Saracens boss: ‘We’ve come to South Africa to beat the Bulls’

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall insists his team will not be simply making up the numbers when they clash with the Bulls in a first round Champions Cup clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

In the era of professional rugby, the two teams have established themselves as giants of the sport, having both won major trophies — the Bulls won the Super Rugby title on three occasions, while Saracens have won the Champions Cup three times.

Saturday’s encounter, which kicks off at 7.30 pm, will serve as the start of the new Champions Cup season.

‘Come here to win’

Saracens, who have been in Pretoria since Monday, know they will be up against it at Loftus but, according to McCall, they are positive ahead of the big match.

“We’ve come here to Loftus Versfeld to win, that’s for sure,” said McCall when speaking to the media this week.

“At the start of the week, I felt something different in the group. It feels like they (players) are in a different spot than they have been in the last couple of weeks where our performances have been underwhelming, to be honest.

“We touched down here and it felt good on the training field. We just have to go and do it on Saturday against a top-class side, we want to give it a big go,” he said.

England internationals

Saracens have travelled to South Africa with 32 players, combining experience and youth in their squad. The men from England have also been boosted by the return of their captain Owen Farrell and will also look to unleash the likes of former Springbok scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl and England internationals Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Billy Vunipola and Theo Dan.

Even though they will likely put out a strong team against Jake White’s side, McCall knows the Bulls will be tough opponents for them.

“It’s a challenge which usually brings the best out of the group that we have got,” said the former Ireland international.

“They are strong in all areas, they have a big pack of forwards, and they have good players in their forwards. They have some incredible pace in the backline, they have experienced players in Willie le Roux and Johan Goosen at flyhalf,” he said.