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Mako: Why 'wanting to prove people wrong' hurt Saracens last year

By PA
(Photo by Ben Whitley/PA Images via Getty Images)

Mako Vunipola feels that Saracens have not allowed themselves to be affected by external noise this season ahead of their ninth Gallagher Premiership final appearance. The London club return to Twickenham next week, where Sale will stand between them and a sixth title of the Premiership era.

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Saracens were last crowned English champions in 2019 and they have since spent a season in the Championship after being relegated for persistent salary cap breaches.

They teed up a dream finale to their first campaign back in the top flight last term by contesting domestic silverware with Leicester. But the Tigers bit them, winning 15-12 thanks to a Freddie Burns drop goal during the nerve-shredding closing stages of a gripping final.

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Maro Itoje | All Access | Episode 2 – What is it like playing for Saracens rugby club?

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Maro Itoje | All Access | Episode 2 – What is it like playing for Saracens rugby club?

Jim Hamilton sits down with Vitality ambassador and former teammate Maro Itoje before he jets off to South Africa for the British & Irish Lions Series.
The Saracens lock told us all about Saracens rugby club and the defining effect it has had on his rugby career.

“Last year we probably focused too much on the things outside, worrying about what people were saying and wanting to prove them wrong,” Saracens and England prop Vunipola said.

“It probably got to that we didn’t actually enjoy the occasion. We didn’t throw a punch in the final, and that is credit to Leicester – they didn’t let us throw a punch.

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“This year, we have just been trying to improve game by game, probably a little bit more focused on ourselves and what we can control, rather than worry (about) outside. You get emotion spikes in big games, and we have to be able to control that, make sure we channel it in the right way and put it towards our rugby.

“Last year, we didn’t really fire a shot, and that was down to Leicester being able to dictate the way the game went. We weren’t able to attack because we didn’t work hard enough or we didn’t adjust well enough. Hopefully, we can do that this time.”

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While Saracens have been regular Twickenham visitors over the past dozen seasons, Sale are through to their first Premiership final since 2006 when players like Jason Robinson, Charlie Hodgson and Sebastien Chabal ruled the roost.

A pivotal part of Sale’s resurgence has been rugby director Alex Sanderson, who was previously key to Saracens’ success in a revered coaching team led by Mark McCall.

Vunipola added: “Me and Alex started working together when I was 16 or 17. He was the first one who kind of gave me a shot with the age-group stuff and gave me a bit of confidence that I could play at the highest level.

“To work with him at Saracens for so long was a privilege. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and you see that. We always knew here at the club how special he is as a coach and a person.

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“And we knew if he did the same at Sale then success would come to them as a team, whether that was finishing higher in the league or the players enjoying what they are doing.

“Having been around a lot of them at England camps, they can’t speak highly enough of Al and what he has done. We know that Sale will be pumped for it, we know they will have a plan, and a lot of that will be down to the work he does with the leaders they have there at Sale.”

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takata 1 hour ago
Can Les Bleus avoid a Black-wash in New Zealand?

Please, tell me who exactly are all those millionaires owning the Top 14?


And, by the way, can you tell me who are also those that ever transformed a single French club into their cash cow?


It’s probably an old cliché comming from, some time ago in early pro time, the revival of both Ile-de-France clubs by private investors like J. Lorenzetti at Racing 92, or the rise of Toulon’s “Gallacticos” under Mourad Boudjellal, ending with the very noisy late Altrad investments into Montpellier-Hérault. Even if a few major titles were collected by those clubs, and that it would indeniably have helped to rise the fame of the whole Top 14, the global return on private investments simply didn’t ever pay back what they put in.


Another look into the last decade will show you that French clubs are not millionaires pet-projects either. From this season top 6, amongst Stade Toulousain (1st), Union Bordeaux-Bègles (2nd), Rugby Club Toulonnais (3rd), l’Aviron Bayonnais (4th), Clermont-Auvergne (5th) and Castres Olympique (6th), only the last two are backed by historical corporate entities: Michelin (tires) for Clermont and Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (pharma) for Castres.


That’s long term sponsorship from those city main industries and, with Stade Toulousain since 1907, Clermont and Castres (one of the lowest budget in Top 14), are also the oldest members of the French rugby club elite. This certainly prove some healthy stability in their management. They are in fact as far away from marketing “products” that they are from Paris.


But in Top 14, as reflected by their national team selection, club power is certainly measured by their success. The most successful of them all, Stade Toulousain, reached a 2023-2024 budget comparable with the lower end of a French elite football club (those not named PSG) and half of it’s income (€30 millions) was comming from merchandising sales only. Last monday, UBB sold out, in a matter of few hours, its 20K season ticket (out of their 32K seats stadium) and La Rochelle’s stadium was also sold out faster than I can type it for every single game of last season; and so on.


Now, take only those three clubs providing 90% of the national team and paying 100% of their wages. Tell them that the share of the limited game time allowed to their top players, will rise from 25% to 40% for the national team, without any further compensation for the club than allowing them to spend more in recruitment (of probably lesser quality substitutes).


See how it goes now with their board and Presidents, even if probably all of them are turning real profits.

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