Opposition view: Saints defeat 'a good lesson' for Saracens, says McCall

The Gallagher Premiership champions were beaten 41-30 at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, salvaging a try bonus point thanks to two tries in the final two minutes from Alex Lewington.

Saints flew into a 17-0 lead before being pegged back just before the break, with McCall’s men going in just seven points down at half-time.

They cut the gap to four early in the second period, but Saints then delivered a sensational spell in which they took the game away from Saracens.

And McCall, who steered his side to a 52-7 win against Harlequins six days earlier, said: "Overall, we're disappointed.

"Last week, we saw, when everyone was at it and engaged, what we are capable of.

"There are some who were at it and some who were a little bit off, and against a good team like Northampton you pay for that.

"We showed some grit in both halves, to fight back from 17-0 down and from 27-13 to 27-20. We were in the game but never really felt we had control of it.

"Overall, it's a good lesson for us that if we want to do what we want to do, we've got to have everyone right at it.

"I don't know (how crucial the try bonus point will be) but we showed some grit and skill at the end to get an unlikely point from it.

"At 17-0 down, we fought our way back into it and at half-time we were within a couple of inches of going 17-17.

"But I wouldn't want that to get away from our disappointment at setting ourselves a target of stepping up a level and I don't think we achieved that."