Saracens were motivated by 2014 defeats - Mark McCall

Saracens head coach Mark McCall stated that the defeat in the 2014 finals motivated his team to complete double victories of European Champions Cup and Aviva Premiership this season.

Two years back, Saracens lost to Toulon 23-6 in the Heineken Cup final and a week later they lost to Northampton in the Aviva Premiership final by a narrow margin of 24-20.

However, they broke the tide this time around after becoming the first team in nine years to win a European Champions Cup after defeating Racing 92 in the final and on Saturday they went on to defend their Aviva Premiership title following their 28-20 victory over Exeter at Twickenham.

The win also meant that Saracens became the first English club since 2004 to complete a European and domestic double.

Recollecting the 2014 defeats, McCall said it was a painful experience, but believes Saracens have made a lot of progress since then.

"We all remember what it felt like two years ago when we lost two finals in a row, the second of them here in the last second of extra time," McCall said.

"It was painful and as hard as it gets. Then to have the two seasons we've had since then....

"You can only play 33 games in a season and we've lost four. That's not a bad record and it indicates that we don't pick and choose our games, but front up all the time," McCall said.

"If we keep that up I don't see why we won't be back in these sorts of games. The age profile of the squad is good, is really good.

"Everybody is signed up for the next two to three seasons. The spine of the team is there, but the Premiership is always getting better. We've got to stay hungry and motivated and no doubt we will."

Saracens had a convincing lead of 23-6 over Exeter at half-time riding on tries from centre Duncan Taylor and winger Chris Wyles while fly-half Owen Farrell added 13 points.

However, Exeter made a tremendous comeback with replacement Jack Yeandle and winger Jack Nowell scoring tries to reduce the margin to 23-20 by the 73rd minute.

In the end it was Alex Goode's decisive try in the 75th minute that made the difference as Saracens completed a thrilling 28-20 victory.

McCall credited Exeter for the resilience they showed in the second half and went on to laud Goode's heroics in the closing stage.

"You get concerned when it becomes a three-point game. We just couldn't get our hands on the ball in the second half," McCall said.

"Give Exeter huge credit because all season they've become an 80-minute team and they're a resilient bunch who took it to us in the second half.

"We showed the necessary composure and resilience in the last 15 minutes. We had a couple of chances to win the game and our last try to win it was a great score.

"Alex has played like that all season and for me he's the best full-back in England by miles."

Meanwhile, Exeter coach Rob Baxter was impressed with the fightback his team showed in the second half and refused to blame their inexperience in the finals a reason for the defeat.

"It wasn't about the size of the occasion - it didn't hurt us in our physicality or focus," Baxter said.

"The players were fantastically focused in the hotel this morning and coming here - no one was walking around the pitch taking selfies or thinking it was fantastic to be here.

"The guys were focused on playing a big game of rugby and that's what we did - there aren't many teams who have been within three points of Saracens late on at this stage of the season.

"We've done a lot right and worked really hard, the only negative was the first 15-20 minutes when we were behind the speed of the game.

"We fell into the danger of waiting for the next thing to happen rather than dealing with what was in front of us, but we grew as the game went on.

"I don't think there is anything we could have done differently before hand. We just needed that first half hour in the final, to see what it felt like."