ricoh Arena.

Here are our player ratings from the encounter. 

Saracens

1. Mako Vunipola - 8

Hardly looked off the pace having last played in February. 

Mako Vunipola's first game back since February 📊

1⃣0⃣ Carries
1⃣3⃣ Tackles made
0⃣0⃣ Tackles missed
6⃣2⃣ Minutes played#SARvMUN #ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/WJzc5zcrpn

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) April 20, 2019

2. Jamie George - 7

Accurate with his lineout darts and was busy around the park making 9 carries and 8 tackles, missing just one. 

3. Titi Lamositele - 7

Solid in the scrum and got some great success with his carries making 23 metres. 

4. Maro Itoje - 8

Busy, as per usual, gave a silly penalty or two away but otherwise another fine outing for the 24-year-old. 

Made 13 carries and 17 tackles, missing just one. 

5. George Kruis - 7

Excellent in the lineouts and got around the park well hitting the rucks hard and making some solid hits on defence.

6. Michael Rhodes - 7.5

Ran super line to score the opening try of the game as he slipped through the Munster defence.

Rhodes was another Saracens forward that did his fair share in all facets of the game hitting double digits in the carries and tackles made.

7. Jackson Wray - 7

Set the tempo early on with some strong carries and big hits. He come up with a nice turnover and really got stuck into the rucks while making 12 tackles without missing before he was substituted before the hour mark.

8. Billy Vunipola - 8.5

Carried strongly throughout tally up 21 carries and gaining 40 running metres. He consently got Saracens over the advantage line and played a huge role in their victory and was reward with the man of the match honours. 

9. Ben Spencer - 7

Controlled the game well with his pinpoint passing while most of his box kicks were contestable and really put Munster under pressure.

10. Owen Farrell - 8

A strong outing for the England number 10, he kept the scoreboard ticking over with his accuracy from the tee. He also kept the Munster defence guessing with a nice mix of his kicking and running game.

He racked up 41 running metres and completed two offloads.

11. Liam Williams - 7

Lethal when the ball came his way making 66 running metres beating 5 defenders. Williams was his usual threat under the high ball and provided a good match up with Andrew Conway.

12. Brad Barritt - 6

A powerful first half performance but Barritt's rating is affected by the fact that he was unable to return after the break. Carried and tackled well as Saracens tried to knock down the Munster defensive wall.

13. Alex Lozowski - 7

Was a great link up for his wingers and spreaded the ball well. Defensively he was solid making all of his 10 attempted tackles and did well with the boot.

14. David Strettle - 7

Had a few lovely breaks and runs that threatened the Munster defence. Racked up 53 running metres and managed to beat four defenders before he was subsituted with 5 minutes left to play.

15. Alex Goode - 8

Topped the running metres and defenders beaten in the first half but was beaten in the former by Williams by full time. Goode sparked a number of Saracens attack and was solid at the back.

He beat a game high of 6 defenders.

Munster 

1. Dave Kilcoyne - 7

Lead the tackle count for most of the game before he was taken off with 20 minutes to play. A busy performance from the loosehead who failed to miss one of his 17 attempted tackles and made 10 carries.

2. Niall Scannell - 5

Threw his weight around on defence and in the rucks and hit his lineout jumpers with all but one of his throws.

3. John Ryan - 5

Ineffective with his carries but he did weigh-in with 10 tackles. 

4. Jean Kleyn - 6

Aggressive and busy but was on the wrong end of a powerful Saracens pack.

5. Tadhg Beirne - 5

Saracens were able to nullify his effect at the breakdown well, causing Beirne to give away a few penalties. 

6. Peter O'Mahony - 6

As with Beirne, Saracens were able to nullify O"Mahony's effect at the breakdown but the Irish International still made a telling impact on defence making 17 tackles. 

7. Jack O'Donoghue - 6

Provide Munster with some nice front football with good work at the breakdown and made 13 tackles. O'Donoghue was used sparingly on attack. 

8. CJ Stander - 7 

A huge shift on both attack and defence in a tireless effort to keep Munster in the game. Made 19 tackles and 14 carries. 

9. Conor Murray - 6

Slotted a long range penalty in the first half but Murray failed to test the Saracens defence enough and perhaps was too slow at times.

10. Tyler Bylendaal - 5

Shifted the ball on well but didn't test the Saracens defence enough and was taken off before the hour mark.

11. Darren Sweetnam - 7

Did well to finish off his try and racked up 46 running metres and well defensively against David Strettle in the first half.  

12. Rory Scannell - 6

Carried strongly and made 12 tackles missing just one. He linked up well with Farrell but struggled to get his side on the front foot regularlly enough. 

13. Chris Farrell - 7.5

Excellent on defence throughout the game making some stellar cover tackles and thumping hits.

Showed some lovely hands to get Sweetnam over the line and beat 5 defenders.

14. Andrew Conway - 6.5 

Excellent in the air, notably taking a superb catch under pressure deep inside his 22 in the first half. 

Missed 4 tackles and conceded too many turnovers. 

15. Mike Haley - 5

Struggled to punish Saracens on the counter and missed a few tackles before he was subsituted on the 50 minute mark.