With community a core value, it is about more than rugby for the kings of Europe and now Premiership play-off contenders
When Saracens played their first European Cup final, against Toulon in 2014, it was a meeting of two clubs who had approached the venue in Cardiff from opposite directions. The French club, owned by the impatient Mourad Boudjellal, aimed to buy success, recruiting players, many of them World Cup winners, from around the world; the Premiership side, encumbered by a less generous salary cap, looked to build something lasting.
Toulon’s approach yielded three consecutive European Cups and a Top 14 title but five years on only two of the players involved in the 23-6 victory are still with the club. In contrast 11 of the Saracens 23 that day remain on the payroll and all of those except Marcelo Bosch were involved in last weekend’s victory over Leinster in Newcastle that made Saracens the first English club to win the Champions Cup for a third time.
Related: England would like Mark McCall but would the coach leave Saracens? | Robert Kitson
Continue reading...