Sarries want to do it for Schalk

REVERED: SOUTH AFRICAN IS A CULT FIGURE AT THE CLUB

Combative hooker to retire after nine years at the club.

Twickenham

Schalk Brits will put his battered and bruised body on the line one last time at Twickenham today, with his Saracens team-mates desperate to give the veteran South African a perfect send-off courtesy of another winners’ medal.

The 37-year-old pocket battleship hooker, who has become a cult figure with the London club’s fans since arriving nine years ago, has admitted in the buildup to the English Premiership final against champions Exeter Chiefs he has a few regrets as he approaches his last match before retiring from rugby union.

Those statements of sadness, from a player who many felt was unlucky to win just 10 Springbok caps, were echoed by the England duo of Mako Vunipola and Jamie George, who insisted the likeable Brits’s departure will leave Saracens with a large hole to fill on and off the field.

“Schalk is one of a kind, a real character,” said George, who has competed with Brits for the starting hooker’s No 2 jersey.

“We’re definitely going to miss his presence on the field and around the club.”

George added: “He has played a huge part in creating the special culture here. He’s a winner who loves playing rugby, and that rubs off on all the guys.

“We have been rivals in a positional sense but he’s also helped my career progress. It would be good to give him a good leaving present in the way of the title.”

Prop forward Vunipola endorsed those sentiments by joking: “Someone as grumpy as myself needs someone as positive and happy as him to balance it out!

“Schalk always has a smile on his face, and we want him to be smiling after the game.”

However, Vunipola and Saracens will need all their muscle and guile to wrestle the crown from a an Exeter side that finished eight points clear of them at the top and also completed a regular-season “double” over Sarries. –