Saracens held clear-the-air talks after their director of rugby, Mark McCall, was dismayed at the team’s lack of emotion in their defeat by Leicester Tigers.
With Antoine Dupont’s Toulouse looming as their next opponents, for the Investec Champions Cup pool match at the StoneX Stadium on Sunday, McCall gathered his players and staff for a meeting where he spelt out some home truths. Saracens were beaten 36-28 at Welford Road at the weekend having been 26-7 down at half-time, which angered McCall.
“We knew how significant the Leicester Tigers game was for us, and then to not emotionally be in the right place for that game is incredibly disappointing and in the end it falls on me,” the Saracens director of rugby said.
Saracens have not been consistent enough in recent seasons, according to McCall
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“I don’t want to tell you guys what has happened over the last 24, 48 hours, but rest assured that we’ve called a spade a spade, we’ve been honest with everybody, and everybody has been honest with us. We’ve confronted what was wrong and we’ve got to do something about it now.
“We are frustrated, we are disappointed with ourselves, we are fired up — all of those things. When emotionally you are not ready for a big game it is hugely frustrating and disappointing. Talking about it is one thing but doing something about it is another thing. It is time to do our talking on the field.”
Saracens made the Gallagher Premiership final in 2022, losing 15-12 to Leicester to a late Freddie Burns drop-goal, then won the title in 2023, beating Sale Sharks 35-25 in the final, before losing the 2024 semi-final to Northampton Saints, the eventual winners, by two points. However, despite this, they have not been consistent enough for McCall’s liking in the past two seasons — something he addressed with his squad this week.
Maro Itoje attempts to charge down a kick by England colleague Jack Van Poortvliet at Welford Road
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“If you want to be a great player the gap between your best and worst performance has got to be minimal, hardly noticeable, and you’ve got to have a base level of seven out of ten or whatever,” McCall said. “It’s the same for the team, that if you want to be a proper team and do things properly, then you’ll always be consistent.
“It starts with how you train, how you prepare and that’s for every single player in the squad — the most experienced to the youngest. We need to up our game a little bit. We can’t become consistent on the field if we’re not consistent off the field. We’ve got our heads down this week and are working hard.”
Saracens have two tough assignments left in the pool stage of the Champions Cup; Sunday’s home tie against Toulouse, and then an away trip to Glasgow Warriors, who top pool 1. Finishing in one of the top-four spots in the group of six will enable them to progress to the round of 16.
McCall confirmed that Maro Itoje, his captain, will start against Toulouse having returned from a knee injury as a replacement at Welford Road. Owen Farrell faces a late fitness test as he has a mild hamstring strain, but Jamie George has passed his head injury assessments after the game against Leicester.
The lock Nick Isiekwe, who was knocked out last Sunday, has not yet recovered sufficiently, however.
Saracens v Toulouse
Investec Champions Cup, pool 1
Sunday, 5.30pm
TV Premier Sports 1