Liam Williams inspired a Saracens fightback to secure their second win of the season after they trailed Bristol Bears at half-time. 

Following an opening day win at Newcastle Falcons, Saracens scored 31 second-half points to run out 44-23 victors.

This comeback came as Bristol were reduced to 14 men on the 50-minute mark, George Smith sent packing after a high tackle on Jackson Wray.

Last year’s Premiership runners-up were galvanised by a superb performance from winger Liam Williams who scored a hat-trick off the bench. 

Williams was pleased to make the difference in a match that seemed there for the taking for Bristol to cause a surprise upset.

“I certainly haven’t scored three tries in 20 minutes before! I feel in good shape coming back from injury and was able to come on and make an impact,” said hat-trick hero Williams.

“We were pretty terrible from the start, we weren’t good enough at the breakdown.

“I was on the pitch warming up at half-time but heard most of what Mark McCall had to say to the boys. It was pretty simple, we needed to get going and we sorted out the problems in the second half.”

Up next for Saracens is a trip to Northampton, who got their season up and running this weekend with a win over Harlequins.