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Mark McCall explains the pain driving on title-chasing Saracens

By PA
Saracens' Owen Farrell (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Mark McCall says Saracens’ defeat in the Gallagher Premiership final last season has proved a driving force behind their quest for an immediate Twickenham return. Victory over play-off opponents Northampton on Saturday would land Saracens a ninth appearance in English rugby’s domestic showpiece on May 27.

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Their title hopes last year were dashed by Freddie Burns’ dramatic late drop goal that saw Leicester claim a 15-12 victory. “I guess it wasn’t so much losing the final, it was how we lost it which is the thing that is driving us,” said Saracens rugby director McCall.

“It felt like we played within ourselves. It was how we lost, not because we lost. Anyone can lose a final – knockout games are hard to win – but when you don’t feel that you have given it a proper go, then you carry that all summer. I guess that has driven this season to a degree.

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“We have enjoyed a couple of really good weeks’ preparation. The players are in good spirits. We don’t take these things [semi-finals] for granted and we are looking forward to it. To get a home semi-final is exactly what you want.

“They [Northampton] are a very good team, an unbelievably dangerous team, full of talented players in their squad. And this is their second semi-final in a row, so they have shown some really good consistency as well.”

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Saracens go into the playoffs after topping the regular season table and finishing 16 points above Northampton. Fly-half Owen Farrell, though, does not believe that Saracens require a trophy to validate their Premiership return three years after relegation following persistent salary cap breaches.

“We have performed consistently enough over the past two years since we’ve been back to be enough of a presence in the Premiership,” Farrell said. “Do we want to win the Premiership? Yes, of course we do. We have got some big personalities maybe playing in their last games for the club and we want to make sure we do them proud.

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“To come back and do it [win the title] within a year, we talked about it being special and we didn’t do it. We are on another year now and I have not thought about it in that way too much if I am honest. We have been consistent enough over the past two years, without winning last year, to validate us being back in the Premiership.

“We want to be at our best, getting the best out of ourselves, and I am sure Northampton are the same. We want to make sure we are playing some of our best stuff and we want to enjoy it.

“It’s tough to lose any final. We felt like we didn’t put the best out of us on that day (last year) and that is obviously a credit to Leicester and what they did as well.”

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AM 44 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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