Saracens beat Leicester 40-38 at Welford Road to begin Brendan Venter era on 27 September 2026
Saracens defeated Leicester Tigers 40-38 in a 12-try thriller at Welford Road on 27 September 2026, giving Brendan Venter a winning start in his second spell in charge. The visitors held on despite a 20-minute red card to Nick Isiekwe in the second half.
Venter returned to Saracens with a victory that featured two tries from wing Rotimi Segun and a hat-trick from Leicester’s Gabriel Hamer-Webb. Segun has now scored two tries in both his appearances for Saracens this season after striking twice against Northampton in the Prem Cup, and Saracens’ new signing Tomos Williams was named man of the match. The club have not reached the play-offs in the past two seasons but the article notes they made several summer signings.
Saracens raced into the lead with two converted tries inside the opening 10 minutes from Argentina flanker Juan Martin Gonzalez, who was making his 50th league appearance, and Tobias Elliott. Leicester responded in that period via Solomone Kata and Gabriel Hamer-Webb, the latter set up by a pass from Freddie Steward.
A 6-2 bench split for Saracens was tested early when centre Olly Hartley left the field with an arm injury and Tobias Elliott was temporarily removed for a head injury assessment, prompting England flanker Ben Earl to be brought on at centre. Elliot Daly, returning from a broken arm, crossed on the left after sustained interplay to extend Saracens’ advantage.
The second half included a disciplinary turning point when referee Ian Tempest issued a 20-minute red card to Nick Isiekwe in the 54th minute for a high tackle on Freddie Steward; the Tigers took their first lead soon after through Adam Radwan following a chip from scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet. Ian Tempest reached for the sanction as Billy Searle was preparing to take the conversion.
With Saracens a man short, Rotimi Segun scored after a cross-kick by Daly to put the visitors back in front, but James Thompson’s try for Leicester restored the lead. Segun then finished his second wide on the left with seven minutes remaining to secure the 40-38 win in front of the Welford Road crowd. Gabriel Hamer-Webb finished the match with three tries for Leicester, with Aaron Wainwright influential in the build-up to two of those scores; Ben Earl also scored for Saracens from a flat pass by Williams.
Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Hamer-Webb, Woodward; Searle, van Poortvliet (capt); Vunipola, Moli, Heyes, Carnduff, Henderson, Wainwright, Reffell, Cracknell. Replacements: Thunder, Haffar, Hurd, Thompson, Moro, Whiteley, Bailey, Hassell-Collins.
Saracens: Daly; Elliott, Tompkins, Hartley, Segun; Burke, Williams; Mawi, Dan, Street, Itoje (capt), Tizard, Isiekwe, Gonzalez, Barbeary. Replacements: Clarke, Brantingham, Clarey, Sodeke, Michelow, Earl, C Bracken, Malins.
The result represented the fourth away win out of five on the opening weekend of The Prem season and, with Tomos Williams named man of the match, Saracens’ late recovery and ability to finish the contest with 15 players back on the field after Eoghan Clarke replaced Isiekwe following his 20-minute punishment were noted as encouraging signs for their campaign ahead.