England lock Maro Itoje never had any doubt Saracens would return to top table

Maro Itoje never had any doubt Saracens would be back competing for the biggest prizes but has admitted it would be an “amazing achievement” to secure more Twickenham success on Saturday.

The StoneX Stadium club are back in the Gallagher Premiership play-off final, 12 months after a two-legged victory over Ealing earned promotion from the second tier.

Sarries’ relegation to the Championship in 2020 was expected to be the end of an era for the north London club, who had won five league titles and three European crowns during a glittering decade of success before being shamed by the salary cap scandal.

However, for England international Itoje it was a matter of when, not if they would return to the home of English rugby to battle for honours again.

“I felt Saracens was the best place for me to continue to grow as a rugby player and as a person and I still felt certain towards it being an environment where I could achieve all my goals,” the lock said ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Leicester.

“It was a tumultuous period for everyone involved at Saracens but personally I had very little reservations in my mind about staying.

“I knew this was the place I wanted to be and I knew Saracens would be back competing for things. You only need to look at the quality of personnel.

“When I say personnel, I am not only talking about playing staff, I am talking about coaches, head office and support staff to know we would be back at some point at these type of arenas.”

It was the winter of 2019 when Saracens were initially punished for repeated breaches of the salary cap rule but only the following January when relegation was confirmed.

Covid-19 was the next headache for the club – and the whole of the world – with Itoje able to admit