The Feature Interview | Alex Lozowski
Alex Lozowski was honoured to be given the captaincy of the Saracens side for the first time in the Gallagher Premiership for the opening game of the season against Exeter Chiefs.
The centre has been skipper throughout the Premiership Rugby Cup campaign and then for the trip to Sandy Park, which he admitted made for a challenging review.
“It was a long journey home after that result, Sunday was pretty bleak and there were a few home truths in training on the Monday,” he admitted.
“But that result is now dead and buried. The good thing about professional sport is that you get a chance to right the wrongs very quickly and our focus switched almost immediately.
And that’s the thing. While there has been some tough talk about the performance at Exeter, Lozowski also admits he has reminded his teammates they are the reigning champions. Two results doesn’t define a season – the best is still to come.
“It has been a different pre-season for those players who were left behind during the World Cup. Four years ago, we had a much older group preparing for the new season,” he said.
“This time we were left largely with a much younger and inexperienced group. While we are all very excited and confident about what they will be able to deliver in the future, it can be difficult to start with when so many are thrown into the deep end together.
“The one thing you know is that what happened in Exeter will have been character building. I also know that in years to come they will all have forgotten about it.
“I remember being a young player at Wasps and coming to Saracens in 2016 and winning by a mile. We thought we’d cracked it, yet at the end of the season it was the ‘Men in Black’ who were celebrating a ‘double’ success – we’d enjoyed a brief moment of glory, but they carried off all the prizes!”
If the price of heading to Sandy Park, and other places, over recent weeks was the success of the England team at the Rugby World Cup in France, then Lozowski is pleased to have paid it.
“It has been great seeing so many Saracens playing for various nations at the World Cup. We had Theo McFarland and Marco Riccioni back with us last week and a few more have appeared since,” he added.
“We’ve been following them all and it has been brilliant watching the way England have gone about their business.
“There are seven Sarries boys in there and many of them have been real leaders for their country. Their collective experience– Owen, Jamie, Maro, and Billy in particular have been there, done it when it matters most and own all the T-shirts.
“Their big match experience from winning big Premiership and European finals, as well as reaching the last World Cup final and earning Six Nations titles, will be huge.”
