Opposition view: 'Good decision' not to card Maitland, says Saracens boss McCall

Maitland went up for an aerial challenge with George Furbank during the opening stages of the game, but the Saracens man's elbow made contact with Furbank's head.

Referee Karl Dickson had initially missed the incident, awarding Saracens a penalty for something else before the review came.

Dickson and his team decided it was just a penalty to Saints, meaning Maitland stayed on the field.

And the wing then went on to score two tries as Saracens moved into a 21-3 lead by the break.

The hosts eventually made sure of their place at Twickenham as they secured a 38-15 victory.

And when asked about the decision not to card Maitland, McCall said: "I thought it was a good decision.

"Sean probably didn't need to do what he did, which is to pull out because he's going to compete for the ball.

"I thought it was a good decision."

Saints were hit by a brick wall in the first half, struggling to get past Saracens at every turn.

Phil Dowson's side did eventually have some hope in the second period following scores from Alex Mitchell and James Ramm.

But Saracens shut the door, and a penalty try, allied with an effort from Max Malins, made sure of safe passage to the May 27 showpiece at Twickenham.

"I thought it was our strongest defensive performance for years," McCall said.

"It's always been the DNA of the club and that's as good as we've been for a while to be honest.

"That laid the foundation for the victory and the performance. We were physical and got control of a very good attacking team.

"The players felt in control.

"You're not going to have a semi-final your own way all the time. I was very pleased with how we dealt with it.

"We were emotionally consistent and strong.

"We got on with the next thing, put energy into the next thing. We did our jobs and got back to basics.

"These things happen in finals and semi-finals and we dealt with it really well."