Saracens director Mark McCall said “there’s no reason why we can’t get better” after his side beat ASM Clermont Auvergne 28-17 to win back-to-back European Champions Cup titles.
Unlike last year’s 21-9 final win over Clermont’s French rivals Racing 92, where England’s Owen Farrell kicked all of Saracens’ points in a match where neither side managed a try, Saturday’s clash at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh was a far more exciting contest.
Saracens, belying their reputation as a dour, forward-orientated team, almost scored a try in the second minute.
Photo: AP
McCall’s men were 12-0 up following the end of the opening quarter after Chris Ashton, bound for France with Toulon, scored a tournament career record 37th try and England lock George Kruis also crossed Clermont’s line.
Clermont, who came into the match with a reputation for blistering starts, fought back thanks to Remi Lamerat’s first-half try before Saracens wing Nick Abendanon crowned a length-of-the-field move for a score in the 51st minute.
Morgan Parra’s penalty left Clermont just a point behind at 17-18 heading into the final quarter before Saracens pulled clear, with fullback Alex Goode’s try seven minutes from time putting the London club two scores clear after Farrell converted.
Photo: AFP
Victory left Saracens, the reigning English champions, just two matches away from completing a “double-double” and with the likes of Farrell and man-of-the-match Billy Vunipola still having plenty of rugby to look forward to barring injury.
“I think the pleasing thing today was it felt and looked like we had improved from last year,” said McCall, whose side face the Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership semi-final playoffs.
“It was a different kind of final from last year and allowed us to show different signs of ourselves,” the former Ireland center added.
Photo: Reuters
“I thought we showed a lot of great qualities. We think the age profile of the group is good and if we’re hungry enough, we’re hungry enough so there’s no reason why we can’t get better.”
Having seen Saracens charge into an early lead, McCall was proud of the composure his players displayed to weather Clermont’s fightback.
“It is great to win back-to-back [finals], but the manner in which we did it was the hugely encouraging thing,” McCall said. “It felt we were dominant for long periods.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite