Saracens spent the late 1980s and early part of the 1990s see-sawing between the first and second tiers of English rugby.

In November 1995 Saracens were bankrolled by Nigel Wray and his backing paved the way for the arrival of big names like Michael Lynagh, Philippe Sella and Francois Piennar for the 1996-97 season, and results soon improved.

Sarries missed out on European qualification, but ahead of the following season Danny Grewcock, Gavin Johnson and Ryan Constable joined the ranks to help Saracens finish second in the Premiership. They also won the Tetley Bitter Cup in what proved to be a perfect send-off for the retiring Lynagh and Sella.

Saracens continued their policy of recruiting star players and in 2000 Australia centre Tim Horan and France back Thomas Castaignede joined the club.

However, Sarries failed to qualify for the Heineken Cup and in 2001-02 were in serious danger of being relegated, leading to the departure of Pienaar as chief executive and director of rugby after five years at the club.

Thankfully for Saracens they finished 10th, but inconsistency plagued them and it was not until Alan Gaffney took over as coach in 2006 that their form improved.

Saracens finished fourth in the Premiership at the end of the 2006-07 season and then next term reached the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup and the EDF Cup.

Eddie Jones took over as director of rugby for the 2008-09 campaign, but it was a disappointing first full season for the Australian as Saracens finished ninth in the Premiership.