DALY STILL SURE AS ELL
New boy relishing challenge with Sarries
Saracens 44 Ospreys 3
ELLIOT DALY insisted he had no regrets committing his future to crisis-hit Saracens after he produced a man-of-thematch debut display.
The England star thought he had secured a dream move when s i gning f or t he Premiership and European champions before heading to the World Cup.
He returned from Japan to find the Londoners docked 35 points for breaching the salary cap and plunged into a desperate relegation fight.
Regrets
Yet after pulling on Saracens colours for the first time in the Champions Cup stuffing of Ospreys yesterday, Daly stood behind his decision.
“I have no regrets,” said the full-back, who only arrived at the club on Monday.
“I needed a new challenge and coming to a club like this and having that opportunity is something you are never going to turn down.
“Everyone here is moving in the right direction and are going to push me i n the right direction.”
Team boss Mark Mccall hailed Daly’s performance after he set up three of six tries as Sarries bounced back from last week’s thumping by Racing 92.
“He’s only done two training sessions with us,” said Mccall.
“To put a performance like that in and feel so comfortable with the way we play is the mark of a very good player.” Daly revealed his preparation for the game began with a night in the bar with his new team-mates on the day he reported for duty after his move south from the midlands.
Great
“It probably was an unusual introduction but it was great,” said the former Wasps ace, returning to action three weeks to the day after playing in the World Cup final.
“You say hello to 50 people on the first day and you forget everyone’s name. It was great to get out and meet the boys
DAN BIGGAR kept his cool with an 85th-minute penalty to seal a bonus-point Champions Cup victory for NORTHAMPTON.
The Wales fly-half (right) completed Saints’ second-half fightback to move top of Pool One with a 35-21 win over BENETTON.
HARLEQUINS ground out a 15-9 win over BATH in the all-english clash. Marcus Smith, who kicked four penalties, made the difference.
EXETER took command of their pool with a 34-18 win over GLASGOW WARRIORS. England’s Henry Slade was among the Chiefs’ try scorers. and understand what makes them tick. When you get tough days on the field that’s what comes out.”
Saracens needed a day like this to steady their ship after a 20-point beating in Paris and another week of finger-pointing over their salary cap woes.
This is a competition they had been expected to sacrifice in order to save their best for their improbable tilt at Premiership survival.
Yet a team missing Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Liam Williams still took apart Ospreys, with three tries in each half.
Daly pulled the strings at the back, setting up winger Rotimi Segun for two as the bonus point was bagged soon after half-time.
“We know what we need to do, we need to win every game,” he added. “But from what I’ve heard of the Sarries mindset,
nothing has changed.”