All dynasties eventually die. In the United States, the New England Patriots’ reign felt like it would continue indefinitely, with the combination of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady winning six Super Bowls between 2001 and 2018.
Many high-minded volumes have been written about the ‘Patriot Way’ of doing things. Others called them the ‘Demon Empire’. But then the disenfranchised Brady left in 2020, and things went so badly that Belichick, the most successful coach in sports history, was sidelined by the Patriots last week.
Mark McCall probably won’t appreciate this last point of parallels, but there are plenty of other similarities between Saracens and Patriots. The London club won six Premiership titles, all under the management of Owen Farrell, and even began promoting the ‘Saracens Way’ (now deceased). Now director of rugby McCall sees his own main playmaker disenfranchised, results have changed and openly admits “a new dawn has come”.
McCall stopped short of confirming Farrell would likely leave Racing 92, although he stated he was aware of the fly-half’s decision. “The right thing to do is talk about it when it’s done.” He also did not discuss the future of the Vunipola brothers, who are both out of England, but it was clear what that meant when discussing his team’s development.
“Every player has a cycle, every team has a cycle,” McCall said. “It’s the cycle of a great team, it’s been really great but players are coming towards the end of their careers and they’re just part of that cycle. Everyone is aware that the adventure we are on is over and a new one is about to begin with a group of young players who we are incredibly excited about signing up for the long term.
“The way we look at a player is that you’re either in the development phase, you’re in the performance phase or you’re in the management phase. When you get into the management phase your body starts to creak a little bit but you’re still competitive. The trick with the team is not to have too many players in the management phase. If you have too many players in the management phase , it affects how you train and what you can do. It’s just the cycle of a team.”
The exception to the rule is New England captain Jamie George, who has signed a new contract at the club. Echoing much the same language as England coach Steve Borthwick used at Twickenham the day before, McCall praised the 33-year-old’s “emotional intelligence” and added: “Jamie is a unifying player and will continue to be a unifying player for us. He’s like us at the moment.” When you are going through difficult times and moments, he is the kind of person you want to have by your side.” George will miss Saturday’s Champions Cup game at home to Lyon due to a neck injection, but McCall says he will be fully fit for the start of England’s warm-weather training camp in Girona next week.
McCall also confirmed he hoped there would be “news coming out” shortly regarding Maro Itoje’s new contract, with Theo Dan, Marco Riccioni, Eroni Mawi, Hugh Tizard, Andy Christie, Ben Earl and Theo McFarland committing their futures to the club. “We have a lot of the younger team, 25 and under, that we are very excited about,” McCall said.
Managing the end of a successful dynasty is one of the most challenging tasks in professional sports. Even greats like Belichick see that the transition can quickly become a cliff edge. McCall has the advantage of having gone through the process before Borthwick, Ernst Joubert and several other senior players ceded leadership to Farrell, George and Itoje in 2014.
A new leadership group has been formed and is ready to take over the same. “I guess all good things come to an end and a new band has a reinvigorating effect and impact,” McCall said. “We have met with players who we believe will achieve this success over the next three to four years. We have met with them regularly over the last few months to talk about what they want the club to be and how they will do it. I know they are excited as a new leadership group. A new dawn is coming and that’s for everyone.” exciting.”
These are McCall’s medium and long-term priorities. In the short term, it is about rescuing Saracens from five defeats in seven games, which culminated in last weekend’s record 55-15 defeat against Bordeaux. Sitting sixth in the Premier League, they need a win against Lyon on Saturday night and Connacht help against Bristol to survive in Europe.
“I think we’ve had a constructive week this week without sharing too much, and I think the proof will be in the pudding,” McCall said. “It’s not just this weekend to be honest, because the most important thing is long term and let’s see what happens in the next few months.”