1) McCall comes out fighting for homegrown heroes
Two seasons ago Mark McCall made 13 changes to his Saracens side for the trip to Kingston Park and they beat Newcastle 23-18. Last term he made six alterations and they won 25-23. Yesterday he made nine changes and the champions ran out winners 38-3, securing a bonus point with the final play. It showed the growing strength in depth of the north Londoners - and, as their ditrector of rugby was keen to point out, it suggested that there is much more to their success than financial clout. In his post-match press conference McCall ran through his starting XV, pointing out that ten of them were academy products: Jamie George, George Kruis, Maro Itoje, Will Fraser, Jackson Wray, Ben Spencer, Duncan Taylor, Nick Tompkins, Chris Wyles and Alex Goode. “It was a squad that was built in house,” he said. “I think we have a certain reputation and it’s sometimes underserved.” It transpired that McCall had been unimpressed by Dean Richards, his opposite number, referring to Saracens in his column in the match programme as “a frugally assembled star-studded side.” “I think he was being sarcastic,” McCall said. One thing is for sure: Sarries’ director of rugby has an expanding wealth of talent that any rival would envy. Simon Turnbull
2) Ford must increase focus to be Jones’ first-choice No10
So, who will be England’s starting fly-half for this season’s Six Nations? Not George Ford if he fails to improve on his off-key display at the Rec, notable for its forward passes, botched restarts and a match-turning interception pass. Owen Farrell has been benefiting from the purposeful Saracens pack in front of him and the coming weeks of European action will be significant for both players. Whatever happens, the number of non English-qualified 10s in the domestic league is slowly growing. Only two out of the 10 starting fly-halves – Ford and Sale’s Danny Cipriani – in the Premiership games played on Friday and Saturday were available to Eddie Jones, while Henry Slade’s unfortunate injury has narrowed England’s options further. Northampton, meanwhile, are looking forward to facing New Zealand’s World Cup-winning No10 Dan Carter when they tackle Racing 92 this weekend. Not many coaches publicly express a wish to see Carter in the opposition but the Saints’ director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, reckons the extra hype surrounding the All Black’s debut for the Parisians will take some of the pressure off his own side. Robert Kitson
3) Stuck in the middle with Quins
At 1.15pm on Saturday, the Harlequins squad strolled down the A316 as if in a scene from Reservoir Dogs. They’d just had a pre-heist meal at the hotel across the road, where Nice Guy Eddie and Mr Ritchie happened to be hanging out as well. It’s not known who picked up the bill. “Obviously the boys were doing a bit of brown nosing, going over to speak to Eddie. I was playing it cool …” said Mr Care, who organised the rendezvous. After the subsequent smash and grab at the Stoop (and London Irish really were smashed), Nice Guy Eddie was left alone in a room with a good cop. We probably won’t know how torturous the meeting was for Chris Robshaw until the book comes out. Nice Guy Eddie does have a reputation. If Robshaw suddenly starts taping up his ears, that’s a bad sign. Or maybe he’ll emerge from the room with that badge still pinned to his chest. Either way, let’s hope he’s put out of his misery. Michael Aylwin
4) Leicester pack forced Worcester to lose discipline
Leicester had only once before recovered from a 17-point deficit to win in the Premiership, at London Irish 16 years ago, and their fifth league victory in six rounds this season showed their old powers of durability. The Tigers have widened their game this season with Manu Tuilagi set to return after Christmas, but this was their first try bonus point on another day when they applied a stranglehold at forward. It was Worcester’s first home defeat of the season and their discipline buckled under the pressure exerted by Leicester’s pack. The Warriors received four yellow cards, two waved at the second row Donncha O’Callaghan who spent most of the second half on the sidelines, and they finished the match with 13 men. The two clubs have different ambitions: Leicester are set on the title after not being involved in the past two finals and have again become very hard to beat while Worcester’s target is survival and then consolidation as a Premiership club. Both are well on course. Paul Rees
5) Exeter are genuine title contenders
OK, there is a caveat here that Wasps were not at full strength on Saturday. But Wasps are a team who, on successive weekends, handed out absolute drubbings to Leinster and Toulon – teams who, between them have won six of the last seven, including the last five, European cups. Wasps are a damn fine team with a damn fine squad. And they took a battering on their home turf. Exeter showed all the characteristics of champions. They demolished their opponents in the opening quarter with a destructive forwards display. Jack Nowell scored one of the finest tries you will see in any competition this season, finishing off team move that showcased beauty all-too rarely glimpsed this season. Wasps came back though, rallying from 27-6 down to 27 apiece. The Chiefs sensed a dramatic comeback win; the visitors had no time for such romantic nonsense, smashing over for two more tries to ensure their opponents did not get a bonus point of their own. That they did this with an understrength pack of their own and while losing the electric Henry Slade to a horrific leg injury – let’s hope for everyone’s sake that he can make a speedy recovery – shows that they can now enter any game confident of winning. Dan Lucas
