Saracens also have key upcoming games against the Premiership pacesetters Bath and Bristol over the next fortnight and this emphatic win against the champions of last season underlined their ambitions to finish top of the tree in six months' time.
If it helped that Northampton, 24-0 down at half-time, were initially miles off the pace there was no doubting the hosts' superior power, aggression and defensive line speed off the back of a couple of encouraging Champions Cup results.
Their aerial game also heaped pressure on Saints' rear-guard and the upshot was six tries and third place in the table heading into Christmas.
Fergus Burke was among the beneficiaries, the fly-half finishing with two tries and a haul of 19 points, with the home back row of Tom Willis, Ben Earl and Juan Martin Gonzalez enjoying excellent games.
"That was as good a 40 minutes as we've had for a long time," said Mark McCall, Saracens' director of rugby, praising his team's first-half "intensity and physicality" along with Burke's decision-making.
"He was up against two England half-backs today and I thought he was outstanding."
This story is from the December 23, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the December 23, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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