Saracens are hungrier than ever to claim Premiership trophy
JACKSON Wray claims the Wolfpack have sharpened their claws and are “hungrier than ever” to regain their seat as England’s top dogs.
Mark McCall’s men have been putting themselves through the pre-season pain barrier to be fully ready for a mouthwatering Premiership first night back in Bristol.
They are also keen to silence their new noisy title-winning London neighbours, Harlequins.
While it was the Championship clubs queuing up to give them a bloody nose last season, Wray says it will be a two-way street this year back in the Premiership.
The 30-year-old flanker, about to start his 13th season at the club, said: “Some teams might be excited about facing us and try and give us what they think we deserve! Some might not be looking forward to it, I expect it will be quite mixed.
“There is probably more appetite from our side to be playing the rest of the League and to prove a point than the other way round.
“We’re as hungry as ever to win the title again, straight off the bat. We don’t see any reason why we can’t be fully competitive from the beginning. That is our biggest focus – how to get better.
“We did it last year even though we were in the Championship. We wanted to make ourselves as good as we could and use the year to progress, and I think we did. We built really well to the end of the season, performed well in the finals and did what needed to be done to be promoted.
“Now we are as hungry to get back to the top of English rugby again.”
It is crystal clear the fallen North London club will not be settling for anything less than trying to make it six Premiership titles. And while they are unable to add to their three major European crowns, they will be eager to lift the Challenge Cup instead.
Their squad looks capable of delivering on both fronts having announced five new signings, including South African scrum-half pair Ivan van Zyl and Ruben de Haas, while others have returned from their loans spells notably Alex Lozowski, Max Malins, Ben Earl and Nick Isiekwe.
Wray insists there will be no problems in terms of lighting the fire in the players’ bellies when it comes to entering the Bears’ cave for the opening game on September 17. And a trip to Twickenham Stoop is especially high on his and the Sarries’ must-win list.
He says: “It will be an easy game to get up for. Our first Premiership game for a long time. Bristol love their rugby and make a noise and create a decent atmosphere. So we could not have picked a better opening fixture to start back in the top flight.
“They will have an edge to them after what happened in the play-offs so it will be a good test for us. It’s important to make a good start but for me it’s about putting in a performance that people remember. I want people to remember how we play and how we do things. We like to be a team which does things a bit differently.
“Quins did well to win the title; you don’t have to like every team to say fair play to them and they had a great year. There’s always a bit of spice between us and Quins, our games are always good. Now we are just looking forward to getting out there and testing the likes of Quins, Exeter, Bristol and Sale.”