The ‘encouraging thing’ fuelling Saracens for their away semi-final; Mark McCall believes Saracens are ready to challenge Northampton in this Friday’s semi-final after some really good performances on the road in the Gallagher Premiership this season. The London club lost at Franklins Gardens nine weeks ago when they last went, finishing second best on a 30-41 scoreline.
They stumbled in the play-offs, losing 10–20 to Sale at Stonex Stadium on the final day of the regular season, losing possession in the home semi-finals.
The ‘encouraging thing’ fuelling Saracens for their away semi-final in 2024 .
The defeat dropped them from second to fourth in the table, forcing them to play this weekend without hosting a knockout match in London.
However, despite their lack of domestic relief to reach a third consecutive Premiership final, McCall suggested his defending champions have shown enough flash on their travels this season to make their trip to the table-toppers a winnable game.
The ‘encouraging thing’ fuelling Saracens for their away semi-final in 2024.
Saracens have won five of their nine regular season matches away from home, including run-in wins at Bath and Bristol, fueling their belief that they can now topple Northampton.
The ‘encouraging thing’ fuelling Saracens for their away semi-final in 2024 .
“The interesting thing for us this year is the gap between our best and our worst,” he said. “I can’t tell what it’s like. We have talked about this for the last 10 days, we are a team that can perform at a very high level. We have shown it five-six times this year.
“Surprisingly, most of them were away from home. The Kings are home without our World Cup players. Ashton Gate. Rec. So we’ve had some really good performances on the road. That’s the encouraging thing about that performance.
The ‘encouraging thing’ fuelling Saracens for their away semi-final in 2024 .
“So we talked a bit about the factors that allowed that to happen as opposed to what we showed as a team against Sale… It was good to have a two-week lead-in to the game, especially the way we played.
“While this is our 13th Premiership semi-final since 2010, which is a record we can be proud of, it feels like a first. That kind of excitement around the place, that kind of anticipation and it’s really good.”