Racing's Jone Qovu Nailiko charges into the Saracens defence © Getty Images

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Reaction: Inspiration for Venter interview revealed

Matches: Saracens 21 - 24 Racing Metro

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Racing Metro | Saracens

Grounds: Vicarage Road

Saracens head coach Mark McCall insists his side will continue fighting to win every remaining game in Heineken Cup Pool 2 despite a defeat that makes it virtually impossible for them to reach the quarter-finals.

After seeing his side slip to a 24-21 home defeat at the hands of Racing Metro, having initially taken an 8-0 lead, McCall said: "We're very disappointed after three games in our pool which have all been very close, all of which we could have won yet we finished up losing all three.

"But we won't pack things in. We'll go out to win all of our remaining games with the belief that we can still have an impact on this pool. We gave away some poor penalties and there was a small mistake that led to a try but you must remember they're a very good rugby team.

"They had a lot of ball during one particular spell of the game and the truth is we defended for too long in the match. They were attacking as a force with some pretty big guys yet we did very well to get back in the game the way we did.

"Right at the end we had them on the ropes but that's when their experience showed. It's a learning curve for a lot of our lads."

Rugby director Brendan Venter sent his own quiet message to ERC in the shape of a non-interview with Sky Television.

Confronted by a microphone, Venter simply repeated the questions asked of him, saying nothing of note.

It was an apparent response to the £23,000 fine which the Heineken Cup organisers imposed for remarks he made about the competition and refereeing following Saracens' defeat by Leinster at Wembley in round two.

Chief executive Edward Griffiths said: "That's what you call an ERC-style interview."

Racing Metro coach and former All Black Simon Mannix admitted he was very pleased to come away from Vicarage Road with four points.

Mannix said: "The measure of a team is how they defend and I thought we defended extremely well when we had to. We came here knowing Saracens are a quality side who would give us a hell of a fight.

"Our pool is probably the toughest given the four sides in it and it could still go down to the wire. I see this win as a turning point for us in a very, very difficult competition.

"I'm very proud of the boys because we had to make our tackles count and they were still coming at us in the last few minutes."