Saracens recorded a crucial 26-19 win against Bath in their Premiership outing at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

Tries from captain Steve Borthwick and Chris Wyles in each half, along with 16 points from the boot of Owen Farrell, gave Saracens the victory.

The win moves Sarries to within three points of leaders Harlequins as the squad now heads out to Cape Town for a week of warm weather training ahead of next weekend's Heineken Cup clash against Biarritz.

Bath started the game brightly and within five minutes had crossed the line. Stephen Donald spotted a gap in the Sarries defensive line-up and crossed the line from 10 metres out. He added the extras himself.

Owen Farrell saw a long range penalty hit the post before the home side lost Rhys Gill to the sin bin with referee Pascal Gauzere losing patience at the scrum.

But it was while the home side were down to 14 men that they scored a try. A lovely flowing move when the length of the pitch before David Strettle cut a great line to unlock the Bath defence. He was stopped short of the line but captain Steve Borthwick was on hand to power over for only his second try in a Saracens shirt.

Donald then struck a long range effort before two Farrell kicks put Sarries into the lead at the interval.

Farrell extended that lead as Sarries enjoyed a bright start in the minutes after the restart. But replacement Tom Heathcote struck on the hour to make it a three point game.

Saracens scored their second try of the game with 10 minutes remaining. After going through the phases on the Bath 22, Chris Wyles picked up the ball and evaded three defenders before crossing the line. Farrell converted.

Heathcote's second penalty of the match pulled the visitors back to within seven points with six minutes left on the clock, but Farrell struck again with two minutes remaining.

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Borthwick, Wyles,
Cons: Farrell 2
Pens: Farrell 4

For Bath:
Try: Donald
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald, Heathcote 3

Yellow card: Rhys Gill (Saracens, 16)

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 John Smit, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Petrus du Plessis, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 George Kruis, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Adam Powell, 23 James Short.

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Matt Banahan, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Ross Batty. 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Dixon, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 David Wilson, 19 Ben Skirving, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Kyle Eastmond.

Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)