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'Mr Saracens' compliment highlights huge challenge facing Ospreys

By PA
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Toby Booth believes his Ospreys side will face the best team in England by some distance when they tackle Heineken Champions Cup round-of-16 opponents Saracens on Sunday. While the Ospreys contest their first top-flight European knockout game for 12 years, Saracens are on familiar territory.

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The three-time European champions are among the fancied front-runners to lift this season’s trophy, four years after their last European success. Having coached at the Premiership’s sharp end with Bath and London Irish, Ospreys boss Booth readily acknowledges Saracens’ achievements.

Not only are they in the last 16 of Europe, Saracens also lead English rugby’s flagship domestic competition by 11 points and have secured a home playoff tie with three games remaining. “We are playing against currently the best team in the Premiership by some distance,” Booth said.

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“I have come from that world, I know how tough it is, and you are not going to be top of that pile without a considerable amount of resources, effort and quality of players. They don’t have many weaknesses and we know it is a very difficult challenge. They are very efficient, and if they get their tails up they can be very difficult.

“They are used to winning, they are used to being in these fixtures, and the biggest thing to get past first of all is the mindset of what they have got. They are very competitive, they will be in your face, very aggressive, and you have got to deal with that pressure.”

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Central to Saracens’ sustained excellence has been rugby director Mark McCall, the mastermind of his club’s success in domestic and European tournaments. Booth added: “He is Mr Saracens. The cornerstone, the person who has set the tone. He has brought his own people through, he has promoted from within. The Saracens entity is a very impressive one, and he is the person that sits at the centre of it.

“You hear their players on various podcasts and things, and how they conduct themselves. Even in that Championship season (after Saracens were relegated for salary cap breaches), a lot of the big players stayed around, which tells you a lot, and the ones that went on loan all went back, and that tells you a lot as well.

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“They believe in what they are doing, they are very committed to what Saracens stand for. That is the sign of a really good culture, which is led by the man at the top.”

Ospreys have excelled in the Champions Cup this season, beating French heavyweights Montpellier home and away, while concluding the pool stage by defeating Leicester at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. They will, though, be without Wales flanker Jac Morgan, who has undergone ankle surgery and is set to miss the rest of this season.

“Adversity and the underdog tag can bring a lot of enjoyment. We have earnt some respect,” Booth added. “It is 12 years since we have been in this situation. It is very hard to qualify for the competition, and we said we would enjoy it. We are enjoying the journey and we will embrace it with both hands.”

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SK 3 hours ago
Broken hand or not, Richie Mo'unga is still New Zealand's best 10

Probably the best 10 in the world right now and his talents are confined to League one in Japan. What a shame. Would be a pleasure to see him play week in and week out for bigger teams especially the All Blacks. The fact that he is committed to League one for another year along with Frizzell is a clear indication of how happy these 2 are in Japan and is something for the AB’s to consider seriously. These players play fewer games per year than most players, have more time off and they are highly respected by the Japanese in the set up. The salaries are also great so its easy to see why so many SA, Aus and NZ players now call League One home. The AB’s have now for too long discarded players before their sell by date. This is especially true for players over 30 and players who leave the set up. This history of discarding players means that anyone that goes on Sabbatical or leaves now is seen as expendable and will have to come back and fight for their place. I was shocked when comments emerged from NZ that Jordie Barrett needs to come back and prove himself again especially as there are performers in Super Rugby stepping up. He has nothing to prove to anyone as he proves time and time again that he is world class whether in a Leinster Jersey or Hurricanes one. Also no new Super Rugby newbie will be able to replace the experience Barrett has at the international level so any talk of that is folly. Its the same with Richie Mo'unga and Frizell. You can understand why the AB’s keep the eligibility rules in place but lets be honest, the days of thinking that there is a ready made replacement ready to step up are gone so the pundits in NZ need to stop acting like many of their best are easily replaced. The gap between Super Rugby and international rugby has grown. Its time the AB’s face up to that reality or face up to the new reality of more sub par 70% win rate years.

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LONG READ Broken hand or not, Richie Mo'unga is still New Zealand's best 10 Broken hand or not, Richie Mo'unga is still New Zealand's best 10
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