'To be clear, I support our players playing for England 100 per cent'
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has revealed he will not block his squad from playing for England in the Six Nations.
Eddie Jones expressed his concerns that England could feel the fallout from Saracens’ salary cap breach with the club’s stars, six of whom started in the World Cup final, choosing to prioritise Premiership survival over representing their country.
Saracens, who on Monday confirmed they would not appeal their point deduction and £5.36million fine, are 26 points adrift of safety. But McCall said: “I genuinely want our players to play for England. Of course I do, it’s the absolute pinnacle of the game.
“Wanting to play in the Six Nations doesn’t mean you’re not committed to the club. All of these guys are 100 per cent committed to Saracens, but playing for your country is playing for your country and I would support that every time.”
Asked if he would speak to Jones, McCall replied: “Yes, but that always happens. To be clear, I support our players playing for England 100 per cent. I would encourage them to do that.”
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Mako and Billy Vunipola, hooker Jamie George, second row Maro Itoje, full-back Elliott Daly, who is yet to play for his new side since signing from Wasps, and fly-half Owen Farrell all started for England in the defeat against South Africa earlier this month. McCall said he has not spoken to any of them about Jones’ comments.
Saracens began their Champions Cup defence with a comprehensive 30-10 defeat at Racing 92 last weekend. They host Ospreys at Allianz Park on Saturday before returning to Premiership duty with a trip to Bath next Friday.
A number of Saracens’ England World Cup finalists returned to training on Wednesday and will be available for selection this weekend. McCall added: “The message to them was simple and that is we are drawing a line under what has happened, especially with the decision on Monday (not to appeal).
The prospect of Saracens players skipping the Six Nations due to their Premiership relegation battle has caused concern, but it could be the best thing to happen to England in the long run, writes @alexshawsporthttps://t.co/AooX6TWeK1
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 19, 2019
“We are going to concentrate on the rugby and getting back to what we do well. It is definitely a tough challenge, there’s no doubt about that. But the squad is very tight, the squad is very together, the squad is very united. They are delighted to be back together again. There is a great atmosphere around the place.”
Saracens are holders of the Champions Cup, having triumphed in Europe in three of the last four years, and have taken the Premiership title for four of the last five seasons. Their forthcoming relegation battle will be a new experience to most of the squad.
Alex Lewington was demoted with London Irish before joining Saracens. “We have got some good enough leaders at this squad that they won’t be asking me to lead a relegation meeting,” joked Lewington, 28.
“If Mark comes up to me and asks me to, I’ll do it for him, but I really don’t see it happening. There is no doubt staying up this year will be an incredible achievement. I read somewhere it is the harshest punishment in team sport so if we manage to do it then I guess we have set the bar.”
WATCH: The Rugby Pod gives its reaction to Saracens not appealling their 35-point Premiership deduction for breaching the salary cap
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
1 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to comments