Now in his ninth season in Saracens colours, centre Brad Barritt will captain Saracens as they defend both the Aviva Premiership and Champions Cup titles.

Granite like toughness, miserly in defence and possessing great vision, Barritt is a key component of the Sarries ‘Wolf-pack’ defence that has dominated European and English rugby in recent seasons.

He arrived at Saracens from The Sharks in 2008 on the back of a last-minute loss to The Bulls in the 2007 Super Rugby Grand Final. Since then he has been one of the mainstays of the Saracens squad and was also named the club’s Player of the Season in the 2009/10 campaign. He was also nominated for the Aviva Premiership Player of the Year Award in 2012. In an eight year period he has won 26 England caps, toured Australia with the British and Irish Lions in 2013, won three Premiership titles and led the club to their maiden European Champions Cup title.

On the international stage, his performances for Saracens quickly caught the eye of the national selectors and he was part of the England Saxons touring squad in the summer of 2009 and he went on to produce two excellent displays for the Saxons in friendlies in early 2010. 

He was called up for England’s tour to Australia and New Zealand later that summer where he played the midweek match against New Zealand Moari before getting his full honours in 2012, and was a key component of Stuart Lancaster’s England team with his Man of the Match display against Australia at Twickenham in 2014 a stand-out memory.

In Sarries colours, Barritt’s performances have been inspirational, with the centre captaining the side on multiple occasions in the absence of Alistair Hargreaves. Barritt, who skippered Sarries in 2016 Aviva Premiership and Champions Cup finals, has been confirmed as permanent captain ahead of the 2016/17 campaign.