Mark McCall full of pride after Saracens victory

Planet Rugby

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall admitted to a sense of pride after his team made a spectacular return to the Premiership.

They endured a 348-day absence from the top flight of English rugby after being relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2019/20 season due to persistent salary-cap breaches for which they were fined more than £5million.

And just over six months after they suffered an embarrassing defeat to Cornish Pirates in their Championship opener, Sarries sealed a 26-9 victory over Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate on Friday.

A crowd of 19,000 looked on, with Saracens performing as though they had never been away from English rugby’s elite arena.

Alex Lozowski leads the way

Fly-half Alex Lozowski, who spent last season on loan at French club Montpellier, kicked seven penalties – four of them from around the halfway line – and wing Alex Lewington crossed for a late Saracens try.

And they triumphed despite being without a five-strong British and Irish Lions contingent including the likes of Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell as they complete their mandatory 10-week stand-down period following the South Africa tour.

“We haven’t talked too much about coming back into the Premiership,” Saracens director of rugby McCall said.

“Obviously, we are delighted to be back, but we were also a bit unsure of where we are at. We haven’t played at this level for 12 months.

“I feel very proud. There was a collective energy, and it is magic to be part of as a coach.

“They get a gold star for unity and effort. We will get stronger as the year gets on, but it is only one game.

“We showed a lot of solidarity, and Alex was outstanding – he was incredible. He did that four years ago when he came to the club and Owen (Farrell) was unavailable.”

Bristol led 9-3 through three Callum Sheedy penalties approaching the interval, but they did not score a second-half point as Saracens ran away with it.

McCall added: “We regrouped after that first 20 minutes and I thought our second-half performance was superb.

“I am really pleased with how we handled the setbacks we had in the first 20 minutes and grew into the game and put them under more pressure.

“We talked about not worrying too much, as we knew we were playing against a very good side.”

Bristol – Premiership semi-finalists in each of the last two seasons – hoped to celebrate rugby director Pat Lam’s five-year contract extension that was announced on Friday in style, but Saracens had other ideas.

Lam said: “We missed chances, but you have to credit Saracens. They are back, and they hassled us right the way through.

“Everyone knows that’s why they are (title) favourites. They are back. They went down as the same group, and have come back again.

“We made too many mistakes. We just lost control in the 10 minutes before and after half-time and were chasing the game.

“It wasn’t to be, and we will move on.”

Chris Robshaw urges Eddie Jones to pick Marcus Smith

Meanwhile, former Harlequins and England captain Chris Robshaw feels it is time for England to expose Marcus Smith to the world’s best teams as Eddie Jones mulls over one of the biggest selection calls of his tenure as head coach.

Fly-half Smith made his Test bow against the USA at Twickenham in July and the day after facing Canada at the same venue one week later, the 22-year-old joined the British and Irish Lions squad in South Africa where he impressed in his only appearance against the Stormers in Cape Town.

With Owen Farrell and George Ford back in contention for England’s autumn Tests against Tonga, the Wallabies and the Springboks, Jones must decide whether Smith is ready to be entrusted with the playmaking duties over the more experienced duo.

 

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