Russell wizardry brings Saracens defiance to end

WITH one flick of Finn Russell’s magic wand, the Saracens dynasty was over. Gone in a puff of Parisian smoke.

They were four minutes away from reaching the final, but their journey of defiance was brought to an abrupt end by the Scotsman’s moment of sorcery.

The Champions Cup was Saracens’ last hope before they fade into insignificance. Their next chance to lift this trophy will be 2023 at the earliest. It was an opportunity to send off Brad Barritt on a high, but instead the Saracens skipper ended the campaign in a daze in a French medical room.

Saracens could have no complaints about how they lost. No one was at fault, however they had no answer to the flash of brilliance from Russell (pictured). He chipped over the rush defence in his own half for Virimi Vakatawa, then reclaimed the ball and sent over Juan Imhoff to score. It was a championship-defining moment — and one that will do Russell’s Lions hopes no harm.

Lungs were burning by that point. Saracens lost 10 players during the lockdown and their squad was already down to its bare bones. Losing Duncan Taylor to a shoulder injury in the early stages was a painful blow. The likes of Dom Morris and Manu Vunipola were thrown in at the deep end but, ultimately, backing up last week’s victory over Leinster was one ask too many.

‘In many ways, it is the end of an era,’ said Saracens coach Mark McCall. ‘It’s been an incredible period for us. In the last five seasons, today was our 23rd knockout game in Europe or the Premiership. We’ve won 19 of those, which is an incredible record, and we’ve got a very special group of players.

‘We’re going to go on a new journey in the next couple of months. Today we showed the qualities and characteristics that we need as the foundations on the new journey. It was a superb experience for guys like Dom Morris and Manu Vunipola. If we can keep those characteristics we showed today then, I think we’ll be OK.’

Hooker Jamie George took pride in his side’s performance as they prepare for Premiership relegation following sanctions for salary-cap breaches.

‘The element of the unknown is horrendous, really,’ he said. ‘The way we saw it that was our last chance to compete for a little while. We wanted to finish it off right. I’m gutted, I am not going to lie to you. But at the same time I am also incredibly proud.’

It was a game that, for the most part, was dominated by defence. Saracens relied on the boot of Alex Goode to move ahead on the scoreline. They resorted to their kickchase game and milked penalties from the breakdown and the scrum.

The lead swapped hands throughout, with all the points coming from the boot as Saracens led 15-9 going into the final quarter. But in the 65th minute Barritt left the field surrounded by three doctors, after taking a head knock in a ruck, and Saracens had to end the game without their leader. They could only keep Racing’s dazzling attack shackled for so long. The hosts clawed their way back with another penalty through Maxime Machenaud and Saracens became slower on their feet. Step up Russell. Few players have the skillset or mindset to pull off such an audacious move, and the No 10 caught Saracens off guard to send his team through to the final.

‘They had a moment of magic in them,’ said McCall. It was a sorry end to Saracens’ era of dominance, but the headlines were already written: ‘C’est la Finn’.