'Me and Faz have always had something... we understand what is going on'
Elliot Daly insists a shift in mindset founded on trust has enabled Saracens to set the Gallagher Premiership ablaze through their dazzling attack.
A seven-try demolition of champions Leicester on Saturday has propelled them to the summit of the table with a game in hand, providing reward for their pivot towards a more ambitious game.
Daly was at the heart of Saracens' stylish assault but the full-back received swashbuckling support from Max Malins and Ben Earl as the trio responded to their exclusion from England's first squad of the autumn by letting rip in north London.
While the performance built on the enterprising comeback produced against Harlequins two rounds earlier and occasional flashes against Gloucester seven days earlier, Daly insists the shift away from more conservative tactics began last season.
“I don’t think this is a new Sarries. We played some pretty good stuff last year and we had very good games where our attack came together,” the 29-year-old said.
“But there is a difference this season in the mindset going into games in that we are not setting up just to kick, we have got all options on. If someone calls for it, they are getting it and we are giving it to them.
“When the opportunity is on, we take it and we trust each other in that scenario. If I call for the ball off Owen Farrell, or Max calls for the ball off me, we give it and we know that decision is the best decision in that time.
“We trust each other that much. If it's the wrong decision we go around it and we resource that breakdown and we go again.
“We are just so decisive on the ball at the moment which is one key thing to our attack.
“We are probably just taking a few more opportunities when last year we were 50-50 with them, but we are going with it. We are decisive with what we are doing.”
The new emphasis of attack is bringing out the best in Daly, who is assisting Farrell with the playmaking duties.
“Me and Faz have always had something and that was half the reason I came to this club,” Daly said.
“We have something together where if I ask for the ball he just gives it to me and vice versa. We see the game quite similarly which is quite good in terms of pushing our attack forward.
“It's just a look between me and Faz, we understand what is going on. The rest of the backline are doing that as well which is brilliant.”
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Disagree.
The challenge for the All Blacks now that they have 7 of 8 starting forwards locked in and all but one bench forward (only one loose forward and bench loosie to settle on) is to sort out the starting backline as only 9 Roigard, 12 J. Barrett, 11 Clarke and 15 Jordan had good to outstanding seasons in 2024. All the other backs were inconsistent or poor and question marks going into 2025.
Go to commentshe should not be playing 12. He should be playing 10 and team managers should stop playing players out of position to accommodate libbok.
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