Leicester and Saracens let loose the dogs of war in a riotous 12-try, 78-point PREM classic that saw Sarries emerge 40-38 winners.Both these teams have been dominant forces in English club rugby in different eras, before being overtaken more recently by the likes of Northampton and Bath.This was the final game of the league’s opening round, but it will be tough to better it across the rest of the campaign. It had everything – thrilling scores, a red card, injuries and subsequent changes – and league bosses will be delighted it was broadcast live on free-to-air ITV1. Both teams experienced rollercoaster-style highs and lows.But in the end, it was 14-man Saracens who defied a 54th minute red card for Nick Isiekwe to edge a thriller. It was a fine way for the London club’s latest Brendan Venter era to begin. Mark McCall might no longer be the man in charge, but Saracens showed all the bottle that defined their trophy-laden era under his guidance to come out on top.Trailing 38-35 in the 70th minute and without Isiekwe following his dismissal for a dangerous tackle on Freddie Steward, Saracens turned down the option of a kickable penalty and a chance for a draw. Instead, they went for broke and kicked to the corner in search of a match-winning try.Their pressure forced Leicester replacement prop Tareq Haffar to the sin bin and Saracens then went for the jugular, Rotimi Segun’s second proving decisive. Nick Isiekwe (right) saw red for this tackle on Leicester’s Freddie Steward Ben Earl goes over for Saracens’ fourth try of the afternoon‘We came for the win and to put a marker down. I was very proud that we went for the corner,’ said Saracens head coach Joe Shaw. ‘Getting the result is amazing. But if we hadn’t, I’d have been so impressed by the adversity. It’s a brilliant start.’ Saracens’ backs-to-the-wall success meant that four of the five round one PREM fixtures were won by the away team – an unusual statistic in a league where home advantage is usually key.A mammoth total of 52 tries were scored – the most on the opening weekend in the league’s history. Saracens certainly had to do it the hard way. Isiekwe left them a man light for 20 minutes while young backs Olly Hartley and Tobias Elliott both suffered injuries, forcing a back-line reshuffle that led to England back-row Ben Earl filling in at centre.First-choice forward starters Jamie George, George Martin and Rhys Carre were absent too, as was Owen Farrell. Elliot Daly played in four separate positions such was the carnage, but Saracens still did just enough. After a summer off, England and Saracens captain Maro Itoje looked like the rest had done him good. Itoje was excellent, as was his Lions team-mate Tomos Williams who was player of the match. ‘The adaption of the boys and the clarity was excellent,’ said Shaw.Leicester were always chasing the game after a slow start. But despite a Gabriel Hamer-Webb hat-trick and an impressive showing from his Wales team-mate Aaron Wainwright, they fell narrowly short. England veteran Daly demonstrated his class with a brilliant cross-kick to Segun for his first and a try of his own. Solomone Kata celebrates scoring Leicester’s first try but the drama was only just beginning Gabriel Hamer-Webb scores one of the tries in his hat-trick but ended up on the losing side Rotimi Segun goes over for one of his two tries for Saracens in a madcap clashSaracens haven’t won the PREM since 2023, but this was a strong start to their bid to do just that. Wales scrum-half Williams had a stand-out league debut for his new club.‘When you have got a squad and influential leaders that are comfortable changing things in your system, you can come to places like this and keep fighting.’ Shaw said.Earl rose from the bench to cover a back-line crisis before then returning to his usual back-row position. He sealed Saracens a bonus point with their fourth try. But they finished with far more than that for a result which should give Venter’s men real belief. Leicester head coach Geoff Parling was without 15 players due to injury, including captain Ollie Chessum.‘It’s been disruptive but there are no excuses,’ he said. ‘We were too inaccurate and failed to back up pressure moments. We turned the ball over 17 times. Losing is not good enough but I’ve seen enough to realise there are lots of good things we can do.’