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Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall believes his side still have plenty of room for improvement as they look to continue their unbeaten start to their European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 1 campaign. - 15/12/2015 14:15
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall believes his side still have plenty of room for improvement as they look to continue their unbeaten start to their European Rugby Champions Cup Pool 1 campaign.
The Aviva Premiership champions racked up their third-straight win as they defeated tournament newcomers Oyonnax 45-10 at Stade Charles Mathon last weekend.
The two sides will face off again at Allianz Park this weekend with Saracens looking for a repeat of their emphatic six-try bonus-point success across the Channel.
But former Ulster boss McCall has warned his side he expects to see an improved performance, having felt that areas of Saracens’ game were not up to scratch in the first part of the double-header.
McCall also suggested he may look to rotate his squad for the return fixture with a busy festive period of domestic duties and the final rounds of European pool stage action looming large on the horizon.
“The performance in France was a mixed one in truth,” said McCall. “When we were good, we were very good, although we had a 25-minute period in the beginning of the match where we did not really leave our own half because of our own ill-discipline, but when we got in their half we were very clinical and scored some nice tries.
“However, we allowed things to drift a bit once we got the bonus point and it means there are things we will need to work on for the return game. We have competition for places that allows us to rotate and keep our squad fresh as the big games keep on coming.”
For Oyonnax it will be about putting in a competitive showing, and director of rugby Olivier Azam believes his side will benefit from being exposed to the highest level of European competition.
“For sure this is something new for us, we have not been in this competition before and we have faced a very good team in Saracens,” said the former Gloucester hooker.
“Our players will have learnt a lot from playing against a side like that and helping us adapt to the demands of the tournament and we will look to show some improvement in the rematch.”
Match Facts
- Saracens haven’t won four consecutive pool matches in a single Champions Cup campaign since 2011/12.
- Saracens have won 10 of their last 11 matches at home in the Champions Cup, averaging 35 points per game in this run.
- This will be Oyonnax’s first Champions Cup match outside of France after playing their first away match at Stade Ernest Wallon against Toulouse.
- Oyonnax have never won a European fixture in England, losing all three Challenge Cup ties they have played there by an aggregate score of 30-106.
Comme la semaine dernière
Chris Ashton’s hat-trick put the seal on an emphatic win for Saracens that moved them even further ahead of the rest in Pool 1 of the Champions Cup.
Ashton scored the first and last of his team’s eight tries at Allianz Park. And that was enough to see the England wing overtake former British & Irish Lion Dafydd James for third place in the list of all-time top try-scorers in the Champions Cup.
Only Vincent Clerc (36) of Toulouse and Brian O’Driscoll (33) have crossed the whitewash more times than Ashton in Europe’s premier club tournament. Samuela Vunisa scored tries either side of half-time that effectively settled the tie.
That was before Alex Goode, Mike Ellery and Jamie George all followed in the rout as Saracens moved 14 points clear of Ulster in Pool One. A week earlier, Saracens continued their unbeaten season against Oyonnax at Stade Carles Mathon.
And Ashton made sure they began in similar style at Allianz Park with his team’s first two tries. Neil De Kock, Brad Barritt and Goode combined for his first on nine minutes after Kelly Brown stole a French lineout close to the try line.
Ashton saw a second ruled out for a forward pass from George. But there was no question just moments later when he raced onto Owen Farrell’s neat kick. Regis Lespinas responded with two penalties for Oyonnax. But Vunisa finished a lineout drive to claim his first European try for Saracens on the stroke of half-time.
Vunisa then got his second from an exact copy of the first to earn Saracens a bonus point just three minutes after the break. Goode and Ellery then crossed in the space of four minutes as Saracens broke clear.
Goode sped through four defenders and slid over.
Ellery then picked off a pass on half-way and raced clear for his first European try. Farrell’s conversion took Saracens past 40 points before he was replaced by Charlie Hodgson and the former England fly-half made an immediate impact.
His flat pass sent George storming over on the hour. But Hodgson then saw a similar delivery picked off by Fetu’u Vainikolo to claim Oyonnax’s only try.
But there was still time for Ashton to clinch his first hat-trick in the Champions Cup after latching onto a clever kick from Richard Wigglesworth.
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