“To get to this stage of the Heineken Cup is doable, but now it becomes difficult – which is a challenge we quite like to have,” said coach Mark McCall last night. “Time will tell but we are a much better team in all respects than 12 months ago when we played Toulon.
“We have got ourselves another crack and we need to take advantage of it this time. We are playing better and with much more confidence.
“Just to make the semi-final is not enough for us now. We were a little bit happy just to be there last year.”
McCall’s reference points are the Heineken Cup semi-final his team lost to Jonny Wilkinson and company – also at Twickenham – last April, and more to the point the 22-3 quarter-final beating they took in Watford from Clermont in 2012. That was a salutary event for a side then the English champions.
“We have to hold up our hands and admit that two years ago it was a bit like men against boys,” said McCall. “We felt we were playing with one hand tied behind our back, were a bit lightweight.
“We changed a lot after that, particularly our strength and conditioning, because we had found ourselves fighting against people who were more powerful, more offensive, than us. We changed the people, our recruitment, even our philosophy.”
Article source: http://web.orange.co.uk/p/rugbyleague/match?game_id=118197&competition_id=1
Growing Saracens have evolved into European contenders
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