Jeremy Guscott column: Saracens have found the answer to repeated success

Having won the Premiership for the first time in 2011 and then not achieving much in the immediate season afterwards, a lot of people thought Saracens might be going through a wobble and questioned if they had peaked. And if so what was going to happen to change the model?
The people in charge – director of rugby Mark McCall and his coaches Paul Gustard, Alex Sanderson and Kevin Sorrell – responded by redesigning the programme and evolving the way Saracens play the game.
They identified what type of player they wanted, those who best suited the environment and would help change the culture, and they have done incredibly well to build off the back of that fallow season.
It’s always a test of a team to reproduce the goods. We’ve seen how excellent you were last season but how can you back it up?  Bath have not been able to do so this season.
Saracens may have believed their 2011 triumph was the beginning of a long reign. But they didn’t plan well enough for the next stage.
The got whooped 22-3 by Clermont at home in the 2012 Heineken Cup quarter-final and were outclassed and outgunned on that occasion. But in the space of two seasons they turned it  round and got their own back in 2014, humiliating Clermont 46-6 in the semi-final.
The programme post-2012 has been nothing short of magnificent in producing a culture, playing style and winning attitude in the players. It’s all about winning. They are hungry for it and work damn hard in the right way with the right people to achieve that.
It’s refreshing when you get a player like Schalk Brits – who you would think is more suited to Wasps, Exeter or Bath of last season, teams who play free-flowing attacking rugby – excel season after season in a team that were pretty three-dimensional four seasons ago.
Then Saracens relied on kick, chase, defend – and although they still scored a lot of tries, they weren’t an overly exciting side. They worked to a limited formula and it came off.
Now that formula has been expanded. They scored a lot of tries last season and this season they are continuing to do the same – but they seem to be using a different model now.
They’ve added an attacking dimension to their formula and go from further out. If an opportunity is on they take it.
Rather than always being so rigid, where the first thought was looking to get out of their half before playing, now they can go from anywhere with the athletic young forwards and genuine finishers out wide.
Sensibly if they are in their own 22 they generally still look to clear but beyond that they are prepared to attack and that’s come about through added experience and really understanding the shape they want to play.
Saracens spent a lot of years building a base and now they are expanding their repertoire which allows them to adapt to any side they are playing against.
It’s got to the point where it’s hard to find a weakness.
Owen Farrell‘s game has developed like his team’s. No longer happy to sit in the pocket and look to kick, the way he attacks very flat to the line makes it easier for Marcelo Bosch and Brad Barrit and a lot more enjoyable for players like Chris Ashton and Alex Goode who have that hunger to get the ball, make breaks and score tries.
They have become an exceptional team. They have good depth and a decent blend of experience and exciting young players all at the top of their game, so they must believe they will get the better of Northampton in the Champions Cup next week.
They will be confident at Allianz Park and then they shouldn’t get phased by the semi-final either. In previous seasons they have lost a semi-final, then won one, then lost in the final to a very good Toulon. If they face Toulon again it will be more of a psychological battle because they know they have the talent to beat anyone.
Saints won’t be easy. They’ve found a glimmer of form and a lot of their team have been victorious at Allianz in recent times. They know that at their best they can win – but to do that they’ll need their backline firing.
The forward way is ingrained in Saints, so they will need to realise they can’t bully a Saracens pack which is more advanced than their own. Northampton will  need to play an all-encompassing game and attack through George North, Luther Burrell, Ben Foden and the Pisi brothers.
If they click they are a very dangerous team, but I think the experience Saracens have garnered in the last four  seasons will see them through.
Leicester will likely join them in the semi-final. Aaron Mauger has got the Tigers ramping up for the end of the season. Stade Francais aren’t in the same form as last year and, at Welford Road, Tigers are a tough opposition. They are capable of going all the way in this competition.
Exeter travel to Coventry to play Wasps in what I reckon will be a humdinger. If you look at their lineups it’s clear that neither were really targeting a quarter-final at the start of the season but now they are here they will have a real crack.
It will be a fast and furious attacking game and is too tight to call largely because neither have been overly consistent this season. They have played wonderful stuff at times and won some amazing games but they have also lost some surprise matches.
You usually go with the home side in close ones but I  wouldn’t be surprised if a full-strength Chiefs turn Wasps over.