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Saracens to controversially rest England stars for Champions Cup KO game
By PA
Saracens will rest their entire England contingent for Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup knockout clash at Toulon after choosing to prioritise the Gallagher Premiership.
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Director of rugby Mark McCall revealed that Maro Itoje and Tom Willis will complete their mandatory post-Six Nations stand-down week when European action recommences for the round-of-16 fixtures.
And joining them on the sidelines will be Jamie George, Ben Earl and Elliot Daly even though the trio of England stars could be picked to face the Top 14 title challengers having not appeared in every match of the Championship.
Saracens’ decision to field their strongest possible side against Leicester at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Sunday resulted in a 29-22 victory that propelled them within two points of the top four, boosting their play-off hopes.
McCall revealed that a Champions Cup draw that would produce a quarter-final against Toulouse in the south of France as the prize for toppling Toulon signalled the need to focus on the Premiership.
“We made the decision to do this halfway through the Six Nations. After we lost to Castres we got on the difficult side of the draw so we were always going to do this and those players are all off now for the next seven to 10 days,” McCall said.
“They will all miss Toulon. We don’t have to do that but we will. We think it’s unwise not to rest them. It’s very important that they get rest.
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“They have to do it in one of the three games after the Six Nations so we took the decision to prioritise the Premiership. Your hand is forced, to some extent. We’re just realistic about what’s possible.
“A lot of the English teams have done this, it’s not just us. We had our big game at Tottenham last weekend and it was essential that we had our best players playing.
“We will send our best available team to Toulon. We’re not going to send a pack of 18-year-olds out against Toulon, but we’ll also give it a crack with absolutely nothing to lose.”
Itoje, the Saracens and England captain, received treatment twice and McCall admitted he is in need of some time off having played every minute of the last 14 matches for club and country.
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“In an ideal world you would not have to play him in back-to-back games, but we took the decision halfway through the Six Nations and he was on board with it. Now he needs seven or 10 days’ rest, which he’s going to get,” McCall said.
Leicester boss Michael Cheika admitted his side had been outmuscled in the tight.
“We knew it would be a battle to the end and that’s what it turned out to be. We lost the quarter contest like the ruck and scrum and that hurt us,” Cheika said.
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I’ve never understood why they would prioritise their domestic game.
Even when they won the Premiership in 2018/19 and got busted for financial doping, they overspent by almost a million. Twice the current prize money for winning the premiership.
With the gap in salary caps between the different nations this is the reality of it all. I don’t blame Saracens but it’s a shame the champions cup is a shadow of what it used to be compared to back in the ‘Heineken Cup’ days.
Totally. Peak ‘Heineken Cup’ was a level above most test matches.
The 2011 RWC semi-finals and final. Compared with the Heineken Cup semi-finals and final that same year.
If you have to play more games, you need to have more players…..and a larger salary cap…. But If you play more games you get more money to pay salaries from people in the stands and from TV… It's not only a problem of rules, it's a choice too….
This is what is hurting the Champions Cup and it is related to the round of 16. Saracens do not believe they have a realistic chance in this competition and are selecting accordingly. They are right about their chances. 8 teams at least have no chance and are not interested in sacrificing their domestic chances.
That said I know Ulster and Munster as past winners will have a crack. But it will hurt their domestic ‘race to eight’.
Not the full picture and it doesn’t relate to the round of 16 in this case. McCall made the decision when they unexpectedly (from their perspective) lost at home to Castres and ended up on the same side of the draw as Toulouse, likely QF opponents from the Toulon tie.
“8 teams at least have no chance” is a pretty impressive statement given we’re going into the round of 16. Have you locked in your bets not only for the QF lineups but the SF as well, then?
In reality, those teams who have away draws to big French sides do have an uphill struggle. As do Quins away to Leinster, but they’re Quins so on the day anything could happen, even if it probably won’t. (That said, the fact that they have only one fit tighthead is likely to put the kibosh on their chances too)
Seeding in next years champions cup should be determined by performance in the champions cup the previous year in order to incentivise getting as far as possible even if you don’t stand much chance of winning
I remember some french side fined for this kind of problem….