Saracens returned to winning ways in the Heineken Champions Cup with a bonus-point victory over Ospreys on Saturday and centre Brad Barritt is confident his side can retain their European title.

Saracens led 23-3 at the interval after tries from Jack Singleton, Alex Lewington and Rotimi Segun before the latter added a second before Richard Barrington secured the 44-3 victory.

The win will come as a relief for the London-based outfit who have had to accept a 35-point deduction in the domestic league and a £5.4m fine, but Barritt still thinks they can be successful on all fronts.

“Europe is still an incredible focus for us,” said the former England centre.

“We are still going into this competition wanting to win it. If we can get into a quarter-final, all bets are off.

“If there are three or four guys who can't play on a weekend, so be it. But make no mistake, this Saracens team wants to win this trophy.

“The challenge now is different in that the last three or four years, Europe has been a priority.

“We've had challenges along the way over the last 12 years that I've been here. This is going to be as unique a challenge as any club's going to face.”


Saracens director of Rugby Mark McCall said: “It was good overall. We thought we were OK in the first half, but we were sloppy at times.

"It was a much better second-half performance and it felt much more like ourselves. It is the first time the group has been together for five months and there has been a positive atmosphere around the club because these lads like each other, so it's good we were able to put something on the field today.

"We are blessed to have a player who is fit like Elliot [Daly], can play in a few positions and can play like he did today which was outstanding."

Saracens return to Premiership action on Friday evening where they face Bath, who sit in eighth with eight points.

Saracens won the last meeting between the pair 41-6 back in 2018.