Sanderson praises Jones' teachings
Owen Farrell was instrumental in Saracens’ success, which saw them stay second in Premiership Rugby, scoring a try and kicking three penalties and a conversion on his way to 16 points.
Owen Williams kicked four penalties for Tigers, but Farrell’s second-half score proved decisive as Saracens managed to overcome Leicester’s dominance of the scrum to rack up their tenth win of the Premiership season so far.
And Sanderson believes the resilience of Farrell, Maro Itoje and the rest of their England contingent has improved since Jones took charge of the national side, something which is a constant benefit to the North London men.
"Owen is in brilliant form. The resilience and the adaptability of the boys this season – a lot of which they have learned from international games and from Eddie Jones – they have brought that back into the club game," the former Saracens and Sale Sharks back row said.
"They keep finding a way to win these boys, it certainly didn’t go to plan. We thought we would have more in us up front today.
"On the field, if something is not working then they have got a plan b and a clear head and good clarity in their communication when they move to a different plan.
"We expected it to be a bit of an arm wrestle and we lost a bit of dominance there and especially in the scrum.
"To get that hard fought win means a lot to us. It is a big win for us,"
Tigers’ director of rugby Richard Cockerill refused to be downbeat after watching his side push the reigning champions to the brink and pick up a losing bonus point, though they are now six points adrift of fourth-place Bath Rugby.
Cockerill highlighted the phenomenal effort of front-row trio Ellis Genge, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole, who were constantly on top against their Saracens counterparts, with youngster Genge lasting the entire game at loosehead.
"I thought we played well, I thought the front row were outstanding, Genge, Youngs and Cole and with the weather it was always going to be tight," he said.
"We had them under pressure in the set piece and our scrum was outstanding, but they are very good at staying in the game and took their opportunity well.
"I think there was one poor pass and one misread in defence for their try and that’s the game – it was that tight, two good sides.
"We have got to regroup, we have to go to Wasps. There is a long way to go, but I back this squad to get us into the top four and into the play-offs and we have got to do everything we can to do that.
"He got a whack on the knee, it happens, but that wasn’t the difference, I thought both sides went at it and it was a good performance from both sides and we fell the wrong side of the result.
"We have been knocked out of the top four, but we have got a long way to go and we are going to battle hard. The boys are disappointed, but they should be proud of their performance,"
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