Saracens, who have won three European Cups under McCall’s guidance, face trips to Section Paloise and CA Brive in the Challenge Cup pool stage, along with home fixtures against Edinburgh Rugby and London Irish.

“The club has had a bit of a love affair with Europe over the last 10 seasons or so, and it’s wonderful to be back,” he said, reflecting on their trio of European triumphs.

“We are looking forward to playing against teams that we don’t ordinarily play against. We’ve got two trips to France to look forward to, one at the end of December and one in early April against Pau and Brive [respectively].

“Those are two teams that we are not used to playing against and we kick off with a really difficult fixture against Edinburgh at home, [an] Edinburgh [side] who seem to be reinvigorated. [They’ve] got a new coach [and] lots of players who are playing for Scotland who are going really well at the moment.”

McCall worked alongside Brive head coach Jeremy Davidson when they were both at Castres Olympique and is conscious of the threat the French club could pose at Stade Amédée-Doménech.

“What Jeremy has done with the team over the last couple of years has been outstanding, where they won half of their games last year in the TOP 14, which is no mean feat,” the Irishman commented.

“All of those wins were at home and we’re playing them away from home. I haven’t coached in France for a couple of years, [but] I know how strongly it feels for those clubs to win at home and just how their supporters get behind the team.

“So, it’s going to be a really good experience for us to go to these difficult places and see if we can get the job done.”

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall is thrilled to be back in European competition as the Gallagher Premiership side head into the EPRC Challenge Cup for the first time in over a decade.