Mark McCall says Saracens’ defeat in the Gallagher Premiership final last season has proved a driving force behind their quest for an immediate Twickenham return.
Victory over play-off opponents Northampton on Saturday would land Saracens a ninth appearance in English rugby’s domestic showpiece on May 27.
Their title hopes last year were dashed by Freddie Burns’ dramatic late drop-goal that saw Leicester claim a 15-12 victory.
“I guess it wasn’t so much losing the final, it was how we lost it, which is the thing that is driving us, I think,” Saracens rugby director McCall said.
“It felt like we played within ourselves. It was how we lost, not because we lost.
“Anyone can lose a final – knockout games are hard to win – but when you don’t feel that you have given it a proper go, then you carry that all summer. I guess that has driven this season to a degree.
“We’ve enjoyed a couple of really good weeks’ preparation. The players are in good spirits.
“We don’t take these things (semi-finals) for granted and we are looking forward to it. To get a home semi-final is exactly what you want.
“They (Northampton) are a very good team, an unbelievably dangerous team, full of talented players in their squad. And this is their second semi-final in a row, so they have shown some really good consistency as well.”
Saracens go into the play-offs after topping the regular season table and finishing 16 points above Northampton.
Fly-half Owen Farrell, though, does not believe that Saracens require a trophy to validate their Premiership return three years after relegation following persistent salary cap breaches.
“I think we have performed consistently enough over the past two years since we’ve been back to be enough of a presence in the Premiership,” Farrell said.
“Do we want to win the Premiership? Yes, of course we do. We’ve got some big personalities maybe playing in their last games for the club and we want to make sure we do them proud.
“To come back and do it (win the title) within a year, we talked about it being special, and we didn’t do it.
“We are on another year now and I have not thought about it in that way too much if I am honest. We’ve been consistent enough over the past two years, without winning last year, to validate us being back in the Premiership.
“We want to be at our best, getting the best out of of ourselves, and I am sure Northampton are the same. We want to make sure we are playing some of our best stuff and we want to enjoy it.
“It’s tough to lose any final. We felt like we didn’t put the best out of us out on that day (last year) and that is obviously a credit to Leicester and what they did as well.”
'I'd prefer Ireland, England or France', says O'Gara amid Wales job links
Ronan O’Gara says there are international rugby jobs he would "bite people’s hands off for" - but the Wales role is seemingly not among them.
O'Gara, who is currently in charge of French side La Rochelle, has impressed during his first head coaching role.
The former Ireland fly-half has led La Rochelle to successive Champions Cup triumphs in 2022 and 2023 after working as an assistant at Racing 92 and New Zealand's Crusaders.
He is under contract with the French outfit until 2027, but has his sights on an international move in the future.
"You have got to have those ambitions because you want to be the best you can be," O'Gara said. "There are Test jobs I would bite people's hands off for."
While there are no current vacancies, under-pressure Wales coach Warren Gatland's future is being considered by the Welsh Rugby Union.
Wales have lost their last 12 matches in a row and Gatland has just six wins from 24 games since returning to the job in December 2022.
"I haven't thought about that, to be honest with you," O'Gara said when asked if he would take the Wales job. "Without lacking humility, I would prefer Ireland, England or France."
O’Gara will look to improve his stock further with another Champions Cup win this season, with La Rochelle facing Bristol Bears next.
However, La Rochelle, who beat Bath in their opening European game on Friday, have made a slow start to the current campaign, lying sixth in their domestic standings.
"In France I am seen as very demanding and difficult because of standards I try and keep, but I just want players to try and experience what I did," said O'Gara.
"I got so much out of the game. It gave me wonderful emotions, and now I want to really try and give back."
Australia victory a 'relief but enjoyable', says Ireland captain Doris
Caelan Doris said Ireland's victory over Australia in their final Autumn Nations Series campaign came with "relief, but also enjoyment" at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Ireland earned a hard-fought 22-19 win to earn their third victory on the spin after starting their campaign with a first home defeat in more than three years to New Zealand.
In what was Joe Schmidt's first match in Dublin since leaving the Ireland job in 2019, his Wallabies side threatened to spoil the Irish Rugby Football Union's 150th anniversary celebrations.
Australia had led for much of the contest and held a 13-5 advantage at the interval thanks to Max Jorgensen's try and some superb kicking from Noah Lolesio.
But Gus McCarthy's try clinched an Irish win, with Josh van der Flier and Doris also scoring tries for the hosts.
"There's relief, but there's also enjoyment there too. It's a quality side, they are Joe Schmidt-coached, and we knew it was going to be top class," Doris said.
"Their attack was right up there, and it was a test for our defence. It was back and forth throughout, and we're delighted with the outcome.
"It felt like we dominated possession and territory, but there was quite a lot of inaccuracy in their 22 and half. We turned it around and it was better in the second half."
The encounter also saw Cian Healy become the most-capped player when he came off the bench to win his 134th cap and surpass former captain Brian O'Driscoll.
For Schmidt, it was an unhappy return to Irish soil, though he can be happy with his side's display.
While he was disappointed to lose in Ireland, his Wallabies side again proved themselves a dangerous outfit, though he said he knew Saturday's hosts had a performance like that in them.
"I already knew that this group of young men had it in them. It was just for them to find it and galvanise each other," Schmidt said.
"I felt at times in that first half we didn't quite capitalise on some of the line breaks that we made. Max Jorgensen's try was really well worked.
"In the second half my one disappointment around the game is I felt we got quite conservative.
"When you do that against Ireland and you are hanging on, you've a four-point lead and you're hoping that's enough, but we tried to do that from too far out.
"I don't know what the territory or possession stats were but we were having to work very hard."
Suaalii boost for Australia ahead of Ireland clash
Joseph Suaalii has shrugged off a knock to be available for Australia's Test against Ireland on Saturday, coach Joe Schmidt confirmed.
Australia are looking to bounce back from Sunday's 27-13 defeat to Scotland in the concluding autumn Test at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Suaalii was withdrawn in the early stages of the contest against Scotland in Edinburgh amid fears that he had suffered a broken wrist.
"Joe's fine, he got one of those stingers where he had a bit of a dead arm," Schmidt said, providing an update on the 21-year-old Australia centre.
"We felt it was better to get it properly assessed, and we couldn't hold the game up to do that, so we took him out of the game against Scotland."
Against England earlier this month, rugby league convert Suaalii became only the third player after Matt Giteau and Tatafu Polota-Nau to debut for the Wallabies before playing in Super Rugby.
Schmidt, who coached Ireland from 2013 to 2019, has made five changes to his side from the defeat to the Scots.
James Slipper and Taniela Tupou have been recalled to the squad, while Jeremy Williams comes back from illness alongside Nick Frost.
Fraser McReight is also drafted into the back row while fly-half Tane Edmed is set for a first cap after finding a place among the replacements.
Meanwhile, Ireland have retained Sam Prendergast at fly-half for the autumn finale ahead of Jack Crowley.
Head coach Andy Farrell has also made five changes to an Ireland side that go into the Test on the back of a 52-17 win against Fiji.
Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Hugo Keenan, Ronan Kelleher and James Ryan all return to Farrell's side as they look to finish on a high.
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