Following victory over Sale, Saracens rugby director Brendan Venter insisted that his side are good enough to become champions.
Saracens supremo delighted by hard-fought triumph
After watching his side clinch a hard-fought 15-13 triumph over Sale, Saracens rugby director Brendan Venter insisted his side are good enough to become champions.
Venter was quick to praise fly-half Derick Hougaard who kicked all 15 points in the victory in what was tense, and full-blooded encounter.
"In those conditions, Derick was outstanding," stated Venter. "He not only kicked his goals but also controlled the game in the important areas.
"Pre-match I told the boys they would be winners tonight because they are a team with enormous character. We have a lot of very talented players and we fought back from going behind.
"A lot of little things went wrong for us. We missed an early kick, then had a try disallowed that I believed was a try. Sale then broke out and scored a good try followed by a penalty from Charlie Hodgson.
"But we came back and came back. It's the character in the boys. It shines through.
"When I came here I was fortunate to have Steve Borthwick and Wikus van Heerden, great leaders and guys the younger players follow.
"And I believe where we are began when we went to South Africa in pre-season for 10 days. It was like the old days, bonding, getting to know each other. Now they are friends off the field and very close on it.
"There's a long way to go. Our next league game will be the halfway mark but I believe we can win the title, we are good enough as a squad."
Jones gracious
Sale rugby director Kingsley Jones was gracious in defeat and conceded that Saracens deserve to top the Guinness Premiership table.
"They are the best team in the Premiership because they are very strong in all the key areas," he explained.
"But we are very disappointed to leave with one point instead of four. That was a game we could have won. The performance was excellent but we let them off the hook through making schoolboy errors.
"We had the plan in difficult conditions and we had the chances. What we do not have yet is the maturity. That comes with experience.
"Charlie Hodgson was my man of the match, a tremendous performance. It seems England have closed the door on Charlie, which is good news for Sale if not for the player. Questions about Charlie need to be addressed to Martin Johnson.
"Overall, I believe the game is called rugby football, so a kicking game is important, but it is not called just football.
"We played the better rugby but we were up against the most organised outfit in the Premiership."
