Sarries legend to retire from professional game following Saturday’s play-off final

Saracens back Chris Wyles hopes to end his professional career on a high by winning the Avivia Premiership on Saturday.

The former USA international will retire from professional rugby after the play-off final against Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham Stadium this weekend.

The 34-year-old has enjoyed a glittering 10-year stint with Sarries, having already won three Aviva Premierships and two European Champions Cups.

Wyles was one of six different try scorers for the north Londoners last weekend as they beat Wasps 57-33 in a thrilling play-off semi-final at Allianz Park.

That victory set up a meeting with number one seeds Chiefs this weekend, and Wyles will hope to add one final medal to his collection before retiring.

However, the experienced back is opting to focus on the final itself, rather than the significance of the final to him personally.

“I’m just really excited about next week and I’m not trying to think whether it was my last game or not,” he told the club website.

Alex Lozowski, Vincent Koch, Wyles, Juan Figallo, Maro Itoje and Ben Spencer all dotted down for Saracens against Wasps, with Owen Farrell adding 27 points with the boot.

By scoring against Wasps, Wyles marked his final game for Sarries at Allianz Park in perfect style.

But the wing admits he wished he scored a little later in the game so that he could have celebrated it in a unique way.

He added: “It was nice to get a try in the corner. I was giving it the ‘biggen’ before the game saying I was going to grab a pint if I scored, but it was too early in the game!

“I was hoping to grab one later, then I would have jumped over and had one!”

The win saw Saracens through to a third Aviva Premiership final in the last four seasons, but Wyles is aware there are areas that need work ahead of facing Exeter.

“It was a great feeling overall in the game; defensively we let ourselves down at times, but they’re an extremely good attacking team, especially on that pitch,” he said.

“There are things to look at defensively, but the atmosphere we created amongst the squad, the vibe and the emotion we put into the game was awesome and I think we need to draw on that next week.”