Leonelli's Hat-trick Helps Push Leeds to the Brink of Relegation

As low points go, this weekend must have been close to rock bottom for Leeds. Not only did they concede their greatest number of points in the Premiership, lose by the greatest margin of the season and ship their greatest number of tries - 10 - but they did so after seeing their only rivals for relegation, Worcester, beat the league leaders, Gloucester. Leeds are not mathematically down but they are 14 points adrift and need to win their last four games and hope Worcester do not win again.

On yesterday's evidence, the writing on the wall may be etched in stone by the time the next round of league fixtures are over. "Today certainly hasn't been one of our high points," said Leeds' director of rugby, Stuart Lancaster. "Losing 13 players hasn't helped our preparation but I suspected we might get a backlash after Saracens' defeat by the Ospreys last weekend [30-3 in the EDF Energy Cup semi-final in Cardiff] and unfortunately we copped it."

The statistics for Leeds made dismal reading after they conceded the greatest number of points in the top flight since Newcastle lost 83-10 at Leicester in February, 2005. For Saracens, 10 tries and 66 points represented their best Premiership result, the previous being a 58-12 win over Sale in 1999. And while their tally may not have reached the levels of Richmond's 106-12 win over Bedford in the same year, it is still the seventh-highest ever recorded in the Premiership.

Try No10 yesterday served to emphasize the gulf between the two sides: a simple cross-field kick from the center Kevin Sorrell, back after two months out with an ankle injury, was fly-hacked on by Kameli Ratuvou on the left wing for Brent Russell to dab down inches inside the dead-ball line. As skilfully executed as the attack was, the disruption caused to Leeds by injury led to a lack of understanding that made things easy for Alan Gaffney's side.

Before yesterday, Francisco Leonelli, the Argentina wing, had failed to score a try in 11 appearances since joining Saracens last summer. Against Leeds he recorded a hat-trick before half-time. The pick was the second, the hooker Matt Cairns offloading after a bullocking midfield break and Saracens working the ball wide through Paul Gustard to Russell, who put Leonelli in at the right corner to secure the try-scoring bonus point.

Gaffney, the director of rugby at Vicarage Road, now has a few decisions to make before his side face the Ospreys again in the Heineken Cup quarter-final here this weekend. In the back three, Ratuvou looked sharp, wrong-footing Jon Goodridge after a powerful run down the left wing to get on the score sheet, and the center Adam Powell's step and dart between Hendre Fourie and Eric Lund to score early in the match may help him keep Andy Farrell on the bench.

"It's a huge result for us," said Gaffney. "You have heard me say over the past four or five weeks that we haven't been playing rugby. Although it was against different opposition that was how we wanted to go out and play against the Ospreys and didn't. So it gives me a degree of confidence that the players can go out and still play the sort of rugby they had been doing for the previous 18 months."

Saracens Russell; Leonelli (Scarbrough, 69), Sorrell, Powell (Farrell, 60), Ratuvou; Jackson, De Kock (capt; Rauluni, 58); Lloyd, Cairns (Ongaro, 60), Johnston (Visagie, 34), Vyvyan, Chesney (Ryder, 22), Gustard, Barrell (Seymour, 69), Skirving.

Tries Lloyd, Leonelli 3, Powell, Vyvyan, Ryder, Ratuvou, Jackson, Russell. Cons Jackson 8.

Leeds Hinton (Goodridge, 53), Satala (Burrell, h-t), Vickerman, Holtby, Biggs; Brooks, Bedford (Edwards, 53); MacDonald, Rawlinson (Parkes, 46), Hopcroft (Pala'amo h-t), Hooper (capt), Lund (Bouza, 53), Myall, Fourie (Lock, 46), Oakley.

Try Hooper Con Brooks

Referee R Debney (Leicestershire). Attendance 5,896.