This deeply mediocre game will at least be an end-of-season quiz question: name the winning team who scored a try without crossing the line yet touched the ball down in their opponents' in-goal area four times without registering a single point? Any visiting American tourists sampling the delights of rugby union for the first time would have left baffled.

There was a fair amount of post-match head-scratching, too, in the London Irish dressing-room. This fixture had been circled in their diaries for weeks as a keynote occasion. A victory would have pushed them within touching distance of the Premiership top six and, just as importantly, hoisted them away from the developing relegation scrap. And what happened? Not a lot, as the Exiles' director of rugby Brian Smith acknowledged. "Maybe we put too much emphasis on this game and the players tried too hard," he sighed. Either way, it was scarcely a day to remember.

Saracens had the game won by half-time despite the absence of Andy Farrell, kept out of the firing line by a so-called gentleman's agreement between club and country. They are now up to fifth in the table, only three points behind fourth-placed Wasps with a game in hand. Even better, they now have a three-week gap until their next league game at home to Gloucester, allowing them the luxury of time to soothe aching limbs and prepare for a spring assault on the end-of-season play-offs and Heineken Cup qualification.

By the time they meet again Thomas Castaignède may finally be free of the leg niggles which once again ruled him out here and even their Springbok prop Cobus Visagie, who suffered a dislocated elbow, will not miss too much meaningful rugby. The bad news for future opponents is that the even bigger Samoan prop Census Johnston, formerly of Biarritz, is starting to stir. Few teams can boast Sarries' forward muscle when the mood takes them. Had they been slightly more accurate yesterday the home side might have caused Irish huge embarrassment.

Richard Haughton had the ball ripped from his hands by Mike Catt as he dived over, Matt Cairns was adjudged to have been held up and the winger Kameli Ratuvou was narrowly adjudged to have been in touch after another potential Saracens score was referred to the video referee.

Haughton's inventive flip over his own head to the unmarked Kevin Sorrell also failed to gain reward when it was harshly adjudged to have gone forward and Ratuvou was again fractionally in touch when he released Kris Chesney on another fruitless foray into the in-goal area. Had referee Dave Pearson not awarded a 26th-minute penalty try for persistent scrummaging offences the home fans would have begun to smell a rat. "We've got to consummate those tries and put them to bed," said Saracens' director of rugby Alan Gaffney. Who says rugby is not sexy?

Instead his team ended up relying on the more prosaic boot of the Kiwi fly-half Glen Jackson who kicked four penalties and a conversion to weld another man-of-the-match award to his growing reputation as an influential playmaker. Opposite him Riki Flutey had significantly less impact and the enforced absence of Shane Geraghty, also hopeful of a place in England's team, was a further matter of regret for Smith. "It's something we're not in control of but the 15 players we did have should have been good enough to get the job done," said the former Wallaby and Ireland international.

At a downbeat venue on a nondescript grey afternoon, it was a less-than-ideal day for Kyran Bracken, the latest rugby personality to feature in a reality TV show, to turn up with his new ice-skating pals. The only artistic merit in a drab second-half came three minutes from the end when Irish finally attacked with some conviction and conjured a try for full-back Delon Armitage. Aside from a yellow card within seconds of coming on for the replacement Rodd Penney, there were precious few other thrills and spills.

Saracens Scarbrough; Haughton (Penney, 72), Sorrell, Powell, Ratuvou; Jackson, De Kock (Dickens, 72); Yates, Cairns (Ongaro, 72), Visagie (C Johnston, 41), Fullarton (Vyvyan, 72), Raiwalui (capt), Chesney, Hill (Seymour, 75), Skirving.

Try Penalty. Con Jackson. Pens Jackson 4.

Sin-bin Penney, 79.

London Irish D Armitage; Ojo, Mapusua (Mordt, 34), Catt (capt), Tagicakibau; Flutey, Hodgson; Hatley (Lea'aetoa, 25), Coetzee, Rautenbach, Kennedy (Hudson, 76), Casey, Roche, S Armitage, Leguizamon (Murphy, h-t).

Try D Armitage. Pen Flutey.

Sin-bin Kennedy, 57.

Referee D Pearson (Northumberland). Attendance 8,492.