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How Saracens' players reacted to takeover when Wray addressed them
Mark McCall has explained how his players reacted last Friday when Nigel Wray addressed the squad at the Saracens training ground, telling them that the fraught financial period following their January 2020 automatic relegation from the Gallagher Premiership was finally over with a £32million takeover that was officially made public the following day.
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Saracens are now back in the top flight following their season in the Championship and but for the concession of a clock-in-the-red penalty try at Leicester last Saturday, they would be two wins from two heading into next Saturday’s home clash versus Newcastle.
There had been financial concerns over how Wray and co might bounce back following Saracens’ damaging stint outside the Premiership, but their future now seems secure following the takeover by a consortium that includes Francois Pienaar, the 1995 Springboks World Cup-winning captain, and Marco Masotti, owner of South Africa’s URC-playing Sharks.
Wray has retained a minority shareholding, so he won’t just suddenly vanish from the club, and asked by RugbyPass about the reaction amongst the squad to the takeover, McCall said: “He [Wray] was at Leicester on Saturday and he addressed the team on the Friday before the news was announced and I talked to him on Sunday morning like I always do after the match. Nigel is going to be a very visible supporter.
“Everyone in the squad has the most enormous respect for Nigel, a great affection for him, but they were relieved to know that he is going to (still) be around all the time. He was around all the time in the last ten years that I have been here. He comes to our captain’s practice, comes to the games, comes to the changing room after the match and those things will continue.
"Saracens are a really interesting club when you look at them from the outside…"
– Last weekend's £32million takeover of the London club was a hot topic on this week's edition of @TheRugbyPod 💰#Saracens #PremRugbyhttps://t.co/vxAjOk0P59
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 5, 2021
“It’s newish [the takeover] and I don’t think I am going to be seeing all that money. There are obviously plans to rebuild the stadium properly, plans to put a high-performance centre down there at some point. All of those things are in the future but for now, it is really business as normal.”
The fresh investment in the club is a reward for the loyalty shown in Saracens by key players such as Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell, who opted to stick by the Londoners and play Championship matches rather than quit for a higher standard of rugby elsewhere following the salary cap scandal punishment.
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“That was the most pleasing thing. What happened with that was just the amount of loyalty shown by everybody, to be honest, the fans, the staff, the players. We are where we are now and rather than talking about all those things now, we would much rather not. We’d much rather look forward and talk about the future.”
The consortium that has taken a controlling stake includes Francois Pienaar, the famed 1995 Springboks World Cup-winning captain 💰#Saracens #PremRugby #LEIvSAR https://t.co/FyIDY1vCgS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 2, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
He’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
1 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
15 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
5 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
15 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
5 Go to commentsDissapointed that after 7 years Crusaders could not have found a coach that believed their system and improved on it. What was he expecting?
6 Go to commentsPlaying the boks twice in a season is the definition of an abusive relationship…Jenny, get help
1 Go to commentsWatching the SA series no AI will motivate players like a Human can cause no matter your IP if you lack the hype to be super human or the level to go to the deep dark places you simply can’t win big games. France Ireland All Blacks and SA will surely get this AI but the end of the day it's luck and believe that matters
18 Go to commentsGet him and we need more having just watched chasing the sun series building test teams takes a lot of time and pain. We have to believe we can win the 2027 RWC. Whilst you at get Rod McQueen as Rugby Director. Is he still around?
15 Go to commentsRather AI than the disastrous and disappointing human errors of the last RWC final.
18 Go to commentsI still think Swinton is a better 6 than Valentini or Leota as he works harder in D and is a way better lineout operator. His carrying has improved out of sight over the last 12 months too. I’d be happier with: 6 - Swinton 7 - FMR 8 - Bobby V
15 Go to comments‘Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.’ - Mark Twain.
1 Go to commentsThe AI will find the 1 scenario out of 100 to win. But then so will the other teams AI do the same (to prevent it). So then it will just be 99 losses and maybe a draw? All of this is fine and dandy, but assumes that the players and coaches will be able to move flesh and bone around the training pitch and on game day to implement against whatever it was the AI scenarios predicted.
18 Go to commentsI am not so sure it will have that a big effect in the next 10 years. To have a a.i giving you extra info doesn't mean you have a team that can implement the plan. It will take years for humans to adato be able to use the a.i's data
18 Go to commentsthose graphics are cool but not very helpful when one team is black and the other is nearly-black 🤣😅
1 Go to commentsThanks Nick Cale is certainly a talented guy, and could develop quickly like Eales did. Mind you, I thought the same when Harry Wilson appeared a few years ago, notwithstanding that Wilson has only recently started lineout jumping. Somehow I think coaching has held a lot of forwards back over the last 20 years in Australia. It’s hard to put into words, but when a player has the ability to do things far better than his coach ever could or ever understand then that talent is not only not developed further, but not utilised. I’ve seen this with Timmani, Skeleton, Wilson and a host of props. Sticking with Cale, I am not convinced that he has the best coach on the planet, particularly after the Brumbies inept performance on the weekend.
15 Go to commentsHope Radwan gets picked up by a good side next year and kicks on before it's too late.
1 Go to commentsHe’s a proper athlete with some great instincts but he’s played half a dozen games. The WC is a more realistic goal than the Lions
15 Go to commentsDon’t know who’s gonna win the next one but I’ll make a prediction and say that England will be knocked out at the pool stages. Why’s that? Since 1995, however far Australia go in a World Cup, England do the same in the following World Cup, with 2015 being the only year to buck the trend. Let me explain: 1995: Australia out in the knock out stages 1999: England out in the knock out stages. Australia win the World Cup 2003: England win the World Cup. Australia runners up 2007: England runners up. Australia out in the knock out stages 2011: England out in knock out stages. Australia out in knock out stages 2015: (the only to buck the trend) England out in pool stage. Australia runners up. 2019: England runners up. Australia out in knock out stages 2023: England out in knock out stages. Australia out in pool stages. 2027?
18 Go to comments