Saracens are one of the most successful rugby clubs in England over the past decade. They have been the best club in Europe on multiple occasions. So how much have they won with some brilliant teams?
How many trophies have Saracens won? Saracens have won 17 trophies in total. This is across their history since the club was formed in 1876.
For pretty much the first hundred years of Saracen’s existence, there weren’t formal rugby competitions which gave out trophies at the end of the competition to the winner. The club finally won their first recognised trophy in 1972 when they were crowned champions of the Middlesex Senior Cup.
This would become a successful tournament for Saracens over the next 15 years. They would win three more Middlesex Senior Cups before a league competition was formed. However, Saracens were not immediately in the top flight of the competition. In fact, their first league trophy was the RFU Championship in 1989.
Having been relegated back down to the Championship, they won the league again in 1995 and were able to stay in the Premiership for more than 20 years after this promotion. They captured the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 1998, the same season they finished as runners-up in the Premiership.
Saracens would then have a trophy drought of 13 years, which was ended when the team won their first Premiership Rugby trophy in 2011. This began a decade of a lot of trophies for Saracens. They added four more Premiership titles, as well as three European Champions Cup trophies.
They won the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2015 and won the RFU Championship for the third time in 2021. This RFU Championship trophy is the last that Saracens have won, taking their total to 17. It is likely that they will add to this number in the next few years, with Saracens still competing for trophies domestically and in Europe.
What was Saracen’s biggest loss?
Saracens have been one of the best rugby teams in England over the last decade. Despite that, it is believed that the team’s biggest loss came just a few years ago, against a team no longer in the Premiership.
Saracen’s biggest loss was when they lost 60-10 to Wasps in February 2020. It may sound like a pretty shocking result, but it was certainly not Saracen’s strongest team. They were without many of their starters due to the Six Nations. Guys like Owen Farell, Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George were all absent from the team.
Wasps were able to unlock the Saracen’s defence, scoring eight tries in total. Zach Kibirige and Brad Shields both picked up a pair of tries, with Jimmy Gopperth adding 20 points on his own with the boot.
But this was a Saracen’s team that still had a huge amount of quality. World Cup winner Vincent Kock started the game for Saracens. Their team also had former or current internationals like Nick Isiekwe, Alex Goode, Andy Christie and Duncan Taylor.
Saracens will have still been very upset about the result even though they were missing a lot of their internationals. Wasps benefitted from having many of their players available as they weren’t on international duty.
This is currently the biggest Saracen’s loss on record, with it being incredibly unlikely that they have a bigger loss on record because the scores were much lower in rugby previous to rule changes in the 1980s and 1990s.
Who are Saracen’s main rivals?
While there is not always a huge amount of rivalry in rugby, there is definitely one team that you would say are Saracen’s main rival.
Harlequins are likely Saracen’s main rivals. That is because the two teams have often been located pretty close to each other. Harlequins have always been located in West London, around the Twickenham area. Whereas Saracen’s have usually been located in North London, making them local rivals.
Their close proximity has meant that in the past, players have controversially made the move between the two teams. Jason Leonard was the classic example. Despite starting with Saracen’s, he became a Harlequins legend after moving to the West London team. David Strettle is another player to make the move, going the opposite way.
The rivalry has been ignited slightly more by the differences between the two teams. Saracens have been the most successful team out of the two, mainly down to the budget that Saracens operate with. Harlequins have had some success, but not to the same level.
Some people would also look at the Exeter Chiefs as Saracen’s main rival. That is not because of location, with the two teams located hundreds of miles apart. It is because they have been incredibly successful over the last decade.
The two teams have met in the Premiership final three times in the past decade, with Saracen’s coming out on top all three times. They have also met in European competitions and their matchups are always incredibly physical. But Harlequins are likely still the team’s main rival.
How are Saracen’s still in the Premiership?
Considering some of the financial issues that Saracens have had over the last few years, there are a few people confused as to how the team are currently in the Premiership.
Saracen’s are in the Premiership because they won the Championship in 2021. Due to breaking the salary cap regulations, Saracen’s were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2019-20 season thanks to a huge points deduction. But they were not in the Championship for very long.
Saracen’s finished in second place in the regular season, winning eight of their nine games in the regular season. This put them in the RFU Championship Final against Ealing Trailfinders. They defeated Ealing 57-15 in the final and this sent them back to the Premiership straight away.
It was hardly surprising that Saracen stayed in the Championship for just one season because they had so many internationals. In the final alone, international players like Nick Tompkins, Jamie George, Vincent Koch, Elliot Daly and Mako Vunipola all scored tries, sending their team back to the Premiership.