Acting Saracens head coach Adam Powell was impressed with his side’s performance as they beat London rivals Harlequins 32-12 to secure a bonus-point victory and reach the semi-finals of the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Sarries held a narrow 7-8 lead at half-time thanks to a try from Sione Vailanu, but the Men in Black pulled away with a strong second-half display with Joel Kpoku, Max Malins and Rotimi Segun going over to help Sarries ease past an experienced Quins team.

Powell said the visitors had to be patient but he was proud of his players as they ultimately matched the expectation of all those who play in the Saracens jersey.

He said: “I’m really proud, the whole club is proud of the boys.

“The reality is when you wear a Sarries jersey there’s a certain expectation and the boys matched it, probably surpassed it and set their own standard.

“We were patient and it paid off. It’s important for these guys to come here in front of a sell-out crowd, in a hostile environment against an experienced team and use it as a learning opportunity. They’ve learned how to cope with that, to stick to a plan, be disciplined and work unbelievably hard for each other.

“If we hadn’t got the try at the end I would’ve still be extremely happy.”

Saracens’ scrum-half Tom Whiteley admitted he felt relieved when Segun went over late on and stated how important the victory was to the squad.

He said: “I was so relieved for Roti to go over at the end, it means the world to us. I don’t really know how to describe it, it’s our first semi-final for a few years.

“We’ve got a nice week off now, we’ll celebrate and then we’ll be back in the week after for the semi-final.

“We wanted to do well in all competitions and this is the first step towards it so long may it continue.”

Sarries must now wait until Sunday to find out who their semi-final opponents will be, as Worcester Warriors can still leapfrog them at the top of their Pool with a hefty bonus-point victory over Wasps.