Saracens must up their game to rival Euro elite

Nobody can predict what’s going to happen over the next 12 months. The World Cup is wide open and five countries could win the 2019 Six Nations but I’m going to put my head on the block and tip Racing 92 for the Heineken Champions Cup which starts tomorrow.

Racing are a giant club and billionaire owner Jacky Lorenzetti has deep pockets, but I don’t tip them for that reason.

Forget the money, they just seem energised by the competition and have dug deep to grind out losing bonus points at various times in the last three seasons, when they have reached the final twice.

I sense they are on a mission and they have a nice mix of top French stars and highly motivated overseas players.

That’s bad news for the English challenge. Saracens and Exeter are head and shoulders above the other Premiership sides at present. I expect Saracens to go a long way in the tournament while I also believe the time is right for Exeter to make a real impact in Europe.

both sides have reeled off six straight wins in the Premiership and are already 10 points clear of third-placed Wasps, but I was very interested — and heartened — to hear how downbeat and even critical both Mark McCall and Rob baxter have been about their sides’ performances erformances in recent post-match interviews. rviews.

They have been more than good enough to put away the opposition and, with the he exception of Sarries at t Harlequins last week, score a pile of tries.

but they both know they are a long way short of what will be needed in Europe. Tempo has been the missing element in the Premiership. don’t confuse a mountain of tries s with a better brand of rugby. by. I’m talking about speedd of thought and purpose. Quick line-out throws, instant pick-ick-ups at No 8, quick-tapped penalties, playing quickly from every ruck. Premiership rugby is just too slow in every aspect.

The ‘box kick’ — which 90 per cent of the time is a momentum killer and a sure fire way of giving possession away — sums up the rugby on display at Premiership clubs so far. It is just not going to work at the next level up.

occasionally in defence, in extremis, a great box kick is a good option. but mostly they are a waste of time. When you watch your games this week just keep count of how many box kicks actually result in a net gain for the kicking team. one thing I promise — the World Cup and the Six Nations will not be won by a team obsessed with the box kick!

Racing are the team to beat. Last year we saw the brilliance of Teddy Thomas, Juan Imhoff, Virimi Vakatawa and Leone Nakarawa among others. Now this season we can throw Finn Russell and Simon Zebo into that mix. No side in the competition have quite that X-factor talent but they also have those really tough hard forwards such as donnacha Ryan, Antonie Classen, dimitri Szarzewski and bernard Le Roux. Russell could be their ace card, a player with all the talent in the world who just occasionally at Glasgow and with Scotland overplayed his hand and did not really show the leadership qualities that a player in that position must display.

I would never be one to restrict ambition and restrain genius, but the good thing at Racing is that he is surrounded by so many other special players, the onus will not be on him to produce miracle plays all the time.

My one proviso about Racing is that they probably need to have scrum-half Maxime Machenaud back for the knockout stages after his ACL rupture last season which saw him miss the final against Munster. Machenaud is the hub of that team and also a superb goal-kicker, they will need him for the crunch matches.

Elsewhere, Leinster are chasing a record fifth title and with the system they have over there, all their best players tend to arrive at European and Test matches rested and in prime condition.

My big hope over the coming weeks is that our top players in all the home unions and France flick a switch and up their levels.

I’ve been incredibly impressed by the last two weekends in the Rugby Championship, the southern hemisphere are beginning to flex their muscles again, but I remain convinced we have the talent to match them.