Saracens rugby director Mark McCall hailed his team's emphatic 35-12 victory over Gloucester as a major improvement.
Sarries boss impressed with victory over Gloucester
Saracens rugby director Mark McCall hailed his team's emphatic 35-12 victory over Gloucester as a major improvement on previous performances.
But McCall warned his players they will face a very different opponent if, as expected, Gloucester return for the Aviva Premiership play-off semi-final at Vicarage Road on May 15.
Saracens were always the better side in the Easter sunshine and collected a four-try bonus point win with Schalk Brits, Ernst Joubert, Matt Stevens and David Strettle touching down, while Alex Goode kicked three penalties and three conversions.
McCall said: "We were very disappointed last weekend despite winning at Exeter. We talked about our performance and we were much better this week.
Complete
"We were more like the Saracens we want to be. All aspects of our game were good and this win was deserved.
"But if we do face Gloucester in the semi-final we know a different team will turn up, not a side who must have been affected by playing three games in eight days.
"Our next task is to prepare for our trip to Harlequins in round 22, which is in two weeks' time.
"It's a break and it's the way things are because next weekend we return to European rugby, so we'll train as usual and be ready for Harlequins when the time comes."
McCall paid tribute to his squad after they earned a ninth straight league win to close the gap on leaders Leicester to just one point heading into the final round of the regular season.
He added: "The team performance was good, a number of individuals played well - Alex Goode, Brad Barritt, Andy Soull when he came on, and Richard Wigglesworth.
"It's almost unfair, however, to single people out after a fine all-round display by the squad on the day."
Maturity
Gloucester head coach Bryan Redpath was disappointed with his side's performance but refused to criticise his players after a hectic recent schedule.
James Simpson-Daniel and Henry Trinder scored tries for Gloucester, the latter converted by Ryan Mills, to provide some consolation.
Redpath admitted: "We did not play well and Saracens deserved their win. But we may well have run out of steam given what we've had to handle in the past eight days.
"We conceded some poor scores and therefore did not give ourselves a real chance. But we are definitely better than that performance and now we need to achieve a five-point victory over Sale in two weeks to guarantee that we're back at Saracens in the semi-final.
"Saracens were clinical in what they did, taking their chances and protecting their possession. They showed more maturity than us on the day and we made too many mistakes, some of which proved costly.
"We never claimed to be the best team in England - we are still a notch down from the very best - but it's about learning and developing.
"The players have not had a week off since August 14. We always had training through the weeks all season and I cannot thank them enough for what they have done."
