Mark McCall is not a coach prone to hyperbole, the Saracens boss more often keen to dampen enthusiasm than fan the flames of public clamour. But even the softly-spoken Northern Irishman could not resist a healthy heap of praise for Noah Caluori after watching the wing score five tries against Sale for a second time this season. “I think that’s one of the better wing performances in the Premiership that I have seen to be honest, for a long time, and I have seen a lot,” McCall effused. “We have had Ashy [Chris Ashton], Sean Maitland and David Strettle at the club, but I am not sure I have seen as much from one player in one game, albeit it was a game that blew out.”
As McCall hints, there are reasons to mitigate against such grand proclamations, with Sale meek and meagre on their way to a record defeat, but it is hard to see Caluori as anything other than a rapidly budding superstar. It was not just the five tries - though they alone would be enough to hit the headlines - but a composed all-around performance that saw the teenager lay on another for a teammate and display the freakish aerial excellence that immediately catches the eye. McCall, his director of rugby, had tempered expectations on the youngster after his first five-star shredding of the Sharks in October; not so now.
