Champions Cup: Reports of Saracens demise an exaggeration

Saracens have been written off as well as relegated this season... Yet here they are very much alive and kicking

Leinster forwards coach Robin McBryde: '(Saracens) will miss Owen but they'll do their best to turn it into their favour as well'. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

There are various versions of the famous line from Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, when word reached him in London that his obituary had been printed in an American newspaper. “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” Clemens cabled to his homeland but whatever quote you may be familiar with, it boils down to the bald fact he wasn’t dead.

Saracens have been written off as well as relegated this season following their 40-point deduction for breaches of the English Premiership salary cap regulations. Players of the calibre of George Kruis, Ben Spencer, Will Skelton, and Liam Williams have departed and six others shipped out on loan with Saracens' demise widely reported.