Alex Sanderson says Saracens must avoid complacency if Mark McCall’s men are to defend their Premiership Rugby title.

Saracens returned to training last week ahead of the season opener against Newcastle Falcons on September 2nd.

And the Sarries’ defensive coach believes maintaining consistency is key to repeating last season’s success.

“Continuity is everything,” said Sanderson.

“You can do the studies and the evidence out there is the best sporting teams who have success and longevity have succession plans and have lifers – players and coaches who are committed to the club for life and that’s the only way you can maintain and sustain a strong culture and environment.

“Having said that, the one caveat is complacency because you account for people’s weaknesses.

"You have to keep having those difficult conversations and keep asking ‘why are we doing this?’ and not just go with the flow all the time.

“We’ve got a good relationship amongst the players and coaches to question each other, keep each other on our toes and keep performing.”

Saracens have only lost a few players following the 27-10 victory over Exeter Chiefs in last season’s Premiership Rugby Final at Twickenham.

Schalk Brits and Chris Wyles have both retired, while Nathan Earle moved to Harlequins and Kieran Longbottom returned to Australia.

New signings have arrived with Alex Lewington and Tom Woolstencroft joining from London Irish and former England international David Strettle transferring from Clermont Auvergne.

Sanderson says pre-season preparations have progressed positively, but the 38-year-old insists Sarries’ attention has not yet turned towards their season opener.

“The sun is shining, we’re getting fit and we fully believe we’re the best team in the world as there aren’t any games at the weekend!

“It’s a slow build-up, we’re not even talking about Newcastle at the moment - we’re just working on processes.

“As the time gets closer we’ll be building up to the start of the Premiership and to be honest, when you’ve not played for a few months they have a lot of residual excitement; it’s the start of the new campaign and that carries its own enthusiasm.”