McCall hails great display from Saracens in victory over Gloucester
Saracens head coach Mark McCall (pic: Andrew Matthews/PA) - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Sarries enjoyed a 38-15 victory at home to West Country club in Gallagher Premiership fixture
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall felt his side delivered their best display of the season so far in beating Gloucester 38-15 in the Gallagher Premiership.
Maro Itoje scored a brace of tries for the north Londoners in the win, while David Strettle, Sean Maitland and Alex Lozowski also dotted down.
Owen Farrell, meanwhile, had a perfect day with the boot and added 13 points from the tee without missing a kick.
The victory maintained Sarries’ perfect start to the campaign and McCall expressed his delight with his team’s latest performance.
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“I thought last weekend against Northampton Saints, we had made a step in the right direction physically and our intensity was much better than it had been in the previous two games,” he said.
“We felt we were a bit in-and-out of it in the Northampton game and weren’t persistent enough with that.
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“I thought we were more persistent with that against Gloucester, especially in the first 25 minutes of the second half when we played into a strong wind.
“I felt like we were had control of the ball and field position. That part of the game was probably most pleasing.”
As well as contributing 18 points from the tee, Farrell enjoyed a superb game at fly-half as he pulled the strings for the hosts.
Much was made in the build-up of the battle at number 10 between Farrell and fellow England international Danny Cipriani, who has been left out of the national team’s squad for their upcoming training camp.
It was Farrell, however, who came out on top and McCall had special praise for his key player.
“Owen was incredibly influential. It wasn’t just his skillset, his passing and his kicking; it was the physical tone he set,” he added.
“Physically, he was incredible against Gloucester. We listened to the ref mic and vocally he was off the charts.
“He’s an incredible who adds in every way. It’s not just his skillset, it’s emotionally and physically as well with how he threw himself into contact.”