by The good news for Saracens is that the remaining months of 2024 will not be much tougher than the first. This January the Premier League champions will play French clubs Bordeaux and Lyon – who are currently first and second in their Champions Cup group – as well as top-flight Exeter on January 27. Before that, they start their new year with a clash against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road, where they haven’t won since October 2019.
“When you look at him and talk about him like that, he looks tough,” says Saracens attack and backline coach Kevin Sorrell. “But we love this.”
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If this seems like a chaotic period for the club, it is only slightly more frantic than is now the norm in rugby. It is widely accepted that the sport is better than ever, with huge improvements in speed, power and skill raising the spectacle to previously unimaginable standards. But this came at a cost. Fixed seasons are almost a thing of the past as top players are stuck on an endless cycle of training, playing or recovering year round. A number of England players, seven of whom will feature on both sides this weekend, walked off the podium after collecting their World Cup bronze medal and just into their club’s 23 match days.
“We’ve had 16 straight weeks of the Premier League and Europe and that’s a long time,” Sorrell says of a very demanding season in which the Premier League Cup – essentially a development competition – ran alongside the World Cup to serve the international players of the league. “It was tough. The claims [on the players] are, yeah, it’s like a car accident every week. It’s so physical.”
The welfare of the players has never been important but from a peak performance perspective, maintaining standards on the field is a difficult juggling act. Last week, second-tier Bath traveled to Welford Road knowing full well that a loss would see them top of the league. Only two late tries gave any semblance of respect in a one-sided 35-22 victory.
“It will be different for every club when they go to a completely different team.” Sorrell explains, but confirming that this is necessary to get through the campaign. “From a personal point of view, if you are in the senior squad, we think you are good enough to compete and good enough to represent us. So whoever it is, it’s an opportunity. But the long-term view is that you have to rest your players so it’s difficult in that sense.”
Luckily for Sorrell, those decisions are out of his hands. Instead, the responsibility rests with two men, general manager Phil Morrow, and Tom Sherriff, head of athletic development. The fact that it takes more than one mind to handle the squad’s workload shows just how challenging modern rugby is.
“Phil has a great track record of helping people’s careers,” adds Sorrell. “It doesn’t necessarily make a big difference if you miss a rugby game. It’s training time. It is the cumulative effect that you get during the week. We are managing them strictly in terms of the times on fields to manage their workloads. Some clubs train four days a week. We train three days a week. So 75% of our week is training and that’s where most of the load comes from.”
Neither side chose to field a weak team as they chase a win that takes them back to where they believe they belong. Just over half way through the season, Saracens are in fifth place, although a win could see them end the weekend first, although there will be a range of other results going forward. Leicester are seventh, just outside the six-team dog pile separated by just three points.
As expected, Sorrell says this is a sign of a healthy product. That close series is proof that English domestic rugby is delivering on the field despite a litany of off-field disasters. However, this only reduces the opportunity for players to rest, especially for ambitious clubs chasing a semi-final spot.
With a tight end and opposition goalkeeper Freddie Steward kicking the ball forward, according to Sorrell, as often as “a wrinkled poos”, Saracens are likely to win the ball out as far as possible. And why not? They exceed the Premier Division with eight tries from rolling balls and have achieved the second most meters from the rubble. Expect more of the same although Leicester have plenty of grunt to match themselves in the close encounters.
“When [Steve Borthwick] they went there, they went back to their DNA,” Sorrell says of the Tigers’ physicality. “They have that gnarly pack. But they are playing great rugby as well. It will be a confrontation.”
Aren’t they all? There is no such thing as an easy game of rugby. Not at this level. Even blowouts carry some risk as the less resourceful and less skilled sides are able to deliver a devastating blow in kit or breakdown. Danger is woven into the fabric of the game. It’s partly what makes it so exciting. But for those tasked with managing the athlete and the man, the challenge has never been greater.
