Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall says Friday night’s 60-10 defeat against Wasps inflicted 'some harsh lessons' on his side.
McCall’s side suffered their heaviest ever defeat in the Premiership, while it was also Wasps’ biggest victory in the league for almost six years.
The hosts ran in eight tries at the Ricoh Arena as Zach Kibirige and Brad Shields crossed twice, with Jack Willis, Nizaam Carr, Jacob Umaga and Gaby Oghre completing the rout.
Despite scores from wings Ali Crossdale and Alex Lewington, it was not enough to save Saracens’ blushes on a night to forget for the current Premiership champions.
"It's a hugely disappointing effort,” admitted McCall.
9⃣ kicks out of 🔟
— Wasps Rugby (@WaspsRugby) February 23, 2020
20 points for the old dog against Sarries!
(Sorry Jimmy🤣) 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/NJ0wke233T
“It was the opposite from last week when we had a very good win over Sale.
"A number of areas were not up to scratch. We've got a number of young players in our group, who couldn't reproduce last week's form.”
The relegated club selected a number of recent academy graduates in their starting line-up, including debutant Sean Reffell, who followed in the footsteps of Crossdale and Ollie Stonham from previous weeks.
But the defending champions did have a sprinkling of experience on the pitch, with captain Brad Barritt, Alex Goode, Jackson Wray and Nick Isiekwe all starting, as well as World Cup winner Vincent Koch.
🐝 @jacob_umaga98's kick, @_JoshBassett's catch, @MalakaiFekitoa's break, @d_jrobson's footwork, @Tommy2Taylor's long pass and @ZachKibirige's electric pace...
— Wasps Rugby (@WaspsRugby) February 22, 2020
HOW GOOD IS THIS TEAM TRY?! pic.twitter.com/Nbcv7dnir1
It was only Saracens’ fourth league defeat of the season and McCall was left lost for words when reflecting on the result.
"They gave us some harsh lessons and, on the night, they were really quality opponents,” he added.
"It's just one of those games. You wouldn't know where to start in assessing where it all went wrong. I don’t know what to say.”
Saracens will look to bounce back next weekend when they visit Franklin’s Gardens to face Northampton Saints.
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