McCall: Win over Bristol gives us plenty to build on

Director of Rugby Mark McCall said the win over Bristol on Friday night has given his side plenty to build on as Saracens Men got off to the perfect start at Ashton Gate. 

The Men in Black overturned a 9-3 deficit early in the first half and left with a hard-fought 26-9 triumph, a win which was built on the foundations of a strong defence in a disciplined display.

McCall was pleased with how the North Londoners stayed calm in the early stages and regained control of the match.

“We’re really pleased with that result. I thought in the first 20 minutes we were a rusty, we were second best in most areas and gave away a few too many penalties but the great thing is that we didn’t let that affect us.”

He continued: “After that we grew in to the game and were able to apply our pressure. We had a bit of momentum towards half time and had turned things around, and then the second half was really strong.”

Seven penalties from the boot of Alex Lozowski ensured that Sarries pulled away from their opponents, and a large number of those three-pointers came courtesy of the famed defence which was forcing huge pressure on the Bears. 

“We defended well against one of the best attacking teams in the league and were well disciplined. What we saw was effort, togetherness and unity, we saw a united team who fought and scrapped together and we can now build on that moving forward.” Said McCall. 

The future looks bright for Sarries with a number of players impressing in the curtain raiser, which in particular made the former Ireland international delighted. 

"For a lot of our younger players, the likes of Rotimi, Dom and Elliott this is a great opportunity to play and they were phenomenal. The more they play in games like this, the better it is for them and also the club in the long term.”

Sarries now have a bye weekend in the Premiership, but the Storm welcome Ealing Trailfinders to StoneX Stadium on Friday evening with more game time up for grabs.