Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has insisted that he is proud of his players despite their 23-6 defeat to Toulon in the Heineken Cup final.

Tries from Matt Giteau and Juan Smith in either half saw holders Toulon retain the trophy in Cardiff on Saturday as they secured a comfortable win against their English opponents.

Sarries will now return to action next Saturday when they face Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership final at Twickenham Stadium.

"Obviously we are disappointed, but we're proud of the effort we put in," McCall is quoted as saying by Sky Sports News. "One of the great qualities of the group is our ability to respond to setbacks that we've had.

"I often felt that we were right in the game, we did well to get ourselves to 10-6, and even at 13-6 we though that were massively still in the game but their second try was a killer."

Saturday's match was the first time that Saracens had competed in a Heineken Cup final.