‘Our senior players were magnificent’ – Mark McCall

Adam Kyriacou

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall hailed his team’s character after they overcame the Ospreys 22-15, despite having a player sent-off.

Victory kept alive their Champions Cup quarter-final hopes and they can seal their passage with a home victory over Racing 92 next weekend.

Wales prop Rhys Carre was red carded in the fifth minute and Saracens even went down to 13 men for a spell when Calum Clark was sin-binned.

But 17 points from teenage fly-half Manu Vunipola and an Alex Lewington try saw them to the four points, with McCall praising his players.

“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 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.

“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.”

Champions Cup