Having now experienced first-hand the strength found within the second tier – with Saturday’s 45-13 victory over Jersey Reds following a shock defeat to Cornish Pirates – McCall admits he may have underestimated the challenges served up by his team’s rivals for 2020/21.
Saracens may have exuded the power and precision against Jersey that will likely take them straight back into the Premiership this summer, but their opening-day defeat to Pirates has left an indelible mark.
‘We’re not above playing in a competition like this and we’re finding lessons out pretty quickly against players who could easily be Premiership players, but for whatever reason it hasn’t worked out for them,’ said McCall. ‘We’ve got to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in.
‘What I’ve learned is what a good breeding ground the Championship is for us. It’s a breeding ground that’s probably under-used and if we manage to get ourselves back into the Premiership this year it will sharpen the minds as to how we use the Championship next season for our academy players. We will probably expose them to Championship rugby more regularly than we have done in the past.’
After defeat in Penzance on 6 March there were questions over Saracens’ understanding of the division, but McCall was in no doubt over his side’s ability to bounce back against Jersey Reds.
‘It felt more like us today,’ he said, after Saturday’s win.
‘There was a different mentality from the playing group. Our senior guys took charge, like Jackson Wray, who was magnificent.
‘Our scrum still needs work and we know that – it wasn’t great in that first ten to 15 minutes – but there were no strong words this week. Just a realisation we can be better.
‘We grew into the game and played with a different intensity than last week, and that’s where we want to be all the time.’
