Neil de Kock. Picture: Action Images

Neil de Kock says it is vital his Saracens team function as a unit if they are to have any chance of toppling Munster on Sunday.

The Men in Black head into Sunday's Heineken Cup semi final on the back of a 29-40 Premiership defeat to Wasps where many of the tries scored and conceded were borne from both individual errors and acts of brilliance.

Sarries captain de Kock, who scored one of his side's five tries last weekend, said his side cannot afford to surrender such soft tries to Munster, especially during the early stages of the contest.

"We can take a bit of confidence from beating Ospreys but that was three weeks ago," said the South African. "We've had two disappointing results since then.

"We need to go out there on Sunday and do exactly what is required from one to 15 in the team to get the result we want. We want to be a team that is more consistent and we've gone a long way in doing that in this competition."

The scrum-half has backed his side to again thrive in the big match environment and believes they are mentally stronger having gone so close to silverware this season and the last.

"We've been in four semi finals in two seasons which is a great achievement but we have got to kick on from here," he stressed. "There is no bigger stage for the players to play on and for some of us this is the biggest game.

"It's a great opportunity and we want to grab it as a team and as a club."

9:00am Thursday 24th April 2008

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