Back at the top: Saracens lead the Premiership and return to Champions Cup action this weekend
(Picture: Getty Images)Saracens have 35 months’ worth of jealousy to vent on the Champions Cup this weekend.
The Men in Black are back at club rugby’s top table for the first time in nearly three years, with everyone in Barnet having had to watch longingly from afar.
Saracens will host Edinburgh on Sunday in their first Champions Cup clash since falling agonisingly short in a 27-24 defeat to Racing 92 on January 19, 2020.
Mark McCall’s men have been through the mill since, taking their relegation medicine, powering back to the Premiership’s sharp-end, and dealing with Covid like everyone else.
For a team that won this tournament in 2016, 2017 and 2019, embarking on an entirely fresh start in the competition remains a jarring reality – but not one that rugby director McCall and his players are about to waste.
“This is our first pool match in the Champions Cup for 35 months,” said McCall. “Our last pool match in the competition was against Racing at StoneX, a few days after relegation had been confirmed. It’s a long wait, but we’re very grateful to be back.
“It feels very much like a new competition for us, we haven’t played in this format before, but we’re really looking forward to getting stuck into it. During those 35 months, there’s a little bit of envy to watch some of the games, it’s such a magnificent competition.
“In lots of ways the competition has maybe shaped our club I think, and maybe some of the people in it. We’ve got players here who were playing in 2011, 2012, and in those days we had to suffer a little bit, to get out of the group first of all.
“We lost a quarter-final in 2012, we lost a semi-final in 2013, and then we lost the final 2014, and you’ve got to earn your spurs in this competition, there’s so many good teams.
“And it’s probably a new journey for us now, with a slightly different team, but still exciting all the same.”
Captain Owen Farrell leads the raft of international stars returning to Saracens action to take on their Scottish guests this weekend, in an imposing 23.
Saracens top the Premiership with an unblemished nine wins from nine matches, but McCall knows full well the difference in intensity and focus that will be required at StoneX Stadium on Sunday.
“We haven’t had a game for three weeks, and our international players have been away longer than that,” he said. “So it’s been really important to get everyone back in and get some cohesion and rhythm back in the team.
“Just historically for us, I can’t speak more highly of our international players, they’ve always bounced back into the club after a Test window, they’ve always been superb at doing that. But after the campaign they had, a week off was really important for them all.
“Probably the most important thing is to just keep things simple, not overcomplicate it, when they are coming back into a week like this.
“But then, things haven’t changed in terms of what we’re getting after while they’ve been away, so I’m pretty sure they’ll be able to hit the ground running.”
