McCall bids farewell to StoneX as Saracens beat Harlequins to reach play-off brink

Mark McCall signed off at StoneX Stadium with a 26-12 Gallagher Premiership victory over Harlequins on Saturday, a result that moves Saracens into the top four and sets up a winner-takes-fourth-place showdown with Exeter next weekend.

The 58-year-old, who is stepping down at the end of the season after 17 years at the club — 15 of them as director of rugby — watched his side record a fifth consecutive win, a run he described as looking “impossible” when it began with a victory at Sale in April. The result was his 573rd match in charge, attended by friends and family, and he marked the occasion with a glass of white wine.

McCall’s tenure has produced six Premiership titles and three European Champions Cup crowns, and he now has the chance to add one more piece of silverware before he leaves. “It’s never been about one person. It’s never been about me, ever,” he said after the final whistle. “The most important thing today was what happened on the field. We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last six or seven weeks to make this game important.”

Reflecting on a run that has transformed Saracens’ season, McCall added: “It probably wasn’t our best performance but we got the job done and it’s a new habit, a good habit that we’ve got now — that we find a way in matches. That’s five in a row and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Looking back on nearly two decades at the club, McCall was candid about the passage of time. “It feels like so much has happened in the last 17 years and it has. So much. But it also feels like it’s gone in the blink of an eye. I’m lucky that I ended up here when I ended up here — sometimes there’s fortune involved in where your career takes you and the people you end up with.”

For Harlequins, the defeat leaves them in a precarious position as they battle Sale and Gloucester for the final Investec Champions Cup qualification spot, which goes to the highest-placed team outside the top four. Head coach Jason Gilmore called for a strong finish when his side host Northampton at The Stoop next Saturday. “We’ve set the mark of the Champions Cup, that’s been our focus for a few weeks now, but also pride in the shirt,” Gilmore said. “We don’t just want to be in the game, but to win it as well.”

McCall has not yet revealed what he plans to do once his time at Saracens concludes.