'He was amazing' - McCall lauds Saracens veteran
Mark McCall admitted he was “proud and thrilled” after Saracens’ memorable triumph over adversity against Ospreys in Swansea.
Saracens’ 22-15 Heineken Champions Cup victory kept alive their quarter-final hopes, and it was achieved despite having Wales international prop Rhys Carre sent off in the fifth minute.
They even went down to 13 men for a spell when flanker Calum Clark was sin-binned, but 17 points from teenage fly-half Manu Vunipola and an Alex Lewington try saw them home.
It means they are likely to reach the last eight for a ninth successive season by beating Allianz Park visitors Racing 92 next weekend.
Saracens arrived at the Liberty Stadium after a week when lawyer Neil Golding was appointed as non-executive chairman, succeeding Nigel Wray, while it also emerged that players are set to be trimmed from a star-studded squad in order to comply with salary cap regulations.
Saracens were docked 35 Gallagher Premiership points and fined £5.36million after being found to have exceeded the £7million salary cap limit for the past three seasons.
“We were down to 14 men for virtually the whole match, really, and the way the players problem solved all the way through the game was outstanding,” said Saracens rugby director McCall, who rested the likes of Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Maro Itoje.
“Our senior players – Jackson Wray, Richard Wigglesworth, George Kruis – were magnificent out there in coming up with the right answers to solve the problems.
“And our younger players listened to what they said and got stuck in and displayed an incredible amount of energy. It was a great energy.”
On the red card, awarded following a shoulder-led hit to Ospreys full-back Dan Evans’ head, McCall added: “I haven’t had a really close look at it.
“If the referee said it was a head contact, you are going to face the consequences, but I haven’t seen it closely enough.”
McCall, meanwhile, paid tribute to former England scrum-half Wigglesworth following a masterful display that showcased all his experience.
“He was amazing,” McCall said.
“He’s 36 years old, and in situations like that you need to have somebody with that kind of experience to play the game at the pace you need to play at with 14 men.
“The players stuck at it. The forwards delivered massively, particularly in the second half, and got the job done.
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“The thing we talked about the moment the (salary cap) decision was made early in November was that we wanted as a staff and as a group of players to show unity all the way through when we had a chance to play and show togetherness.
“Today was all about togetherness and listening to the senior players and doing it for each other. The performance spoke volumes.
“I am just so proud and thrilled with how the players coped with a very difficult situation today. There is a real spirit in this team.”
And skipper Wray said: “I am unbelievably proud. The forwards stepped up and took a lot of the load once that red card came.
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“We controlled the pace really well and got some dominance up front. It was about working hard and working smart to not give them edges or holes through the middle.”
Evans scored two tries while Clark was off, with fly-half Luke Price adding a penalty and conversion, but the Ospreys ultimately suffered a fifth successive European defeat this season.
Ospreys forwards coach Carl Hogg said: “I think we missed out on a golden opportunity. Saracens went down to 14, and we had an opportunity to win a game of rugby.
“I thought our discipline in the first half allowed them to get a foothold in the game and build a lead, but I still think we had chances.
“I think we were architects of our own downfall in that first half.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments