Saracens 35

Sale 25

SARACENS ARE BACK on top of English rugby and Mark McCall is celebrating his sixth Premiership title with the club.

In reality, the 55-year-old Irishman isn’t known for celebrating. He’s a reserved character in the public eye but he’s a real force behind the scenes. McCall has driven Saracens to consistent success and they’re now Premiership champions for the first time since 2019.

Of course, they were out of the top-tier spotlight briefly. Relegated from the Premiership in 2020 for repeated breaches of the salary cap, Sarries had to spend a season in the Championship before bouncing straight up.

McCall’s men were back in the Premiership final last season at the first time of asking but suffered heartbreak as Steve Borthwick’s Leicester pipped them to the crown.

This season, McCall’s side have shown a slightly different side to themselves, retaining possession more often, playing at a higher tempo, and encouraging their players to showcase the full array of their attacking skills. 

It has led to their sixth Premiership title under McCall, with a 35-25 win over Sale Sharks at a sun-soaked Twickenham this afternoon enough to secure the trophy.

While McCall’s previous titles will be tainted in many people’s eyes, he has also won the Heineken Champions Cup three times with Saracens. There was no salary cap for those tournaments.

McCall won 13 caps for Ireland in midfield before being forced to retire in his early 30s due to injury. He made the move into coaching with the Ireland U21s and Ireland A, while he became an assistant with his native Ulster.

In 2004, he took on the top job with the northern province and guided them to a Celtic Cup success two years later. But things unravelled from there and McCall had resigned by November 2007.

McCall moved on to French side Castres with fellow Ulsterman Jeremy Davidson and then shifted to Saracens in 2009, initially as an assistant coach. When Brendan Venter left during the 2010/11 season, McCall took over as director of rugby.

His first Premiership title came that season and now he has his sixth. McCall guided Saracens to European glory in 2016, 2017, and 2019 when they beat Leinster in the final at St James’ Park in Newcastle.

The club’s fall during the 2019/20 season was mighty and they were relegated into the Championship but McCall was never going anywhere. Sarries hammered Ealing Trailfinders in the two-legged promotion final and then quickly reestablished themselves as a leading side on their return to the Premiership.

Having finished top of the regular season table in this campaign, Saracens sealed the deal with a deserved win over Alex Sanderson’s Sale Sharks at Twickenham. 

A first-half penalty try that saw Sale flanker Tom Curry sin-binned got Saracens properly up and running, while Max Malins scored off a lovely Owen Farrell pass to help McCall’s men into a 20-13 lead at half-time.

Sale did nudge ahead briefly in the second half thanks to tries from Acker van der Merwe and Tom Roebuck, and Bevan Rodd, but Saracens showed their mettle to take control in the final quarter.

Wing Elliot Daly and scrum-half Ivan van Zy scored tries in that period to get Saracens over the line, with Farrell contributing 13 points from the tee.

The English side will celebrate their return to the summit of English rugby but they will also have big ambitions looking into next season, particularly in the Champions Cup. Sarries reached the quarter-finals this season but were well beaten by La Rochelle, the eventual champions.

McCall, who is contracted until 2025, is a serial winner and his relentless pursuit of success means Saracens could be heading into a new period of dominance in English rugby.

He is loved by his players, having put a major focus on creating a family atmosphere within the squad and ensuring players’ actual families are well taken care of. 

He has also shown this season that he is tactically flexible, with Saracens broadening their attacking palate. Sale’s journey to this final has been impressive, but Sarries are champions.

McCall continues to be a huge success.

Get instant updates on your province on The 42 app. With Laya Healthcare, official health and wellbeing partner to Leinster, Munster and Connacht Rugby.