Brad Barritt: Last year’s win must kick us on

Ask any professional sportsman and they will tell you sometimes the hardest achievement is not becoming champions but having the will to do it over and over again.

It is what separates your stars from your superstars, your Leicester City from your Manchester United, your Buster Douglas from your Muhammad Ali.

And for Saracens that task of climbing the mountain again just after you have reached the summit is exactly the challenge ahead of them this year.

Last season heralded unprecedented success for the club as they became the first English side since Wasps in 2004 to complete a domestic and European double.

After years of near misses, it was that triumph in the Champions Cup that was particularly sweet for the squad.

In 2013 and 2015 Saracens had been semi- finalists, while 2014 saw them come up just short in the final. At last, in 2016, they had their hands on the trophy.

But now, as they begin the defence of their crown against Toulon today, captain Brad Barritt has told his players last season’s triumph must be nothing more than inspiration to go again.

“Winning the competition is an immensely proud memory,” said Barritt.

“It was so important to a group of people who had been on a journey for three or four seasons when we were so close but kept on improving. It was so satisfying to finally lift the trophy. Our victory has to inspire us and help kick us on to go again.

"It’s a fresh chapter and nothing will be handed to us on a plate. We will have to work even harder than the year before to get anywhere close to last year. We know how important these fixtures are and starting away at Toulon is a really exciting prospect.

"We achieved our dream last season by winning the Champions Cup. We know it is going to be desperately hard to replicate that this season, but that’s the goal.”

Barritt’s belief that this year’s competition will be difficult for the defending champions certainly seems understandable when you look at their Pool 3 opponents.

French side Toulon, winners of the Champions Cup three times in a row before Saracens stole their crown last season, will fight them for top spot. Sale Sharks and Scarlets, meanwhile, make for challenging away trips.

It is why director of rugby Mark McCall is not thinking about last season’s historic campaign, where his side became the first team to win all nine games in the tournament on their way to becoming champions.

Instead, he has told his players to call upon all their experiences in the Champions Cup and remember just how vital every result is when you are faced with a tough pool.

“What we learned over the past three or four years in the competitions is how important every point is,” said McCall.

“The two years before last year, we scraped into the play-off stages by coming eighth both times. So you have got to fight for every point and we have done that well over the last three years. We were good in the qualifying rounds in the last four years, but it is complex to do that.”

A win over Aviva Premiership title rivals Wasps last week has Saracens back at the summit of the English top flight and supporters will no doubt be dreaming of yet more honours this season.

First, though, there is the small matter of a trip to Toulon and if there is any doubt among McCall’s men at how hard it will be to retain their European crown, this will remind them.

“Nothing concentrates the mind quite like having to go to Toulon to play your first game as champions,” added McCall.

“It’s a new competition with a brand new dynamic, we’ve got a tough pool which we are going to do everything to emerge from, and that’s our focus.

“It will be a really exciting occasion to go to Toulon because most of our players have never played there.

“It’s one of the great grounds in Europe and we’ve got a group of guys who relish going to these places and playing on the big stage.”