“When a younger player has been brought in, either from the academy or from the outside to take over from the senior players – you think of Jamie George and Schalk Brits, Ben Earl and Jacques Burger, Nick Tompkins and Brad Barritt, or Maro Itoje and Steve Borthwick – they’re not mirror images of the great player they are replacing. That is really important that they are their own player and they have got their own time to grow.
“They have grown into great players for the club in their own way and we very much hope and think that is what’s going to happen with Fergus. But Fergus has got to be allowed to breathe. People shouldn’t try to compare him directly with Owen, because he’s a very different kind of player. But he’s got everything that he needs to become a great player at the club over the years. That’s very much the way we look at it.”
‘Fergus was never rushed and very measured’
In the search for Farrell’s replacement, Saracens carried out comprehensive due diligence, including speaking to All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson, his former mentor at the Crusaders. But it was in two long conversations with the player, who had never been to the UK before his appearance for the Barbarians against Fiji at Twickenham in June, that McCall was convinced that they had found their man.
“When we talked to him, there was just something very assured about him,” McCall said.
“We’d seen that in his game, that he was never rushed, and he’s very measured. Clearly, he had a fantastic skill set, but, talking to him, we just felt that he was a good fit. He worked really hard to get here as early as he could and join us for the pre-season, because, at one point, he was maybe going to have to stay in Canterbury until October or November, which wouldn’t have been ideal for anybody.
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