{"id":568394,"date":"2026-03-27T19:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T19:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/568394\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T19:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T19:13:08","slug":"defeat-not-an-option-for-saracens-mccall-in-crunch-northampton-clash-prem-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/568394\/","title":{"rendered":"Defeat not an option for Saracens\u2019 McCall in crunch Northampton clash | Prem Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prestigious Prem matches are scattered across the country on Saturday but none is more significant in the title race than Saracens\u2019 date with Northampton<\/a> at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.<\/p>\n

By the time Sarries and Saints run out for their evening kick-off in north London, Gloucester will have played Leicester<\/a> at Villa Park, before Bristol meet Harlequins at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.<\/p>\n

More than 100,000 fans will attend those three matches alone but when it comes to the destiny of the Prem trophy, table-topping Northampton\u2019s trip to Tottenham is the one to watch \u2013 and also promises the most fascinating duel between coaches.<\/p>\n

Sarries have won plenty under Mark McCall, the long-serving director of rugby who will step down in the summer. But after a frustratingly inconsistent season his side face a fight to make the playoffs, sitting sixth, eight points behind fourth-placed Exeter. Defeat is not an option.<\/p>\n

Phil Dowson, who led Saints to the Prem title two seasons ago<\/a>, is trying to write that difficult second album after a disappointing 2024\u201125 campaign. But form is excellent and momentum is gathering after five consecutive league wins.<\/p>\n

McCall\u2019s men must improve on last weekend\u2019s 62-15 thrashing<\/a> by the champions, Bath, who ran in nine tries at the Recreation Ground. \u201cWhen you lose by that margin there\u2019s a bit of soul-searching done,\u201d McCall said. \u201cBut I\u2019m confident we\u2019ve got the character to respond properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The England captain, Maro Itoje, and the Wales prop Rhys Carr\u00e9 return to the starting XV, with Jamie George on the bench. Ben Earl played at Bath, but was forced off with concussion and is sidelined. Elliot Daly, meanwhile, will make his 100th appearance having signed a new contract until the end of the 2027-28 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been honest about it and dealt with it,\u201d McCall added of the defeat in the West Country. \u201cThe important thing is how we respond \u2026 There will be 45,000 people there. But wherever we were playing it would be a big game after what happened down in Bath.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCall said Itoje, whose heavy workload has been under the spotlight after England\u2019s poor Six Nations, is feeling \u201cgreat\u201d. \u201cWe all have to be sensitive to it,\u201d he said of the demands on his captain. \u201cThere\u2019s a really good relationship between the RFU and us around how to manage him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Itoje captained the British & Irish Lions last summer and has played more Test rugby than anyone in the past decade, but McCall is adamant that fatigue is not an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was back to his very best against France,\u201d McCall said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy for people to draw the wrong conclusions and create a narrative which is not quite correct. Talking to Maro over the last few days, he feels great. That\u2019s not to say we all shouldn\u2019t be looking out for his physical and emotional wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northampton resumed their Prem campaign rather differently: Newcastle were beaten 28-27<\/a> at Franklin\u2019s Gardens, putting Saints two points clear of Bath and seven ahead of Leicester, in third.<\/p>\n

Those players who were heavily involved during the Six Nations were given last week off, and Dowson believes they have returned refreshed and ready. Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman and Henry Pollock all start, with Fraser Dingwall among the replacements.\u201cFreemo went to New York,\u201d Dowson said. \u201cFin went to Mallorca. Pollock went to Menorca, but stopped off in Barcelona. Dingers [Fraser Dingwall] went to Antigua. Danilo [Fischetti, the Italy prop] stayed in Rome. They\u2019ve all been doing different stuff.<\/p>\n

Phil Dowson praised the heart and passion of his Northampton team after their nervy win against Newcastle last week. Photograph: David Rogers\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pleased they went far afield and got away from rugby. They did something different to refresh them, to come back for what is hopefully a hectic schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victory against Newcastle was achieved without those big names. For building team spirit and togetherness was it an ideal result for the run-in? \u201cThis is a Ted Lasso one that I liked: \u2018The joy is not in the execution, it\u2019s in the effort,\u2019\u201d Dowson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did so many things poorly but I admire their heart, passion, those things you can\u2019t define: grit, toughness, nerve \u2026 You\u2019ll win more than you lose if you\u2019re working hard for each other. A cliche, but it\u2019s true.\u201d One that Dowson and McCall will both hope applies for their players tonighton Saturday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prestigious Prem matches are scattered across the country on Saturday but none is more significant in the title…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-568394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}