A last-gasp defeat at the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday evening made it five consecutive losses for Saracens.

Even if two of them came in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, these are testing times for the European champions. Director of rugby Mark McCall admitted as much afterwards.

Without wishing to denigrate a stirring, streetwise performance from the hosts, Saracens’ latest loss demonstrated what happens when a few pillars of their rock-solid gameplan malfunction.

Although we are some way short of a full-blown crisis and alarm bells will not be ringing in St Albans, even with Clermont next up, here are some areas they will look to patch up.

Compounding penalties

A final penalty count of 12-7 in Harlequins’ favour will have grated Mark McCall, but the context of the offences killed his team. Three lineout infringements in the space of two minutes extinguished all the momentum created mfrom a fast, fluent start.

At 10-0 up, with a throw five metres from the Harlequins line, the rot starts as Nick Isiekwe and Mako Vunipola lift George Kruis to take Jamie George’s throw. Maro Itoje is the key man here: