Saracens focus on relegation battles
McCall says survival more important than Europe Shamed club’s England players show their support
Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, said he was planning for a relegation scrap after the English champions responded to their 35-point deduction for breaching the salary cap by beating Gloucester 21-12 at Kingsholm.
Speaking for the first time since the punishment – the heaviest in the history of the Premiership – was administered, McCall revealed that Saracens’ England players had voluntarily come into the club twice this week.
“When we talk about displays of unity, we had all of the World Cup players in twice when they are off this week,” McCall said. “It is not an external show of unity, but it is an internal sign of unity. They want to play. They wanted to play tonight, but we were never going to do that.”
Without nearly all of their front-line stars, Saracens recorded just their fifth league victory at Kingsholm. Gloucester fans booed Saracens on to the pitch and some waved fake £50 notes. But Saracens made light of the hostility and absentees to record what McCall considered one of their finest victories.
“I think we took grit and toughness to a whole new level today and it was a performance we can be proud of,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of a group of staff and a group of players who genuinely came together this week and on the field today.
“We’ve got a 36-year-old scrum-half [Richard Wigglesworth] in the dressing room saying it was one of his most memorable wins. That’s because of just how switched on the players were.”
McCall also said he was “not thinking of breaking up the squad” despite the sweeping punishment, which includes a £5.36million fine. While the points deduction is still the subject of a challenge, McCall confirmed that they would prioritise staying in the Premiership – where they would move down to -22 points – over their defence of the Champions Cup. That means Saracens will send a weakened side to Paris next Sunday for the opening European match against Racing 92.
“Our job at the moment if the points deduction remains and the appeal is not successful is to try to stay up,” McCall said. “I think we have to [assume the challenge will fail]. We have got a plan for the worst-case scenario which will affect Champions Cup strategy.”
That also means England stars, including Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Billy and Mako Vunipola – whose co-investment partnerships with Saracens owner Nigel Wray are at the heart of the salary-cap scandal – are unlikely to return until the Premiership fixture away to Bath on Nov 29 at the earliest.
This is what defiance looks like. After the darkest week in the club’s history, Saracens came to Kingsholm, a venue where they had not won in four years, without nearly all of their leading lights and ground Gloucester into the muck.
You can accuse Saracens of many things – and Lord knows they have been this week – but a lack of character can never be one of them. The crippling 35-point deduction for breaching the Premiership salary cap and the ensuing public opprobrium could have proved an overwhelming distraction. Instead they harnessed all of that hate for a victory that lifts them to second in the table, pending their review of the points deduction which would drop them down to -22 points.
This could charitably be described as Saracens’ B team. Possibly their C team. And still they were too physical and much tactically smarter than a Gloucester side missing only a couple of front-line players. Their rivals will question their strength in depth, particularly in being able to bring England internationals Jack Singleton, Ben Spencer and Alex Lozowski off the bench, but this was a performance based squarely on their collective will. Their defence was at its smothering best, their kick-chase superb throughout. Those are no-talent skills that money cannot buy. Their celebrations at the end, hugging supporters and family members, demonstrated the depth of feeling.
“We have used the anger this week to fuel us,” Alex Sanderson, the defence coach, said. “You can’t use that all season because it is negative energy. We have got to crack on and look strategically at what we want to do this season and how we go about it. I could not be more impressed by the boys, their application during the week and then on the field.”
Gloucester, meanwhile, were frequently their own worst enemies, failing to take care of the ball in wet conditions, while conceding eight firsthalf penalties. Referee Craig MaxwellKeys quickly surpassed Nigel Wray, the Saracens owner, as public enemy No1 in the eyes of the Shed, but even Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann fully accepted they were second best. “Saracens handled the pressure of the week well and you have to give credit to the 23 players and how they dealt with it on the field,” he said.
In his first league game since the World Cup concluded, this was an opportunity for fly-half Danny Cipriani to remind everyone that he could have made a difference in England’s campaign. Instead, he fluffed his lines on a damp, dank afternoon. Both he and half-back partner Callum Braley were horribly off target with their kicking, failing to give Gloucester the territory they so desperately needed in the conditions. In one instance Cipriani attempted a cross-field kick that ended up going sideways and into the arms of Saracens wing Sean Maitland. Cipriani was eventually replaced by Billy Twelvetrees on 61 minutes.
He was outshone by Manu Vunipola, cousin of England players Billy and Mako although in a distinctly slimmer frame. The fly-half ended up kicking 11 points and showed some classy touches with ball in hand. Full-back Matt Gallagher, son of All Black full-back John, also showed that he is a chip off the old block, reading the game and finding touch with his return kicks.
Yet the standout performer was second row Will Skelton, a player transformed by Saracens from overweight impact replacement to probably the most consistent second row in the league. While other players had more involvements, none matched the crunching impact of his carries and tackles while his considerable ballast gave Saracens the edge in the scrum.
It was a scrum penalty that allowed Vunipola to kick Saracens into the lead before the fly-half’s neat show and go helped engineer the position from which centre Nick Tompkins scored the opening try. Gloucester responded through a wonderful piece of wing play by Tom Marshall, who beat Alex Lewington and then kicked ahead, almost dribbling the ball over the line.
Saracens effectively seized control of the game either side of half time as Vunipola’s boot twice punished Gloucester transgressions to extend the lead to 16-5. After having a rollingmaul try disallowed for obstruction, Saracens went back to the corner, where Ben Earl finished at the back of what seemed like a 13-man shove.
Gloucester, who had barely fired a shot since Marshall’s try, did rouse themselves in the final quarter. For nearly 10 minutes they were camped within Saracens 22. Maxwell-Keys really should have shown a yellow card as Saracens conceded five successive penalties, but eventually the home side had their reward when flanker Lewis Ludlow was driven over.
The night, however, belonged to Saracens.