Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall believes his side have a lot to play for, although he does concede that Toulouse are now in charge of Pool 3 following their 17-16 win on Friday night.
McCall’s side had seemed set for the win at Wembley when Chris Wyles’ try and some important kicks from Owen Farrell gave them a 16-7 lead. Wyles crossed over the line in the ninth minute, with Farrell converting before the British and Irish Lions fly-half added a further three penalties.
But in a thrilling second-half, they were unable to hold on and Toulouse scored ten points in the space of three minutes to snatch the victory. Saracens fought to come back into the contest but Farrell saw his long-range penalty fall short before a late drop-goal attempt was blocked.
McCall admits that Toulouse will now be favourites to top the pool but he is adamant that there is still a lot for his side to play for.
He said: “We had a couple of chances in injury time. Owen’s penalty was pretty close. I thought there were a couple of penalties in those 22 phases at the end but it didn’t appear as though they’d be given.
“It demonstrated the fight and composure of the team that we were able to do that. It’s unbelievably disappointing to lose. This result puts Toulouse in control of the group to a degree, but we still have a lot to play for.
“We must do the job when we have Zebre back to back in December.”
Zebre play host to Connacht on Saturday with both sides looking for their first victory of the campaign, before Saracens travel to Parma on the resumption of Heineken Cup action on December 7.
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