Saracens are locked in an eight-day battle to keep not just their season alive, but also the chance of one more silverware sweep to cap a glittering era.
A generation-defining team will continue to disband this summer, but not, they hope, without one final crack at the game’s top prizes.
To sustain that trophy hunt, however, Saracens face two matches on which their entire season could pivot.
First, Saracens, who have lost five of their last seven games, host Lyon on Saturday night, where they must better Bristol’s result at Connacht on Friday to reach the Champions Cup knockout phase.
Then, Mark McCall’s men entertain Exeter on Saturday week in their last Premiership clash before almost two months without a competitive fixture.
Two wins should keep the club’s season alive, and rugby director McCall has not shied away from the reality of premature knife-edge moments to which his side have become entirely unaccustomed.
“These are two really important games to try to stay in both competitions,” said McCall. “It is a mini-project in a way, because we have seven weeks after this without a game to have a proper deep dive into where we are at and have a reset once we get some injured players back fit.
"A generation-defining team will continue to disband this summer, but not, they hope, without one final crack at the game’s top prizes"
“We have got a mini-project over two games and five training sessions to get the best out of this group.”
No one will disagree with the ever-measured McCall, the last man prone to hyperbole, when he effectively accepts the season is on the line for the reigning Premiership champions.
The six-times Premiership winners and three-times European kings will face more emotional farewells this summer, after Jackson Wray and Duncan Taylor decided to hang up their boots last year.
Billy and Mako Vunipola have been heavily linked with moves away from north London, while uncertainty remains over captain and talisman Owen Farrell, who is reputedly a target for Parisian giants Racing 92.
New England skipper Jamie George has completed terms to stay put, however, and towering Red Rose lock Maro Itoje is poised to follow suit — and McCall is open about the impending squad overhaul.
Both Farrell and George have had a hand in all nine of Saracens’ top triumphs — and McCall knows better than anyone that the best way to span generations is for the outgoing crop to pass the silverware onto the upcoming crew.
“When those players go, I am going to miss them a lot — they are friends as well as colleagues,” said McCall. “All good things come to an end, and there is a re-energising effect and impact of a new group. We have met with the players who we believe will grab hold of the next three to four years.
“There is an exciting new dawn coming, but we also have an important season now, and we have some people leaving who have given their lives to the club.”
England skipper George will miss Saturday's Lyon clash with a sore neck, but will return to full training next week, when linking up with the Red Rose camp.
McCall has watched the 33-year-old grow from boy to man, and hailed his installation as England captain as richly deserved.
“Just to watch him grow from his last year at school to what he has become is incredible,” said McCall. “His patience when he had Schalk Brits and John Smit in front of him [in the pecking order] — Jamie didn’t become a regular until he was 24. It’s a huge honour for him and his family and we are all delighted for him.”
