Perhaps the days of Saracens as an Investec Champions Cup force are not quite as distant as they had seemed. Seven years on from their last European title, here was a scalp to savour, the hosts snarling with the attitude of old in a significant win over Toulouse.
Last week, director of rugby Mark McCall had read his side the riot act after a distinctly limp defeat to Leicester, lacking in the wolfpack mentality that had taken his team to three titles in four seasons in the inglorious glory years. Here, that mindset was back most forcefully as a cohesive collective overcame Antoine Dupont, Jack Willis et al to leave the hosts’ route to the latter stages more straightforward than that of their visitors.
A 20-14 win for Saracens takes them to third in Pool 1, with a chance to top the pool with a bonus-point victory at Glasgow next weekend. If Toulouse can attest to such a feat being far from straightforward, consecutive defeats for a presumed powerhouse has left Ugo Mola’s side with a top-two finish looking distant and progress at all not assured with a home fixture against Sale to come.
“The frustrating thing this year is that we haven’t been showing up in the manner we are accustomed to,” Saracens captain Maro Itoje reflected after a honesty meeting between players and staff in the week. “One thing about our team is that we are quite reflective and somewhat transparent. We didn’t hide, or skirt over any issues. We spoke about how we felt, where we are as a team and what we need to do to be better.
“There is no soft team that has won the Champions Cup. Every team that is successful has a grit and toughness about them. That is something we need to make sure we have as a team.”
If not a sermon of great quality or quantity to draw in the agnostics, this was the sort of old-school arm-wrestle that once made this competition loved through the land. The scheduling and weather had been unkind to the masses that traipsed to this sometime-quiet cathedral but they came in their droves, with a healthy Toulousain twang apparent beneath the Saracens chorus. The worst of this competition had been illustrated by an until-now unbeaten Stormers second-string having 61 points put on them by Harlequins earlier on Sunday – this was much, much better.
It is a mark of the riches that the visitors possess within their squad that they were without three starting international full-backs in Ange Capuozzo, Juan Cruz Mallia and Matias Remue and could still utilise the men likely to be filling the No 15 shirts for Scotland and France come the start of the Six Nations in a month’s time.
The temptation would be to say that Blair Kinghorn and Thomas Ramos were in playmaking partnership but the creative nucleus for Toulouse resides at No 9. Dupont has been back to his best in recent weeks after his long lay-off and tried plenty of flicks and tricks, some working, some less so. It was the trio together to create a first try that capped an opening quarter that the visitors had dominated in the swirling wind: Dupont to Ramos and on swiftly to an arriving Kinghorn, striding in untouched.
But even the greats have moments of mortality. There had been precious little for the Saracens fans to shout about in the cold and wet until Theo McFarland got his hands to a Dupont box kick, before employing his long limbs to scoop up the rubble that remained. A few phases later, Rotimi Segun was sent in to the left corner. The momentum shift might have been more pronounced had Alex Lozowski gathered a grubber from Fergus Burke after the fly half’s break from his own 22, but the 32-year-old soon made amends, sparking into space to set up Segun for a second.
When Tom Willis, who had earlier pantomimed a staged scuffle with elder brother Jack, punched over from close range, Saracens had extended their half-time advantage to 10 points. It felt necessary with the wind beginning to favour Toulouse, and it wasn’t long until Matthis Lebel narrowed the gap again.
Toulouse’s depth was evident but this was a Saracens squad containing the last three England captains and arguably the stronger of the benches. Owen Farrell and Ben Earl entered together on the 53rd minute – the former soon slotted a penalty – and their big-game nous, along with tireless captain Maro Itoje, proved key as the hosts played the conditions perfectly in the final 20 minutes. As Toulouse sought the try they needed without due care and attention, there was plenty on which the pack could feast as a statement win was secured.
Elsewhere, Salesi Rayasi’s hat-trick helped Bordeaux Begles to a 50-28 win over Northampton Saints in a repeat of last year’s final.
The defending champions powered away from their visitors to go top of Pool 4 despite a double from Henry Pollock, who was jeered by the home crowd after his heated clashes with the Bordeaux players during last season’s final in Cardiff.
Munster slipped to a 27-25 defeat in a hard-fought clash with Toulon at the Stade Felix-Mayol as Marius Domon struck a match-winning penalty five minutes from time, while Marcus Smith was to the fore in Harlequins’s 61-10 win over a Stormers side that rested almost all of their Springboks.
