Why don’t fans flock to watch these great Saracens?

IF anyone needed persuading that Saracens are one of the great club sides of any era, pro or amateur, last weekend’s 50 point destruction of Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens provided incontrovertible evidence. Their overall performance was reminiscent of a very accomplished international team hitting top gear, with an extraordinarily low error count despite backs and forwards linking seamlessly as Saracens rolled the Saints back with wave on wave of attacks.

It was an example of the ‘Total Rugby’ that so many coaches aspire to play, but so few outside the All Blacks – and now Saracens – ever achieve. What is also notable is that they show no signs of letting up, despite providing large Lions and England contingents last summer.

Lions tours in particular usually leave those clubs or countries that provide large numbers of players in a trough the following season, due to either burnout or injuries. It is one of the reasons why France traditionally do well in the Six Nations campaigns that follow Lions tours.

Saracens, however, appear to have bucked that trend with their Lions Test contingent of Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, George Kruis and Owen Farrell reaching for an upward trajectory after the Lions tour rather than dipping.

The only shortfall is that despite their excellence, and the club’s timely investment in Allianz Park, they are still attracting only 10,000 fans, or fewer. That is about 3,000 less than Harlequins, and given that they are the only two elite clubs in London – and live at opposite ends of a city with a population of over eight million – it is a travesty that they are not attracting bigger crowds.

Rugby fans should be flocking to watch a team of Saracens’ calibre, and part of the reason they are not is that professional rugby clubs – and the PRL – are no great shakes when it comes to promoting their sport.