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A victory for Saracens over bogey-side Munster tomorrow would give the club a break from the negative headlines that have surrounded them in recent weeks.
Just before Christmas, reports circulated that Saracens were being investigated by Premiership Rugby over allegations they had broken the £5.5million salary cap.
That put the spotlight firmly on the club for all the wrong reasons but Saracens full-back Alex Goode brushes off such attention.
“Those things don’t bother you,” said the England international. “People have been taking chunks out of us for a while saying lots of things, including calling us London South Africa at one point! Our rugby has been described as boring and you have to keep your head down and let the results take care of themselves.”
Saracens have lost five of their six games against Munster and they hope to improve that dreadful record in tomorrow’s home Rugby Champions Cup clash.
Victory for Munster would make it their 100th European win and Goode said: “They always seem to raise their game for Europe but so do we. Having made the final and semis in the last two seasons, we have proved we are also serious contenders.
“Each season we are getting better and we’re relishing the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with a team that have been right at the top of the sport for a long time in Europe.
“We feel that at home we can really ramp things up. One critic said that we have been ‘listless’ but we are not panicking. We have had injuries to key players but in the last six weeks we have played well.
“These two games with Munster and then away to Clermont, are basically knock-out matches and they come at a good time for us.”
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England head coach Stuart Lancaster will annouce his squad for the Six Nations next Wednesday but Goode is only focusing on this game against the double European champions.
Goode added: “If you look any further ahead than Munster you will get bitten because they come alive in Europe. They will chuck everything at us.
“Playing consistently well for the club will, hopefully, get me recognised by England and these two European games are a perfect opportunity.”
@chrisjones51
