For Jackson Wray and his Saracens team-mates, Sunday’s trip to Exeter could be viewed as an opportunity for payback against the team that knocked them out in May’s play-off semi-finals with a last-minute try. But after last Sunday’s 28-20 defeat by Leicester at Allianz Park, the team’s focus is more in the moment.
“We were not on it as we usually are, for some reason,” the No 8 says. “The emphasis in the week was not on technical stuff but making sure we deliver the performance we need.
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“What happened in the semi-final has not been discussed. It was a long time ago and both teams are different. We are coming to the end of a run of four Premiership matches before a break for the Anglo-Welsh Cup and we want to go into it on a high.”
Should Saracens lose to the leaders at a sell-out Sandy Park on Sunday, they will concede only a third Premiership double this decade, following November’s 20-18 defeat at Allianz Park. Exeter were the last club to achieve the double over Saracens in the regular season back in 2014-15, one month after Northampton achieved the feat.
The champions have not had things all their own way recently: the Chiefs ended a run of three league defeats last Saturday only by pipping Northampton with Thomas Waldrom’s last-minute try.
The top three clubs have all lost five matches in 16 rounds and whoever finishes first is on course to equal Gloucester’s record of most defeats for a side finishing top at the end of the regular season, seven in 2007‑08. Every team has suffered a blip in a race for the congested play-off positions.
“The standard in the Premiership is very high,” Wray says. “In the past you could be off your game and still win but that is no longer the case. London Irish and Worcester may be at the bottom of the table but they can cause you problems.
“It shows how competitive it is and every team has suffered a blip at some point in the season. It is always a challenge when the international players are away and we have suffered badly from injuries this season, but we back ourselves every week to get a result and it will be no different on Sunday.
“I enjoy playing at Sandy Park. There is always a good atmosphere and you know you have to be at your best to get anything out of the game. The fact they are going for the double over us does not change anything. It is not about revenge but putting right what went wrong against Leicester.”With six league matches left before the play-offs and a Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster to come, victory over Exeter would leave Saracens well placed when their international players return.
“The big games will be flying around,” Wray says. “Every one is crucial now. There are times this season when we have been very good and that is the form we have to find in the run-in.The returning players will give us a boost but we have to make sure they are really excited when they get back to the club.”
Wray has been a mainstay of Saracens this season, appearing in every league match except one. “I have played a lot but at this club it is all about getting better,” he says. “You never stop learning.”