Noah Caluori scored four tries as Saracens overwhelmed Newcastle 73-14 at StoneX Stadium.

It concluded a turbulent week for Saracens after director of rugby Mark McCall announced he would be stepping down after 15 seasons in charge.

The London club amassed 10 tries against the Gallagher Prem’s bottom-placed side.

It was the response they needed after Sunday’s crushing 28-3 defeat by Glasgow, the most recent setback in a disappointing season that has seen consistency prove elusive in the league and Europe.

Maro Itoje was missing to grieve the death of his mother and Ben Earl had been ruled out by concussion, but Saracens still had more than enough firepower to dismantle opponents who have made a host of eye-catching signings for 2026-27 but for now are on damage limitation.

Caluori was overlooked for England’s Six Nations squad announced on Friday by Steve Borthwick, but 24 hours later the 19-year-old wing underlined his finishing prowess with four tries that saw him named man of the match.

The upheaval of Saracens’ week continued into the warm-up when Theo McFarland and Marco Riccioni were withdrawn from the starting XV and just three minutes into the game Saracens had fallen behind to an Oscar Usher try that began with Alex Hearle’s break.

Newcastle went a hair’s breadth from making it two touchdowns in five minutes but under pressure from a last-ditch tackle by Charlie Bracken, Tom Christie’s foot went dead in goal.

A high-octane start by the visitors was undone when Simon Benitez Cruz conceded a penalty try for a deliberate knock-on as his line was about to be breached and then Rotimi Segun showed his gas in a chip and chase that swept him across the whitewash.

Elliot Daly was the creator for Caluori to cross by outpacing opposite number Elliot Obatoyinbo from a standing start and suddenly Saracens were out of sight.

The rivalry between Caluori and Obatoyinbo was hotting up and after they had engaged in a brawl that sucked in Freddie Lockwood, the England prospect ran in his second try after beating his foe with a hand-off.

Obatoyinbo’s afternoon got worse when he was shown a yellow card for offside and Saracens registered the bonus point early in the second half when Andy Onyeama-Christie finished a rampaging run by Tom Willis.

Willis and Nick Isiekwe were coming to the fore as Caluori completed his hat-trick before James Hadfield finished a line-out drive.

The dominance of the home pack was taking its toll on Newcastle and over went Eroni Mawi and Hadfield in quick succession, before a scintillating attack down the right gave Caluori another chance to show his raw speed.

Nick Tompkins had created Caluori’s fourth try and as reward he grabbed Saracens’ final touchdown from close range, before Newcastle’s torment ended when they went over in injury time through Reuben Parsons.

Leicester humble Harlequins at home

Harlequins suffered a humbling home defeat to Leicester Tigers, losing 36-7 at Twickenham Stoop.

Leicester scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet was at his electrifying best, constantly driving his side forward and involved in most of their decisive attacks.

Named in the England training squad 24 hours earlier, Van Poortvliet would love to be thrown the No 9 jersey ahead of close rival Ben Spencer for the opening Championship clash with Wales in 13 days’ time.

Leicester moved up to fourth in the table, inflicting a fifth successive Premiership defeat on a Quins side who may have enjoyed some recent European success but are stuck in a domestic rut with just two wins from 10 games.

Northampton claimed a thrilling 43-29 bonus-point win which lifted them to the Prem summit and put a major dent in Sale’s play-off hopes.

With a host of England stars on display for both sides, the fare served up was of the highest quality but it was Saints who deservedly took the spoils to underline their title credentials.

Phil Dowson’s men outscored their hosts by seven tries to four, touching down through Tommy Freeman, Rory Hutchinson, Robbie Smith, Edoardo Todaro, Josh Kemeny, Alex Coles and Henry Pollock.

Sale, who suffered a club-record 77-7 defeat at Toulouse last weekend in the Champions Cup, showed impressive resilience to fight back after going 14-0 down early on.

They scored tries through Raffi Quirke, Joe Carpenter and a brace from Tom O’Flaherty, but it was not enough as Northampton showed their championship mettle to win at Sale for the first time since March 2017.

At Sandy Park Bristol Bears completed the Prem double over Exeter Chiefs with an 8-3 victory in a real war of attrition.