England back Elliot Daly has followed Jamie George and Mako Vunipola in committing to Saracens, agreeing a new three-year contract.
Daly is nearing the end of his first season at Saracens, one embroiled in controversy for the reigning Premiership champions who have been relegated to the second tier for breaching the league’s salary cap.
But that had no impact on where Daly saw his future after leaving boyhood club Wasps 12 months ago.
“From the first day I was in, the professionalism of the squad and the way we train is brilliant,” Daly, 27, said in praise of the culture at Saracens.
“Everyone knows what situation we’re in and now it’s just a challenge for us to develop as players. This next year is an important year for us to get out of the Championship and play some good stuff so when we come back into the Premiership we’re at the same level as we were.
“I think we’re really prepared. We’ve talked about it a lot; we understand our situation, and each and every player understands what our roles are going to be.
“What we’ve got to do is be professional about it and go about our business. If we do that then we’re going to be in good stead and hopefully we’ll bring some of the young talent through as well.”
Test inclusion for Daly at last year’s Rugby World Cup and the Six Nations for England has seen him limited to seven appearances for his new club.
But the 43-cap back is likely to add to that number following the exits of usual full-backs Alex Goode, Max Malins, and Matt Gallagher – the latter on a permanent move to Munster, while Goode and Malins have agreed one-year loan deals elsewhere.
Daly toured New Zealand with the British & irish Lions in 2017, playing in all three Tests in the series which the Lions drew 1-1 with the All Blacks.