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Saracens boss Mark McCall was a relieved man after seeing his side given a huge fright by “fantastic” Edinburgh before claiming a 30-26 bonus-point win in their Heineken Champions Cup opener.
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Returning from a six-week break from competitive action, Saracens produced a rusty, disjointed performance and despite outscoring Edinburgh four tries to two, can consider themselves fortunate to finish on the winning side.
Elliot Daly, Alex Lewington, Ben Earl and Tom Woolstencroft scored Saracens’ tries at a freezing StoneX Stadium, with Owen Farrell adding two conversions and two penalties.
Luan de Bruin and Wes Goosen went over for the visitors, with Emiliano Boffelli converting both and kicking four penalties.
Saracens director of rugby McCall said: “We lacked quite a lot today, rhythm and intensity.
“They were fantastic as they stopped our ball-carries with two-man tackles and I’m very grateful to win the game.
“The competition is uncompromising and today was a reminder of how tough it is and thankfully we got over the line as it’s never good to lose the first game at home.
“The players weren’t pleased with the performance as we lacked intensity, especially in the first half, but we were better on that front in the second.”
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Saracens full-back Daly was man of the match, scoring a try, creating another and covering back to prevent what looked a certain second-half try for Damian Hoyland.
McCall said: “Elliot’s in great form and it took a couple of pieces of magic from our leading players to get us over the line.
“He was superb today and leads by example as he loves rugby and has incredible energy.”
Edinburgh director of rugby Mike Blair, whose team lost hooker Stuart McNally and prop WP Nel to yellow cards in the closing stages, was delighted with his side’s performance even though it ended in defeat.
He said: “With the team we can put out onto the field, we should be challenging sides like Saracens and I’m just frustrated that we didn’t get over that line.
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“We should have the belief to win and I believe we did as the guys out there were enjoying themselves.
“We were right in the game until the final whistle, despite having only 13 players and a point at Saracens is not too bad an outcome.
“We could have done a bit more, not in terms of effort, but by being smarter at times as we handed them some momentum in the second half by not doing a couple of things right.
“We know we can play at tempo and pace but we showed a physical element to our game today and I’m hugely proud of our performance and behaviour.
“Last season sides went through to the next round with a win and a draw so hopefully we can achieve that.”
