English clubs can restore national pride in Europe, says Brad Barritt

The Champions Cup kicks off this weekend with Barritt’s Saracens at home to Toulouse

Brad Barritt in action for Saracens, whose 12-6 win kept them top of the Premiership (Rex)

The World Cup went begging but England centre Brad Barritt believes now is the time for the country’s clubs to make their mark in Europe.

The Champions Cup kicks off this weekend with Barritt’s Saracens – England’s most recent finalists in a competition not won by a Premiership team since Wasps in 2007 – at home to Toulouse.

“Our focus now is on Saracens and this European Cup,” Barritt said after Saturday’s 12-6 win at Northampton put his club top of the Premiership with four wins out of four. “We’ve been in the final and semi-finals the last three years and it’s our year to really take this trophy [on] and take it to another level.

“The Premiership is getting more competitive every year and last season there were six or seven sides that could have made the play-offs. So we know we play in a high-quality competition and it’s now time we show that and that a few English teams get through the big games. The past couple of years we’ve been the only ones. I’m pretty certain the others will go a bit further this year.”

Barritt was never heard singing the praises of Sam Burgess in the build-up to the World Cup, during which they started together against Wales, and now the sometime Bath flanker and England centre has returned to rugby league, Barritt was not inclined to bid him a fond farewell either.

“It’s really not for us to comment,” Barritt replied when asked how he and his England team-mates felt about Burgess’s departure. “Each and every person needs to do what they need to do.”

Northampton’s Luther Burrell, the man most obviously affected by Burgess’s selection as it contributed to his exclusion from the England squad, chose not to comment.

The parochial rivalries of domestic competition were reflected in the Saracens and England lock George Kruis’s mention of Northampton’s new stadium being part of the motivation for his side’s victory. It was achieved by Owen Farrell’s perfect place-kicking of four penalty goals to one each for Northampton by Steve Myler, who also missed one, and JJ Hanrahan.

“Rugby’s a seven-day sport, you have ups and downs wherever you go,” Barritt said. “All the boys [from the World Cup] have relished getting competitive again and there’s no better way than to come to Franklin’s Gardens and produce a performance like that.”

The result leaves Saints in the bottom half of the table and they next face Scarlets in the Champions Cup.