Ben Kay exclusive: Saracens can dream of European glory due to 'big-game players' in club's 'Last Dance'

Former England international Ben Kay has told TNT Sports that Saracens can rely on their "big-game players" in their bid to win the Investec Champions Cup this season.

Saracens are set for a rebuilding period next season with Owen Farrell leaving the club at the end of the current campaign to join Racing 92, while rumours persist the Billy Vunipola is also set to depart.

Sarries are still fighting to retain the Gallagher Premiership title in one of the closest races in recent times, while they face a tough trip to Bordeaux Begles in the Champions Cup round of 16 on Saturday, live on TNT Sports.

When asked about how far Sarries could go in the tournament, Kay said that they face a "big challenge" in the knockout round.

"They’ve not travelled to France particularly well this season but it’s almost the Last Dance," he said in an exclusive interview. "Obviously Owen Farrell is leaving, Billy Vunipola leaving to go to France and they’ll want to go out on a high with all that European glory behind them.

"It’s the last shot at it so you never know, the performances might go through the roof. They hammered Harlequins and looked like the team that, as per usual, was going to peak at the right time.

"There’s a bit of pressure on but because there’s still two competitions, there’s not as much pressure because if they don’t win in Europe then they’ll say let’s go and win the league. They’ve also got big-game players that have been there and done it and won things.

"They know what it takes and probably don’t feel they’ve achieved as much as they’ve wanted to in the last couple of years especially where Europe is concerned so it is sometimes that last push that brings out the best in people."

Saracens will be out for revenge after they suffered a crushing 55-15 defeat at the hands of Bordeaux in January in the group stage.

Bordeaux's clash with Sarries will not be the only repeated matches between clubs this season. Leinster will face Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints will take Munster despite meeting in the group stages.

Leicester’s director of rugby Dan McKellar recently criticised the new format of the competition and Kay also expressed his concerns.

"I personally would like to see it reduced down in size lightly so it’s just the best teams in each of the leagues," he said. "But having said that, as we’ve seen this year, the high performing teams in the Premiership aren’t necessarily the ones that were that high up the table last year.

"But, I would like to see a return to the old style format where there were slightly less teams so you play each team home and away so it’s the cream of the crop. Certainly we’ve got some fantastic fixtures but it’s just a shame that there’s a repeat for quite a few of them but I guess whenever there’s a league format change.

"There are untended consequences of it and also the gap between the last rounds, maybe people forget a little bit and the form in those rounds won’t count for anything in these rounds."

Kay said the quality in the competition made it "difficult" to predict a favourite to win the trophy at the end of the season but explained that the winner of the Toulouse v Racing 92 tie would have huge belief.

"Two of the best teams are playing each other," he said. "I think Toulouse especially with potential of having Antoine Dupont back, who’s been away with the sevens for the Six Nations with France, they look like a very strong and formidable team. But they have to play against Racing who will fancy themselves."

Kay also said that Leinster should always be considered as contenders but fears they could be hampered by injuries this season, while he hopes Saints can continue their fine form for the rest of the campaign.

The 48-year-old is particularly looking forward to the "huge" Northampton Saints v Munster and Exeter Chiefs v Bath matches, but stressed that the quality on the show will be make the knockouts a must-watch.

"There’s so many variables in terms of the leagues," Kay explained. "The Premiership is the closest it’s ever been this year and certain teams that haven’t been featuring in the Premiership are suddenly in a rich vein of form. It’s fairly open but I don’t think you can look too far past the old protagonists.

He added: "That’s the beauty of this tournament. So many different styles thrown into the melting pot and it’s just pure quality and it sort of depends on who manages to get their game plan out onto the field that comes out on top."

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