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The Mark McCall verdict on 'magnificent' captain Owen Farrell
By Jack Tunney
Friday evening we were witness to a tight and nervy top of the table affair between Bath and Saracens at the Recreation Ground, in which only a last minute penalty from former England captain Owen Farrell separated the two sides.
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The 12 – 15 victory to the travelling Saracens side pushed them ahead of Bath in the table as the season hits crunch time. It was far from a thrilling affair, but as Bath coach Johan van Graan would later say, “It was as close to an international test match as you’ll find in the English Premiership.”
More from van Graan shortly, but first up, Saracen’s lead man, Mark McCall had a few words to say about say about the encounter. Discussing Saracens need to “rediscover that spirit”, the Saracens head coach said:
“It’s always been there, but we lost it for two or three weeks. I’m hoping [this win] could be a springboard for us because our rugby can improve and we now have that team energy, and I think it was awesome to be a part of.
“Even though it was a difficult game and a real battle, it just felt good right there and when it’s like that I think our players rise to the occasion.”
In the back of many Saracens supporter’s minds will be the exit of their fearless captain Owen Farrell at the end of the season with the flyhalf exiting the English capital for the French one, as he looks to settle into Parisian life with Racing 92. The dialogue inside camp appears to be rather different, with McCall claiming that he and his captain “Haven’t really discussed it”, with the prime focus being only on his side’s current campaign.
As Farrell edges closer towards his final few games for the club he’s been a part of for a majority of his life, the 32-year-old appears to be intent on going out with a bang.
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“I’m just so pleased that he led the team the way he did today, he was unreal and magnificent”, McCall continued.
“He competed for everything in the game and that meant his teammates just followed suit. He’s got a magnificent influence over the group when he’s in that kind of mood, especially in these sorts of games when everything’s on the line – he led incredibly well today.”
Bath’s hopes to make the playoffs took a slight dent thanks to Farrell’s men, but Van Graan remained positive in his conclusion of the match, saying:
“We actually came out of this game stronger. We’re disappointed that we lost the game, but congratulations to Saracens, that’s why they are the Champions.
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“It was a titanic battle and I shook Mark’s hand afterwards and said ‘across the 80 you guys were better than us’ so no issues with that.
“For us, we came within one moment of beating them in a in a titanic game we’ll take our one point and we’re just going to keep running our own race as we’ve been doing all season.”
Saracens, who now sit in second place in the table, head into the final two rounds with important battles against playoff rivals Bristol and Sale – two must win matches otherwise they could be relying on other fixtures.
Bath, on the other hand find themselves travelling to winless Premiership strugglers Newcastle Falcons, before their vital final match at home to Northampton Saints on what Is expected to be a sellout occasion.
