McCall relieved after Saracens' tense Heineken Cup win (From Watford Observer)

Saracens coach relieved to hold on for crucial Biarritz win

11:27am Monday 16th January 2012 in News By Simon Mail

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall admitted his relief at the final whistle after they battled to a crucial 20-16 win over Biarritz in the Heineken Cup.

The Premiership champions only need one point from their final game in Treviso to seal a place in the last-eight of the competition.

But Sarries had to survive a late fightback by the French side, following a try from Dimitri Yachvili, after they twice pulled within a point of them.

McCall said: "We're relieved but obviously just pleased to have won the game. These tight games are all about getting the job done.

"Of course there is a little bit of frustration that it wasn't more simple than it turned out. I thought there were times at the end of the first half and the start of the second half where we were very dominant.

"We had chances and at 14-6 we had an opportunity to really pull away from them and break them but we couldn't manage that which was a bit disappointing.

"I thought the last 20 minutes it also characterised everything we're about as a club in terms of the work ethic the players showed and the discipline. We're just thrilled with the result."