Friday 25 April 2008
Saracens close to earning respect

Saracens hope to achieve one of their season’s aims if they clinch a Heineken Cup final place this weekend - respect in Europe.

Having gone 10 years without a major trophy, the Guinness Premiership club stand one win away from contesting European club rugby’s biggest prize.

The formidable obstacle of 2006 champions Munster stands in their way at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena on Sunday.

But after knocking out star-studded Welsh side the Ospreys three weeks ago, Saracens will not fear facing Munster despite suffering a worrying dip in form by losing successive Premiership games against Gloucester and Wasps, conceding 79 points in the process.

Saracens skipper Neil de Kock said: “We will take quite a bit of confidence out of our game against the Ospreys.

“That win has given us the belief that we can do what is required.

“There could be a million reasons why we went off the boil since beating the Ospreys, but we have to look forward now. We have to give our all to get the result we want.

“When we got together before last season, we decided that we wanted to be more consistent and respected by all in Europe - we wrote it down in a mission statement.

“It is a long-term plan that was agreed by the coaches and players, and this competition has gone a long way towards doing that.

“But we have still fallen short of that consistency we’ve been looking for.

“We must kick on, and Sunday is the ideal opportunity to do that. There is no bigger stage - for most of our squad, it is our biggest-ever game.”

While Saracens plan to stall the mighty Munster machine, fellow first-time semi-finalists London Irish face a similar degree of difficulty against Toulouse at Twickenham on Saturday.

Although the French side, European champions in 1996, 2003 and 2005, have lost wing Vincent Clerc to injury and his fellow international Thierry Dusautoir is rated doubtful, they remain firm favourites to book a record fifth final appearance.

Irish rugby director Brian Smith said: “We have played them twice in recent seasons and really enjoyed the games.

“I think both teams appreciate each other in terms of how we play the game.

“We have got ourselves into the semi-final by having good set-piece possession, particularly in the lineout, and our defence has been excellent - we are good at keeping teams try-less."

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