Saracens ready to snap losing streak – Jim Hamilton
People want to see Saracens lose. Of course they do. They’re the champions of Europe and are there to be shot at, but that won’t even register with them inside the camp as they’ve always been a team that can ignore those external factors and focus on themselves.
Nobody wants to lose seven games in a row, but Saracens will be stronger for coming through this period of adversity and are ready to end the wretched run at Welford Road tomorrow.
It’s the club’s worst run of results for almost 15 years since nine defeats on the spin led to an eighth-place finish in the Premiership in 2003. There’s no danger of this season going the same way and a big win against Leicester will kick start their campaign.
The performances haven’t been at the right level in recent weeks and I know they’ve sat down and spoken about how they’re going to move forward, what it means to be double European champions and how you motivate yourselves to achieve those feats.
I think the big thing for me is that their discipline has been poor and that has been compounded by some poor game management at times that we just aren’t used to seeing from them.
They’ve actually been ahead at half-time in six of the seven games they’ve lost in this bad run and have led a few of those going into the very closing stages. Ordinarily, Saracens are the best frontrunners in the game but they’ve just struggled in that respect lately.
It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why that has been the case and they’ve failed to see games out but I don’t think it’ll continue to be an issue in the second half of the season.
They’re not scared to say that there’s something wrong and Saracens fix things when they have issues better than any other club in Europe and we saw that in the way they came back from a record European defeat to almost win away at Clermont, which no English team has done for around a decade.
I was in the team that lost 64-23 at home to Wasps the season before last and we went on to win the double, so I’m not worried about it and they won’t be panicking at all.
I know that they’ll be re-evaluating what they’re doing and the coaches will be looking at themselves to see what they could have done differently, as well as analysing the players’ performances.
There is no finger-pointing at Saracens. That just isn’t a part of the culture at the club. The coaches will have looked in depth at what has happened in all of the games and presented the findings to the players in terms of what they think can be improved on.
I’ve never seen a more hard-working group of coaches than those at Saracens at the moment at any other club I’ve been part of or visited. They take it all so personally. It’s not a job to them, it’s their life.
They put their heart and soul into what they do and they will have been even more disappointed than the players with how things have gone in the past couple of months.
Mark McCall’s interview after the home loss to Clermont did shock people as it’s the first time I think any of us have seen him looking like that but he’s regrouped and is still the most sought after coach in Europe at the moment.
He really understands his players and has faith in his leadership and that showed in the ability to turn things around in the space of six days.
I was with him at the airport in Clermont and I said that I think this will stand Saracens in good stead come what may because they’ve been through a tough time and come through it and there’ll be no danger of any complacency setting in later in the season.
This run of defeats began just as the autumn internationals were getting underway and you can’t take away most of the squad and still expect them to win every game.
Admittedly, they’ve not lost seven games in a row in recent years but they do always lose a few games during the international periods if you look back at the results over the past few seasons and they always bounce back.
It’s not really seven defeats in a row either because you can’t count the Anglo Welsh Cup when it’s a complete reserve side with lots of youngsters making their debuts.
And then when you look at the games they’ve lost they are all tough games. They would have expected to beat Exeter at home but they are the champions and then Gloucester and Harlequins are both away trips that ended in defeat last season as well and nobody was talking about a crisis then.
However, if I was Mark McCall and in charge of rediscovering the winning formula, my first priority would be asking the physio how long it’ll be until Billy Vunipola and Maro Itoje are back.
Billy’s injury has been one of the biggest factors for me. He’s one of the best players in the world and would be missed by any club but he really gives Saracens their go forward and they do struggle to play their power game without him.
I’d be going back to the fundamentals that have made Saracens a great club as well, though, making sure the guys are enjoying coming to work and aren’t getting bogged down with external pressures.
I’d be telling them not to panic and reiterating that they might not have won last weekend but they showed that they’re still able to compete with the best sides in Europe, despite missing a host of key players.
If you had to pick a game to play when you’re looking to end this losing run, it definitely wouldn’t be Leicester away when they’ve just suffered a bad loss at home to Munster too. And, it’s on Christmas Eve, which isn’t a great day to be playing away.
However, Mark McCall will be going full noise, has picked his best available side, has Michael Rhodes back from injury and I’m certain they’ll go to Welford Road and win.
The Tigers are going to be hurting as well but if you look at Saracens’ performance against Clermont on Sunday, it was miles better than Leicester’s against Munster the same day. They’ve rediscovered their mojo in defence and if they can replicate that performance, they’ll win for sure.
I think they have to win this one. It could be a real turning point in their season and don’t be surprised if it proves to be exactly that and there’s more silverware being added to the Allianz Park trophy cabinet come May.
Comments on RugbyPass
Great role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
63 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
63 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
63 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
63 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
63 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
63 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
63 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to commentsThe Irish are tired and the Boks are old. The test series won't confirm who is best in the world, it will confirm which team needs to pursue the task of rebuilding with the most urgency.
63 Go to commentsGrant, the first time I have seen an article written by you. Maybe I have missed your previous stuff. These days all professional players effectively play a common season so all top players are equally tired, or rested. That is the job of the coaching ticket to build squad depth and juggle resources so players are ‘ fresh’ when the big games come. Possibly Ireland are less inclined to juggle squad compared to Rassie, who is prepared to take the risk to rest players as well as build depth throughout the year so come WC he has a full squad, experienced and rested enough to win 7 games. After all, to win WC you need to get through the tournament and then win the final big 3 games. Ireland should try and build a bit so come final 3 they are ready. So far only played final 1(QF). I am so looking forward to the Irish tour. Hopefully Rassie has enough time to align his guys, as he draws them from across the globe, and not from 2 sides locally( eg Leinster, Munster). No excuses, going to be exciting.
63 Go to commentsIn football, teams get fined and sometimes docked points for deliberately fielding weakened teams yet Leinster can pretty much do as they please with no comebacks. Could it be because Ireland run the URC? Could it be that Ireland run the ERC? Whichever it is, it stinks!!
6 Go to commentsIreland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
63 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
63 Go to comments