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McCall identifies what has made him most proud of Saracens these past 20 months

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Mark McCall has pinpointed what has made him most proud as Saracens finally see the light at the end of the crisis that resulted in their automatic relegation from the Gallagher Premiership for repeated breaches of the salary cap. 

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Saracens suffered an initial points deduction in November 2019 before their relegation was confirmed two months later and what has since followed has been an extraordinary waiting game, their pandemic delayed Championship season only getting started in March with the two-legged promotion final versus Ealing finally set to be played on successive June Sundays.

The relegated Londoners go into that decider with five 2021 Lions picks in their squad along with multiple other internationals as the crisis didn’t precipitate a mass exodus from the club and that loyalty is now just 160 minutes from getting richly rewarded by promotion if they get the better of the Trailfinders. 

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Lions pick Finn Russell guests on the latest RugbyPass All Access

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Lions pick Finn Russell guests on the latest RugbyPass All Access

Asked by RugbyPass about this enduring loyalty at his media briefing ahead of the first leg, Saracens boss McCall said: “When the relegation was confirmed in January 2020 anything could have happened, people could have left, people had an excuse to go. The truth is most people that we wanted to stay stayed. 

“There is a few people who were going to go anyway, the likes of George Kruis, Will Skelton and Liam Williams. We knew they were going regardless. There were a few players we felt couldn’t afford to be in the Championship for a year like Max Malins, Ben Earl, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Lozowski and Nick Tompkins, all of those players went on loan but they all signed extensions to stay at the club. 

“The senior international players that we had could have left but they all stayed. To single them out, they came back from a tough Six Nations with England, they had Lions selection looming, the Championship probably wasn’t the most attractive option for them to be playing in but every single one of them has just come back and rolled their sleeves up, got in amongst the squad and been phenomenal. 

“And I think they have really enjoyed it as well. That level of care about the club is an easy thing to say but it gets properly tested when something like what happened to us happened. Looking back over the last 20-month period, that is what makes me most proud. 

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“What we thought we were we ended up being and what we thought was real in terms of the friendships and the relationships and the affection for the club was true. I’m delighted to be in the position that we are but we have got a big two weeks to get the job done.

“In lots of ways I’m not surprised,” he added. “People often talk about how much you learn about your organisation when there is a setback, but this wasn’t a setback it was something way worse than that so it has been a proper test. As a club, as a group of players and staff I think we have passed that test.”

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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