A second-half burst by Saracens at Vicarage Road condemned Leeds Tykes to their ninth Zurich Premiership defeat of the season.

Two Thomas Castaignede penalties compared to one Gordon Ross effort in the first half gave second-from-bottom Saracens a 6-3 half-time advantage but after the break they took complete control to move within two points of the Yorkshiremen in the table.

Castaignede converted a penalty try after 53 minutes before crossing himself 16 minutes later for an effort which Robbie Kydd added the extras to.

In the final minute the home side made the points safe with a Raphael Ibanez try which Castaignede converted in front of over 9,000 fans.

The London club held the advantage in the set-pieces, especially in the scrum, and with former All Black captain Taine Randell at number eight in commanding form it was always going to be difficult for Phil Davies' side to stay in contention.

The first Castaignede penalty came in the eighth minute and was quickly followed by the first yellow card of the afternoon from referee Ashley Rowden.

Cobus Visagie was the culprit for retreating slowly at a penalty to Leeds in an attempt to slow down the ball.

Leeds levelled the scores in the 13th minute with their only score of the match through Ross, with Saracens caught offside.

Saracens' second penalty was converted after lively centre Ben Johnston was stopped by the ample presence of the Tykes locks.

Three players were given yellow cards just before half-time with Tykes number eight Matt Salter in the sin-bin for repeated coming in from the side with props Steven Sparks of Saracens and Leeds' Gary Powell also warming their seats after exchanging blows.

The home side turned the screw in the scrum at the start of the second period, pushing the visitors around at will. This led to the first five-point score of the afternoon after referee Rowden awarded a penalty try when the Leeds scrum disintegrated.

French wizard Castaignede virtually settled the match in the 68th minute with another try following Sarries pressure in a scrum with the fly-half darting through to score near the posts before hooker Ibanez touched down following good work from Randell.