Saracens chief Mark McCall hails extra preparation for Gloucester Premiership semi-final as a 'godsend'

Double chasers: Saracens are looking to add the Premiership crown to their European Champions Cup success
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Saracens head coach Mark McCall says the extra week his side have had to prepare for their Premiership semi-final with Gloucester has been a “godsend”, as they bid to secure a double.

McCall’s men won the Champions Cup on May 11 by beating Leinster and they face Gloucester on Saturday after having had the luxury of a dead rubber regular-season game in between, meaning key players were rested for last week’s defeat at Worcester.

The club were in a similar position in 2017 but seven days after they beat Clermont to be crowned kings of Europe, they lost to Exeter Chiefs in the semi-finals of the Premiership.

This time around, though, Saracens have had extra time to prepare for their play-off clash and McCall believes that could make all the difference at Allianz Park.

“We came together last Wednesday after the players had a few days off,” said McCall.

“I am not sure if we had emotionally recovered from the final but we are now. So I think that extra week is a godsend.

“It is something we talked about on the Wednesday as, although we were beaten by a really good team in the semi-final in 2017, we weren’t as ready as we needed to be.

“It was a big regret for and we are going to be better prepared this time around going into this game.

“There is this hangover from 2017 and how that opportunity got wasted and we don’t want to let that to happen again.”

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