‘Coming of age’ display puts Sarries in control, says McCall

Saracens boss Mark McCall said his side had ‘come of age’ after beating Munster to put themselves in charge of Heineken Cup Pool One.

The English champions of 2011 know that victory over Edinburgh and Racing Metro is certain to secure their place in the quarter-finals for the second successive season – leaving Munster to hope they secure one of the best runner-up spots.

McCall highlighted the period of pressure Saracens survived after Will Fraser was shown a yellow card as key, with Ronan O’Gara missing a drop-goal attempt after Munster went through the phases in the hosts’ 22 also a highly significant moment.

“We hope that is a coming-of-age performance for us, as that was a tough European night against someone with the class of Ronan O’Gara,” said McCall.

“These games are always swings and roundabouts, but we felt we had the better of things in the first-half.

“They scored an intercept try but we respond well to setbacks and are made of strong stuff.

“I thought our performance had a bit of everything, there were times when we played a lot of good stuff.

“We had to dig in and fight, especially in that period when we had 14 men and had to defend in our own 22. We showed great character and spirit.”

Yet McCall refused to get carried away, insisting his team still have a huge amount to do to reach the last eight. “After four games you want things in your own hands. But we have to go to Racing, who are right in contention.

“They then have to go to Thomond Park, so there are twists and turns potentially. But it’s in our own hands and if we win twice we are through.”

And McCall paid tribute to scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth, who was visibly emotional during a minute’s silence for his former Sale team-mate David Tait, who died last week.

“It’s tragic what happened to David, and Richard was emotional before the game,” said McCall.