It is the end of an era for us... this squad will be broken up
THEY played Sweet
Caroline at the end and the crowd at Allianz Park belted out ‘ Good times never seemed so good’ before the players embarked on a lap of honour under a clear blue sky.
But the scenes did not tell the true story. For the home side and their followers, it was a false high — an outpouring of pride before the epic fall to come.
Saracens may have made it to the quarter-finals of the Heineken European Champions Cup, but they will be relegated from the Premiership at the end of the season. Their reputation is stained and their future is unclear — individually and collectively.
The fans turned up in droves and offered rousing support in what had become their team’s darkest hour, but time will tell if they stay loyal next season, down in the Championship. Many will not.
The same could be said of the playing squad. Some will stay, others will go.
The contingency planning will begin in earnest today after the seismic shock of being told that their repeated salary cap breaches would mean automatic removal from the top division.
Mark McCall, the director of rugby, must oversee an enforced dismantling of English rugby’s greatest dynasty. He is braced for that eventuality, saying: ‘Yes, we will have to (lose players). Of course there are going to be changes. There is no doubt the bunch of players who we have in our squad now aren’t going to be the same bunch of players who we have in the Championship next year. That is for sure.
‘In many ways, this is the end of that era, from the start of 2009. We have some time to plan for a new era, a new journey — and that is the optimistic way to look at it.’
Saracens players, including their vast contingent of England stars, face difficult meetings this week. They are still coming to terms with the sanction imposed and the ramifications of it, but now they have to consider their futures — something they would not have been expecting until a few days ago. The equation is: stay, move or seek a loan deal.
‘ The players were told on Friday morning that what has occurred was the probability,’ said McCall.
‘They’ve had 48 hours to think about it. They need to feel what they feel and it’s possible that how they feel in a few days might be different.
‘We will meet every player next week as a first off, to see how they are feeling. It won’t be straightforward. It is important that we make decisions with the players, not for them. Keeping players against their will is never going to work. We need to see how the meetings go next week and see where their thoughts are. Someone like Ben Earl we’d like to keep at the club for the next five years, but he’s close to getting in the England team, so we’ve got to talk to Eddie Jones and see what he thinks.’ That club- country dialogue will apply to numerous members of the Saracens squad, from Test captain Owen Farrell to emerging rookies such as 22-year- old Earl and Max Malins, 23. The exodus may be limited if it becomes clear that caps can be won from the Championship. McCall was also asked about his own plans and he added: ‘Now we have some clarity around being relegated, we can start to plan for the future. I would really like to be part of that future.’
Yet he admitted that the club’s management and squad do not yet have all the clarity they would really like.
He repeatedly spoke of the goalposts being moved. Evidently Saracens feel that their rivals have contrived a way to send them down. Should they not hand back their titles? ‘No,’ said McCall.
Brad Barritt, the Saracens captain, laid bare the sense of shock and pain among the playing staff.
‘Everyone is gutted,’ he said. ‘The place means a hell of a lot to every player. People have given their lives to this club. It’s a bitter pill to swallow. Everyone is devastated.’
The former England centre is optimistic a mass clear-out of the London club can be avoided.
‘You can’t decide for someone what their next move is for their career — whether it’s a current international or an aspirational international, someone at the beginning or end of his career,’ said Barritt.
‘Things are going to change, but hopefully the core of this group are able to stick together and fight on beyond next year.’
Things are certainly going to change. As McCall said, it feels like the end of an era. Yesterday was the last hurrah.
The good times are now in the — tainted — past.