BATH Rugby’s dream of Aviva Premiership glory came up short as they were out-muscled by fast-starting Saracens at Twickenham.

The Londoners ran in first-half tries through Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Chris Wyles to take full control in the showpiece final at HQ.

Trailing 25-3, Bath mounted a brave comeback after the break and Jonathan Joseph’s touchdown gave them hope but Sarries were able to see the job through.

Saracens set the tone for the intensity of their play in the first minute when Farrell caught Anthony Watson with a high tackle. The Bath full-back looked understandably groggy and his final ended after just eight minutes when he was withdrawn.

However, by then his team were already 7-0 in arrears as Sarries thumped over for an early try. The Londoners worked the ball one way then the other and the numbers eventually paid off as David Strettle offloaded to Farrell, who slipped through the gap to dot down in the corner before adding the extras themselves.

A second try swiftly followed for Sarries, with Bath punished for an error when attempting to attack from deep. Kyle Eastmond's firm pass was not held by Ross Batty, with George snatching the loose ball and the hooker then had the pace to hold off Eastmond and George Ford in a 25m sprint to the line.

Farrell missed the conversion but soon pushed his side’s lead to 15 points following a penalty at the scrum.

It took 25 minutes for Bath to finally get on the scoreboard, with Ford splitting the posts with a penalty of his own after the charging Semesa Rokoduguni had been illegally stopped in his tracks by Sarries full-back Alex Goode.

That failed to kick-start a response and the Bath defence was soon stretched again, with Sarries working the ball wide where winger Wyles had acres of space to dot down.

Farrell booted the conversion and finished the half with a penalty after Bath prop Davey Wilson had been deemed to have made an early tackle on Saracens flanker Maro Itoje.

The West County side headed into the break 25-3 in arrears and with a mountain to climb in the second 40 minutes.

Ford was able to cut the gap at the start of the second period with a penalty right in front of the sticks following a high tackle from Duncan Taylor.

A subsequent penalty then led to Bath’s first try, with Ford sending one into the corner. Bath worked the ball wide and Eastmond looked to be in, only to be tackled just short. But Ford’s men were not frustrated for long as Ford was able to send Joseph through a gap to dot down. Ford's kick was good too to cut the gap to 12 points.

Bath continued to chip away at the deficit and bagged themselves another three points on the hour through the boot of Ford when Dom Day was hauled down in the air at a lineout, although that was swiftly cancelled out by a Farrell kick.

The fightback then began to peter out and chances were limited in the closing stages, with Sarries' hefty first-half lead proving too much to overhaul.

BATH RUGBY: 15 Anthony Watson (Ollie Devoto 8), 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Peter Stringer (Chris Cook 68), 1 Paul James (Nick Auterac 48), 2 Ross Batty (Rob Webber 48), 3 David Wilson (Henry Thomas 50), 4 Stuart Hooper (capt) (Dominic Day 55), 5 Dave Attwood (Matt Garvey 59), 6 Sam Burgess, 7 Francois Louw, 8 Leroy Houston (Carl Fearns 61).

SCORERS – Try: Joseph Conversion: Ford Penalties: Ford 3

SARACENS: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle (Chris Ashton 65), 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt (Chris Ashton 61-65, Charlie Hodgson 70), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth (Neil de Kock 56), 1 Mako Vunipola (Richard Barrington 78), 2 Jamie George (Schalk Brits 54), 3 Petrus Du Plessis (Juan Figallo), 4 George Kruis, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (capt) (Jackson Wray 34), 6 Maro Itoje (Jim Hamilton 68), 7 Jacques Burger, 8 Billy Vunipola.

SCORERS – Tries: Farrell, George, Wyles Conversions: Farrell 2 Penalties: Farrell 3

REFEREE: Wayne Barnes

ATTENDANCE: 80,589