What’s right with Saracens — and José Mourinho’s Chelsea

It’s hard to love Saracens rugby club — their centre is called Bosch, a word that also describes their bulldozing style of play — but you have to admire the demolition job they did on Clermont Auvergne in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup. The flamboyant French side, free-runners to a man, had 68 per cent of possession, 64 per cent of territory and yet were tackled into impotence. Clermont limped off the Twickenham turf, stuffed 46–6.

The English club play Toulon, the defending champions, in the final in Cardiff on 24 May and again I will be supporting the French team, not just  because this will be the last match of Jonny Wilkinson’s career. He is England’s distant past, though, and England’s future rests on some of these young Saracens, such as Owen Farrell, Mako and Billy Vunipola or Alex Goode.

Chris Ashton may also have an England future, too, after responding to being dropped for the Six Nations in the best possible way — by breaking the Heineken Cup scoring record. Two tries in the semi–final took him to 11 in this year’s tournament. It was good to see that he has discovered a mite of humility, too, not celebrating with his idiotic ‘swallow dive’ that had neutrals begging to see the ball fly out of his grasp before he could ground it.

When he scored 15 tries in his first 17 internationals, Ashton was England’s hero, but his reputation lost some of its lustre in the disastrous World Cup campaign in New Zealand. He scored only three times in his next 20 appearances for England. It was time to try new blood. Jack Nowell and Jonny May did well in the Six Nations, but at 27 Ashton is young enough to regain his place.