SARACENS speedster David Strettle has hailed England hero Elliot Daly as ‘world class’ after it was announced the full-back would be joining the north-London club. 

Daly has had somewhat of a momentous week having starred in England’s thumping Six Nations victories over Ireland and France, signing on the dotted line with Sarries in between. 

There had been speculation prior to the Ireland game that Daly would miss out at full-back, but the current Wasps man produced a classy performance, assisting Jonny May’s early try and touching down his own effort against Ireland and setting up May once more for his early score against the French. 

Wasps announced the versatile Daly would be leaving the club on Monday, with Sarries announcing his signing soon after. 

“The rumours had been around that Elliot would be signing, he’s best mates with a few of the boys here,” commented Strettle, capped 14 times by England. 

“It’s one of those things where you never know if it’s done until it’s announced but he’s a real world-class player. 

“I think we’re lucky because we’ve got Goodey (Alex Goode) and in my eyes, and I’ve played with lots of full-backs, but he’s world class too so to get another world class player is great! 

“We’ve already got another one in Liam Williams, so we’ve definitely got the best three full-backs playing in the northern hemisphere at the moment - we’re very, very lucky.” 

Strettle’s confident statement will not exactly be music to the ears of Saracens’ Gallagher Premiership opponents, with the north Londoners having lost only two of 12 matches this season. 

And the news of the 26-year-old’s signing comes at the perfect time for Sarries given Daly’s standout performance in England’s 32-20 Six Nations rout of the Irish. 

Experienced wing Strettle, who last wore the Red Rose in 2013, believes England head coach Eddie Jones should resist the temptation to tinker with his back three against France on Sunday. 

“The problem with putting one player in is you have to take someone out,” Strettle added, who was speaking at an event where Harrow RFC won an appearance from Saracens by describing how their team embodies the spirit of rugby, both on and off the pitch, and helps grow game the locally; organized by Gallagher as part of its ‘Heroes of the Game’ campaign.

“And having seen how well the back three played I think I’d stick with them. 

“But then depending on how the game’s going, that’s when you can put players on with 20-30 minutes to go. 

“I do think it’ll send a good message if Eddie was to put someone like Joe Cokanasiga on because that’ll give confidence to the younger players, but it’s how you then manage that with the current back three. 

“You’ve got to explain it to the current guys. As a player you want to keep your shirt and if someone else gets a chance in it and goes and scores a hat-trick or something it’s going to be hard for you to get it back! 

“Whilst we’re playing well we want to carry on building on results, so we should stick with the same back three for France.” 

David Strettle was speaking at a Gallagher ‘Train with your Heroes’ session at Harrow RFC after their U14s side won a nationwide competition launched by Gallagher, a passionate community insurance broker and proud title partner of Premiership Rugby.