Should Saracens complete a second domestic and European double in four seasons it will be time to ask a simple question: has English rugby union ever seen a better club side or one that, with each passing year, have so consistently upped the ante? Several good judges are already convinced, before Saturday’s Premiership final, that the domestic game has never seen the like.
Few would necessarily guess as much on arrival at Saracens’ training base in St Albans. An ice-cream van was doing a brisk trade beside the training pitch before their Champions Cup final against Leinster; this week no flags fluttered from any of the three flagpoles outside the Old Albanian pavilion. Upstairs, the main bar area where the squad eat is not remotely flashy. The secret, as with most successful organisations, lies not in grandiose surroundings but in the quality of the people involved.
Bath, Leicester and Wasps in their respective heydays all used to operate similarly: the no-frills ordinariness of their midweek environments in Lambridge, Oadby and Acton was a badge of honour. The difference lies in how Saracens treat their employees: they always go the extra mile – at least one former player is still receiving contributions towards his property costs seven years after his retirement – for those who give their all to the club in return.
It breeds such a thick, armour-plated layer of shared confidence that someone such as Maro Itoje can casually fold his arms – his biceps are big enough to have their own postcode – and pronounce, without any false bravado, that it will take something special to deny Saracens at this time of the year.
The England forward’s succinct analysis – “We have got a lot of confidence in what we are about; this is not going to be a new experience for us and we are extremely confident of what we can put out there” – almost sounds like a Nasa scientist outlining developments in deep-space exploration.
It is certainly becoming clear that both Saracens and Itoje want to boldly go where no one else has yet been. Four Premiership crowns in five years would rank high among the most dominant periods in English league history – Bath’s five titles in six years in the amateur era between 1989 and 1994 remains the gold standard – even before three European titles in four years are added to the equation.
How interesting, then, that Itoje – only 24 years of age – and his director of rugby, Mark McCall, sense the best of times remain ahead. “We feel we’ve had a period of real growth in the last couple of months,” says McCall, his intense blue eyes softening fractionally. “We’ve had four big games and all of them have thrown different things at us which we probably weren’t quite expecting. One of the most pleasing things is that the group have responded to everything.”
The games to which he is referring – the European knockout ties with Glasgow, Munster and Leinster plus last weekend’s semi-final victory over Gloucester – have indeed been eye-catching. In what are traditionally tense contests, Saracens have averaged 38 points per game, scoring 17 tries and conceding a mere eight.
The number of less starry team members playing out of their skins – Alex Lozowski, Jackson Wray, Ben Spencer, Nick Tompkins – has been complementing the already sky-high standards set by Itoje, George Kruis, Alex Goode and Owen Farrell, among others.
“Exeter are here for a reason – they’re a good side – but we’ve grown tremendously in terms of character, resilience and how we want to play,” Itoje says. “We’re also in pretty good physical condition.”
It is certainly the case that Itoje looks in fine nick: his mid-season injury absences were painful at the time but have left him fresher than he might otherwise have been. Just as noticeable, though, is the general air of mental certainty, with Saracens’ coaches having latterly opted to hand the players more control of their own destiny.
“More and more we are giving the players a genuine say in how the week runs and not predetermining things ourselves,” McCall says. “It’s very easy for a coaching staff to do all the work but we have tried to get away from that and include the players in our plans. They have been brilliant. It requires more work from them but we think it gives them way more ownership.”
Not every club is so grown up but, listening to Itoje, it becomes instantly apparent why his coaches feel it is the way to go. “The mindset of a lot of the players at this club is that we want to win everything, whatever it is. We want to fight on all fronts. Even if it is a summer sevens competition, we want to compete and get it all.
“We were in this position two years ago and fell short. Saturday will be a good test of the character of the squad and to see how far we’ve actually come. If we can get the job done that will be another chapter we can add to the book of our memories at the club.”
Itoje’s other major motivational message – “Physicality is all about mentality. It’s all about desire. If you want to be physical you will be, if you don’t it’ll show” – merely underlines the competitive culture that makes Saracens such suffocating opponents.
It is not deliberate but, after Itoje has finished holding court, the even larger Will Skelton ducks under the door frame, his size 19 feet wedged into sandals so huge you could waterski on them. For all Saracens’ skill levels, experience, mental agility and ambition, it is possible sometimes to overlook the obvious: few can match the thunderous musclepower that propels the juggernaut.
In the past, once Itoje or the Vunipola brothers had crunched into contact and blasted opponents in all directions, defenders could console themselves the worst was potentially over. Now they look up and find their ultimate nightmare charging at them.
Horribly powerful, fiercely driven, relentlessly organised, tightly bonded: it is a rare, daunting package. If Exeter can slay this formidable hydra it will rank among the more notable Twickenham victories of the modern age.
