Nigel Wray no show: 'For him to feel he cannot watch his club is really sad'

Saracens Club chairman Nigel Wray’s no show at the Rec last night has added to speculation around his future involvement with the club.

Saracens won 25-12 at Bath to take their points tally in the Gallagher Premiership to minus 18.

The reigning champions were near full strength for the first time since accepting their 35-point deduction and £5.4million fine for breaching salary cap rules.

England captain Owen Farrell kicked 20 points on his return to club duty while Scotland wing Sean Maitland scored the only try at the Rec.

Wray – who normally attends all club matches – was not there to see Saracens absorb early pressure and then pull away for a convincing victory.

Saracens director of rugby Mark  McCall said: “It’s a real shame that he doesn’t feel comfortable to come to the away matches.

“For somebody who has actually given rugby a lot, I believe, and given the north London community so much good, for him to feel he cannot watch his club is really sad. Hopefully he starts to feel differently soon, but it’s his decision for now.”

Two weeks ago Wray said he took “full responsibility for the arrangements that led to this outcome.”

His no show at Bath now has some speculating that he will step back to a less public position at the North London club.

What a day Saturday is for Wales – the first outing for their new coach Wayne Pivac and a hearty goodbye for Warren Gatland in charge of the Barbarians after twelve years with Wales… and it will be officiated by their country's favourite son, Nigel Owenshttps://t.co/UPzNron2Kq

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 30, 2019

Meanwhile, McCall is refusing to look too far ahead after his side victory.

Asked if he had worked out how many games his team would need to win to avoid relegation, McCall said: “A more positive way of looking at it is that we have now played two games in the Premiership post the salary cap decision.

“One of those was Gloucester away when we had none of our international players available and now Bath away.

“To have won them both is a good start for us in the campaign to stay up.”

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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 29, 2019

McCall was more than satisfied with the performance in front of a full house.

He added: “It was a tough game in tough conditions, quite slippy. Bath had the better of it for the first 20 minutes. We had to absorb quite a lot of pressure, which we did. I just felt we grew into the game, got better and took more control as the game went on.

“The build-up to the try was outstanding and we kept (Sam) Underhill and (Francois) Louw away from the ball, which was an achievement.

“To come here and win – and win with a bit of control – was very good.”

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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 30, 2019

Rhys Priestland kicked all the points for Bath, whose director of rugby Stuart Hooper said: “What I saw was 23 guys in Bath jerseys who were putting as much effort in as they could, which is what we expect. But that’s not enough at this level.

“We probably didn’t take as many opportunities as we should have done to score points early on – and then gave a few easy ones away for Owen Farrell to knock over. We are ruing some missed opportunities.

“It’s a pretty unique challenge, playing against a side with the quality they have across the board.

“For us now, it’s about putting the performances together and getting the wins. Regardless of where Saracens are, we need to develop our game to add to the effort we are putting in.”

– Press Association