Director of rugby Alan Gaffney rounded on Saracens' critics following their 45-16 Heineken Cup victory over Biarritz.
Sarries boss now hoping to secure home quarter-final tie
Saracens director of rugby Alan Gaffney invited his side's critics to eat their words in the aftermath of their 45-16 Heineken Cup victory over Biarritz.
The French side suffered their biggest-ever loss in the competition as Saracens moved to the brink of securing home advantage for the knockout stages.
Successive losses to Newcastle and Bristol in the build up to Saturday's clash saw the Vicarage Road club come under fire and Gaffney was delighted by his team's response.
He said: "The players put their hands up today. We've been knocked for our last two games and deservedly so as we didn't play well.
"Some critics have pounded us for underachieving. It's a monotonous cry by certain people but we showed today that some of the criticism is unfounded.
"The underachieving tag that we have is an absolute misnomer. It's absolute drivel.
"We haven't performed well over the last two weeks but we have the potential and I don't think we're underachieving.
"We like to play attacking rugby. Sometimes we put ourselves under pressure but that's how we want to play."
All Black lock Chris Jack led the assault with two tries while Hugh Vyvyan and Rodd Penney also crossed with referee Nigel Owens awarding a late penalty try.
Fightback
Saracens found the going tough against a resolute Biarritz defence in the first half, but made inroads in the second period - Gaffney acclaiming their fightback.
He said: "Biarritz are no slouches. Look at the quality they have. I know they haven't been scoring many tries but they've tried to be more attacking recently.
"They pride themselves on their defence so I'm absolutely delighted that we managed to score five tries.
"Hugh Vyvyan's score in first-half injury time gave us huge impetus to go on and win. It gave us belief."
Gaffney added that his side would be "aggressive" in their efforts against Glasgow in their final Pool match in order to secure a home tie in the quarter-finals.
"We're looking for a home tie in the knockout stages. When we've played Glasgow in the past it's always been a score in it," he said.
"But we need to be ambitious to secure a home quarter-final and that's what we'll play for. Glasgow have a fantastic record. We know we have a hard task, but the rewards are enormous."
