The pantomime villains of the league! And they don't care.... Saracens have always done things differently and take the unorthodox approach. They were the first team in the league to adopt a plastic pitch and their posts were painted red. Saracens set their horizons abroad with teams in Romania, Kenya, Brazil, Georgia and Canada. Closer to home, they even founded their own school!

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Saracens have always attracted some of the best players in the game. Notable alumni include Francois Pienaar, John Smit, Michael Lynagh, Tim Horan, Justin Marshall, Richard Hill and Philippe Sella. The team began to really compete with D​r Brendan Venter at the helm. Under the calculative Venter, Saracens had a biltong flavour to it with a number of South Africans making up the squad including Schalk Brits, Neil de Kock, Ernst Joubert, Matt Stevens and Mouritz Botha. Venter then handed over the reins to Ulsterman, Mark 'Smally' McCall. 

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The McCall era is one of dominance. After being on the road for a number of years Saracens finally found their home in Barnet. With the club finally discovering stability, results began to follow. This was combined with the development of a talented crop of youngsters including the Vunipola brothers, Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Alex Goode, George Kruis and more recently Maro Itoje, Nick Isiekwe and Ben Earl. The club galvanised around the 'Wolfpack' defence where the team hunted together although spearheaded by the ferocious hits of the rugged Namibian, Jacques Burger and Brad Barritt who tended to use their faces to make his tackles. During this time, Saracens began to find their groove. The club won four Premiership titles in five seasons between 2014/15 to 2018/19. Three European titles were also secured in that time.

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When there's a boom, it is normally followed by a bust. 2020 saw Saracens hit with one of rugby's largest scandals when it was discovered the club had been spending more than the salary cap. This gave the club a competitive advantage due to their ability to recruit a larger squad with better players. Other teams were left scratching their heads as their best talent decided to up sticks and move to Barnet. The judgement came down like a ton of bricks. Saracens were relegated to the Championship and into purgatory to cleanse them of their sins.

 

The Fez heads bounced back, winning the Championship and then booking their place in the Premiership Final in their first season back, albeit they succumbed to a late Freddie Burns drop goal. Last season Saracens revolutionised their attack with fly half Owen Farrell shaping it in his vision. Mark McCall has also been aided with the latest coaches off of his production line with Joe Shaw and Kev Sorrell bringing fresh ideas. Saracens were more ambitious with far more offloads. The evolution paid off and Saracens secured their sixth Premiership title. They'll have targets on their back again this season. Can they reach seventh heaven?

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