‘We can hold our heads up high’ – McCall

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall thanked his team for a "season to be proud of" after they went down to Exeter Chiefs on Saturday.

The European champions lost 18-16 at Sandy Park as a late try from replacement number eight Sam Simmonds saw the home side prevail.

Chris Wyles and Mike Ellery claimed tries for Saracens but they were narrowly beaten in the end as their campaign comes to a sudden halt.

"The first thing to do is to say well done to Exeter and wish them all the best for next week, to reach the final two consecutive years is tremendous for them and a brilliant end to their season," McCall told Saracens' website after the loss.

"It was a funny game and I thought we were pretty good for 20 minutes and had a lot of opportunities in terms of set pieces five metres from their try-line in the first 20 minutes but came away with relatively little and in the next 20 minutes we were second best."

He said on his team's performance: "What I’m most proud about is what happened in the second-half because we conceded early in the second half and I think a lot of teams then just fold.

"But we kept on fighting and kept on scrapping and kept on battling away to stay in the contest and give ourselves opportunities and even after we’d taken the lead with six minutes left on the clock we played them to perfection and showed all of our experience.

"I want to thank all the players, like every club we have stuff to contend with during the year be it injuries or whatever it is but I think we can hold our heads up high after a season to be proud of.

"If Henry Slade had put that kick anywhere else then I’d be stood here talking about one of the great wins and great fights from a team who were a little bit tired, we can be unbelievably proud of the qualities we showed in that second half."