PRESS NOTES | Mark McCall Pre-Newcastle

Director of Rugby Mark McCall is expecting a tough challenge as Saracens Men restart their Gallagher Premiership campaign with a trip to Newcastle Falcons.

As The Men in Black enter the festive period McCall has his eyes set on Friday’s fixture with the Falcons.

“It’ll be a tough encounter; we always have good fixtures up there. They’re on a good run of form and have managed to keep continuity with the majority of their squad across the international break whereas we haven’t had that luxury.”

Off the back of the Premiership Cup campaign that saw Saracens win two out of their three encounters against London opposition, McCall believes the competition has put the squad in a good place for the remainder of the campaign.

“The Cup allowed for us to give different players the chance to wear the shirt. We were able to blend a young group with some older players coming back from injury. Heading into long blocks like this we know we’ll need more than 23 players, so it allows us to keep the whole squad sharp and prepared.”

One notable omission as of late has been Alex Goode, with the club having confirmed he’ll be out for 10-12 weeks. However, with the arrival of Liam Williams imminent at the StoneX Stadium, McCall is happy with the experience the Welshman will bring.

“We expect Alex to be out for some time, he’s had an operation on his quad which may seem him sidelined for a while. Luckily, we found out that Liam was available and to get someone of his experience back into the fold was important.

We have a lot of young back three players at the club that will value his input on and off the field, he can cover a multitude of positions and knows the club already so we’re fortunate to have him in.”

With the Autumn Nations Series featuring over a dozen Saracens representatives across five nations, McCall stressed the importance of phasing players back in after a bruising November Test Internationals.

“A lot of our group have obviously had significant parts to play across the last few weeks at international level. We as a club are very conscious of that and will phase them back in as and when. That being said, there are some internationals who are ready for this weekend so we’re monitoring their progress in training ahead of the Newcastle game.”

Saracens return to the StoneX Stadium in a fortnight to face Vodacom Bulls kicking off their European campaign in style. With tickets selling fast, secure your seat here.