Brad Barritt admits it will take time for Saracens to get over Champions Cup loss but Premiership can offer redemption

Saracens will need a few days to get over their disappointment after seeing their European Champions Cup reign ends, according to their captain Brad Barritt, but they cannot afford to dwell on the defeat against Leinster for too long or else risk a first trophy-less season in four years.

Sunday’s 30-19 defeat at the Aviva Stadium ensured that Saracens will not emulate Toulon’s feat by winning three consecutive European Cups, with both Barritt and director of rugby Mark McCall admitting that they were “beaten by the better team” in the shape of a Leinster side that are firm favourites to win next month’s final.

Having relinquished their European crown, Saracens’ only hope of winning silverware this season will come in the Premiership where they sit in second place and are on course for a home semi-final. But with the chasing four teams all within six points and memories of last season’s disappointing defeat at Exeter in the play-offs, the 2015/16 champions will want to give themselves the best shot at ensuring they don’t fail to win a trophy for the first time since 2014.

But while that focus will return for this Saturday’s trip to Northampton Saints, Barritt admitted that it may take a while for the players to get their Dublin disappointment out of their system.

“I think it will be a few days before the disappointment settles,” Barritt said after Saracens failed to reach the European semi-finals for the first time since 2012. “As a playing group we were very excited, the preparation was smooth and very good ahead of this fixture so it’s not something we can instantly forget, but on the flipside you do have the opportunity to make success out of the rest of the season.

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“As a team now we’ll regroup on Wednesday and galvanise as a group and put all of our efforts into achieving success in the Premiership.”

What will comes as a relief to Barritt and his teammates is that they will not be facing another side this season of the calibre of Leinster. Saracens may have dominated the first half – enjoying 64 per cent possession and 67 per cent territory – but they were not able to convert any of their chances before the break whereas the Irish side displayed a clinical threat in the opening minutes of both halves to put themselves out of reach and into the semi-finals.

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Defending Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs look set to top the table this year, while Wasps will no doubt pose a serious threat in the semi-finals if at full strength. The Coventry-based side sit in third and, if the top three remains as it is, will face a trip to Allianz Park rather than the home comforts that they enjoyed last year.

Both Exeter and Wasps certainly have their strengths, but the fact is this season that they simply don’t match up to Leinster. Having met Leinster’s challenge for large parts of Sunday’s defeat, Barritt believes Saracens won’t face that type of threat again this season.

“They’re a very good team,” he added. “I think in terms of the level that it was played at today, we thought that it was something a little more than we’ve had this season. Again, you never want to make predictions but I thought they were full quality today and they backed up what they did in the pool stages so they are a very, very good team.”

Saracens have four matches left in the regular Premiership season to tie down a home semi-final, with all of those matches coming against sides below them in the table in Northampton, Bath, basement side London Irish and finally Gloucester. Putting this defeat aside to reclaim the Premiership title would certainly go a long way to banishing the memories of this loss, but with Bath and Gloucester chasing a top four finish and Irish fighting to stay in the league, any lingering effects from their Dublin disappointment could have huge consequences for the fading hopes.