Saracens wonder if they will ever convince England their players are worth a place

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This Sunday Alan Gaffney's upwardly mobile team face a Heineken Cup semi-final at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, against Munster, the side he coached for four years before crossing the Irish Sea to instil some backbone into a club known for wilting.

Gaffney will hand over the Saracens reins to another Australian, Eddie Jones, at the end of this season and Jones will inherit a club in rude health.

Their unexpected win against an overconfident Ospreys in the quarter-final was a triumph for sheer bloody-mindedness and will to win — not phrases readily associated with Saracens in recent years.

It remains to be seen whether their exploits in Europe and domestically will be enough to catch the eye of new England boss Martin Johnson.

"I've said many times this season I find it quite bizarre that we have not had one in the 64 elite players in the country," said Gaffney.

"Who knows what the reasons are? All I know is that the likes of Richard Haughton are playing international quality rugby."

Winger Haughton outshone Shane Williams in the quarter-final and his duel with ex-All Black Doug Howlett this weekend will be a test of how far the 27-yearold has come.

After being passed over so many times, Haughton is not taking selection for the summer tour to New Zealand for granted.

"You have to question how some of the selection decisions have been made in the past but with Martin Johnson coming in there's bound to be a lot of change, so who knows?" said Haughton.

"I'd love to tour but I've been talked up too often in the past to count my chickens."

A full house of 32,000 is expected on Sunday, while London Irish's Twickenham clash with Toulouse on Saturday should attract 24,000.

Whatever the outcome of the semi — Munster's fifth and Saracens' first — Gaffney is satisfied he will leave Vicarage Road having changed perceptions of the club.

"I've only been here two seasons but maybe Saracens haven't been treated with an awful lot of respect," he said.

"I don't think there's a better team in the world than Munster at playing on the front foot and if we let them get ahead early, we are in trouble. It will test how far we have come."