The only thing driving Saracens to win more trophies
It has been over four years since Saracens last lifted the Investec Champions Cup, and in that time they have been through a lot.
Two of those years they were not even competing in the competition after spending a season in the Championship in 2020/21, and obviously failing to qualify as a result the following season. Those two absent seasons were bookended by a semi-final loss to Racing 92 in 2020 and a quarter-final loss to eventual champions La Rochelle last season.
Saracens confirmed their return to the top of domestic rugby last season by winning the Gallagher Premiership, but they may still have a point to prove on the European front that they are again the force they once were.
The loss to Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle at the Stade Marcel Deflandre in April was particularly chastening for the three-time champions as they were physically dominated up front in a manner unseen in recent years. Now appearing to be firing on all cylinders with the return of their World Cup contingent after a shaky start to the campaign, the London outfit may well have revenge on the agenda when they turn their attention to the Champions Cup with a trip to Loftus Versfeld to take on the Bulls on December 9.
But for captain Owen Farrell and his team, none of that seems to be going through their minds. Instead, they seem to be driven by one thing and one thing only, and that is their love of winning titles. Success breeds success, and having tasted Champions Cup success on three occasions, Farrell recently said that the desire to reach the pinnacle of the club game again is all that is fueling his teammates.
“We would love to win a European cup this year because we’d love to win a European cup,” the England captain said at the season launch of the Investec Champions Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“It’s not because of things that have happened before and so on. A good few of us have been lucky enough to have the chance to win it before and that taste for that is massive. And we want to be back up there. We’ve not been up there for a few years and we want to improve on last year and be at the back end of the tournament.”
With that said, it does not mean that Saracens have not learnt from the past. The loss to La Rochelle was perhaps the most severe and humbling lesson Saracens have been taught by any team in over a decade. Farrell not only believes that such lessons will be beneficial for the upcoming campaign, but he is sure they actually benefited the men in black for the denouement of the Premiership season, as they finished at the summit of the league and defeated Sale Sharks in the final too.
“It certainly taught us a lot of lessons at the back end of last year, this tournament,” he said.
“It certainly showed us some things we needed to improve towards the end, going back into the Premiership, and I thought we ended up doing that pretty well. But we don’t want to make those mistakes again in the tournament this year. We want to be challenging, we want to be bringing the best out of ourselves in the big occasions.”
Saracens get their campaign underway with their trip to South Africa to face the Bulls before hosting Connacht at the StoneX Stadium a week later.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
2 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
2 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
10 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
10 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
10 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
3 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
3 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. 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.
3 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 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.
3 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.
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