Owen Farrell hailed the resolve of his Saracens side as they returned to the top of the English game by beating Sale Sharks 35-25 to win their first Premiership title since 2019.
In a see-saw thriller at Twickenham, Saracens pulled away in the final quarter with tries by Ivan van Zyl and Elliot Daly securing the north London club's sixth title to go level with Wasps and Bath.
The club's salary cap breach and subsequent season in the Championship was followed by a gut wrenching last-minute loss to Leicester Tigers in last year's final but Farrell was delighted that they went one better this time around.
He said: “It wasn't our best performance of the season and it was proper tense finals rugby. We had to stay in the game when it looked like we weren't at our best for the most part. For us to be able to stick in and close out a tough final makes me immensely proud.
“I want to continue getting the best out of myself and the best out of the group, this team works hard at doing that. We had our setbacks in recent years, losing the final and everything that went on before that but to see how strong this club is is fantastic. We hope to be in the big dance again as we want to be here every year.
“It's not about redemption, it's more about getting the best out of ourselves. We closed up shop in the final last year, so this year was about doing enough and thankfully we did.”
Sale were competitive throughout and played their part in a thrilling final by taking the lead for the first time in the second half with Bevan Rodd's 52nd-minute converted try, but ultimately came up short in their first final since 2006.
Departing Jono Ross was proud of the journey Sale are on and how the club have utilised their “Northern rugby matters” campaign to put their club on the map.
He said: “I'm massively disappointed but I'm proud of the group and fair play to Saracens they've probably been the best team this year. I think this is the start of a journey for Sale Sharks and hopefully the first of many finals.
“Saracens won those fine moments. We were speaking about belief, sticking to our systems but we were beaten by a better team.
Match report -Page 8
Battling Saracens take their sixth title
Saracens No.8 Jackson Wray bowed out of the club in an emotional farewell as his 14-year spell at the club came to an end.
Now retired, Wray was thankful to leave the sport on a high and play his part in guiding Sarries back to the top of the English game. He said: “It means everything to get Sarries back on top of the game in England. It hasn't quite sunk in but it means a hell of a lot.
“It would have been great to have won it last year but we wanted to get back here as we knew we were good enough. We didn't play well enough in the final last year. We weren't at our best today but we stuck in and fought for everything, and we got it done. Personally it's really satisfying being able to go out at the top of the game.
“This club has given me everything, it's all I've known. To be able to be a part of getting this club back to the top and getting all these great people to where they deserve to be is incredibly satisfying as I couldn't have finished my career any better.”
Sale centre Manu Tuilagi, who signed a new contract with the northern club earlier this month, was hurting at the full time whistle but stresses that it's an exciting time for his team and is thankful to their vocal supporters who made the journey down south in their droves.
He said: “Today was an amazing opportunity but it doesn't always go the way you wanted it to go which hurts. When you love something so much and work so hard for it, it is painful but it will only make us stronger as a team. I'd like to thank the people from the north west as the support was amazing. We could feel it today and we're very fortunate to have that.
“The boys, the backroom staff and management are all working together which is the hardest thing to get. To get everyone going the same direction is a challenge but we love the environment, love going into training and playing for each other.”
