DANGERZONE
Following a year of adversity, Saracens have all the motivation they need to lay an ambush for all-conquering Leinster
THERE was a story doing the rounds a few years ago about one of the heavyweight French teams touching down in London ahead of a European clash with Saracens. After an overnight stay at a hotel on the north side of the city, the team bus rolled out towards Hendon. Allianz Park, the home of Saracens, was the final destination.
As the coach made a right off the motorway and lurched through a barren industrial estate towards Sarries HQ, there was bemusement among the travelling party: is this where the mighty Saracens play?
Donncha O’Callaghan likened the experience to a Sunday trip to IKEA during his time with Worcester in the Premiership. The French lads would have agreed with the Corkman’s analogy: a juggernaut operation plonked in the middle of nowhere. Sounds about right.
The whole matchday experience was slightly bizarre too. During breaks in play, ‘Stand up for Saracens’ – the squad’s call to arms, performed by pop duo Right Said Fred, would belt out over the PA system. The music video, featuring the entire squad on backing vocals is available on YouTube. It has to be seen to be believed. English colleagues in the press box would turn to you, shake their heads and offer an apology while that ditty blared out across the stadium. Sarries may have dialled the cringe factor up to 11, but, more often than not, they backed it up on the pitch. A plastic pitch for good measure.
Everything about Saracens seemed a bit saccharine and artificial, but when you stripped away all the gimmicks and pageantry, they were – and remain – a serious rugby team.
Under the calm and assured stewardship of Mark McCall, they ruled the last decade, securing five Premiership titles and three European Champions Cups since 2010.
The most recent European triumph arrived against Leinster last year after a pulsating encounter at St James’ Park in Newcastle.
The Londoners were being tipped to accrue more silverware in the coming years and who could argue with that statement when they had the Vunipola brothers, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Liam Williams on the payroll?
The issue of wages would prove the club’s downfall, however. Away from all the bluster and silliness, there were other things – a lot more serious in nature – which puzzled people about Saracens for a long time. Namely, the club’s ability to stockpile such a colossal stable of players and remain within the confines of the Premiership’s salary cap of £7million per season.
In some ways, Saracens were being penalised for having such a prolific academy. Take Maro Itoje, for example, who went from an academy prospect to a Test Lion in the space of two years. Itoje’s market value increased ten-fold in the space of 24 months, yet Saracens managed to tie down one of their most prized assets on a long-term deal. Likewise, Farrell, George and the brothers Vunipola.
Not only were Saracens able to retain their homegrown stars, who were demanding bigger wages year on year, they were signing big names from other clubs as well. The likes of Sean Maitland, Vincent Koch, Will Skelton and Schalk Burger were just some of the internationalcalibre signings arriving through the doors at Allianz Park. Harlequins and Wasps were forced to release star players like David Strettle and Elliot Daly for fear of breaching the salary cap. Guess where both players ended up?
To cut a long story short, Saracens had the book thrown at them last November. The club was found guilty of breaching the salary cap over the past three seasons.
A 70-point deduction in the league and a £5.3m fine was just the beginning. Saracens will operate in the Championship (England’s second tier) next term and have been forced to offload nine players – including Matt Gallagher who went to Munster – with six of their young guns loaned out to rival clubs across Europe.
On that basis, they should be canon fodder for Leinster next Saturday, right? Write them off at your peril. Farrell’s ban is the latest blow to a club that has taken a proverbial kicking over the last 12
‘I WOULDN’T BUY INTO THE BELIEF THAT THEY ARE BROKEN’
months. Still, the spine of the team remains with George, Itoje, Billy Vunipola, Daly and Alex Goode all expected to rock up at the Aviva.
Brad Barritt and Richard Wigglesworth – two stalwarts of the club – are moving on after this season concludes. Their teammates will want to give them a proper send-off.
Suffice to say, this squad has a lot of frustration and anger bottled up. Ambushing all-conquering Leinster on their home turf is all the motivation they need. Stuart (l Lancaster (left) agreed when quizzed about that looming challenge earlier this week.
‘I certainly don’t buy into the fact that they’re a broken team whatsoever,’ said Leinster’s senior coach.
‘What people don’t give them credit for is the quality of their attack, their ability to play both
sides of the ruck, to switch play. Obviously we all know their aerial threats and we know that this will be everything to them. For us, we’ve got the Pro14 this weekend, and I know this will go out after that game. It’s a huge game for us as well.
‘Having worked so hard to get the number-one ranked seeds, to win six out of six, we got the reward of Saracens at home, which seemed ironic really.’
Despite their shambolic situation, scandal-hit Sarries remain a clear and present danger to Leinster’s European ambitions, even without Farrell, their tactical and spiritual leader.
‘Owen would be one of the heartbeats of Saracens, there is no doubt about that,’ Lancaster added.
‘But equally, I would put Richard Wigglesworth in that category. I would put Brad Barritt, as the captain, certainly in that category.
‘I would put Billy Vunipola in that category. I’d put Jamie George in that category. I would put Maro Itoje and Mako Vunipola in that category and Jackson Wray as well.
‘There is a lot of experience in that team. They have been through a lot of success together but they’ve also been through a lot of adversity as well, which makes them a tight group and a dangerous group.’
Leinster have been warned. Next weekend will be no laughing matter.