In the aftermath of this 114-point circus, Mark McCall took his seat in a media room beneath the bearpit of the Stade Mayol and talked about the patience required to bring through the next generation of talent.

He recalled a visit from Toulouse’s coaches in 2016, when they hey were a middling team with a dozen or so promising players coming through the academy. Now they are the kings of Europe and the gist of his story was there may a few more painful experiences like this before English rugby can compete with the heavyweights.

Yet his words were laced with a tone of vindication. For almost an hour, Saracens’ unfancied side were in front. The likes of Maro Itoje, Ben Earl, Jamie George, Elliot Daly and Tom Willis were all rested but, in those early throes, they were not missed.

‘There was too much talk about who wasn’t playing and not enough talk about who was playing… put it that way’ said defiant Saracens coach Mark McCall, whose side contributed 42 points to the second highest scoring Champions Cup match in history.

‘We knew we’d been criticised, we knew we’d been written off and we wanted to show that we had selected a good side, good players who are proud players who wanted to back each other come what may in a very different place to come and I thought we did that.’

England hooker Theo Dan impressed on his first start since December with an all-action show

Former England lock Dave Ribbans has taken on the captaincy for the Top 14 club

Argentina forward Facundo Isa had too much power for the young Saracens team

Playing without no weight of expectation, tries from Juan Martin Gonzalez, Nick Tompkins, Hartley and Ivan van Zyl helped Saracens charge to a 35-13 lead inside 32 minutes. They played high-tempo rugby, offloading the ball and running rings around the French heavies.

By half time, Dann had beaten nine defenders single-handedly, delivering the type of performance worthy of a Lions bolter. Out of favour with England, this was his first start since December and any bottled-up frustration was poured all over the pitch in the south of France.

Saracens had been written off on both sides of the Channel but their youngsters – helped by a sprinkling of experience – delivered a perform ahead of their years.

‘Toulouse’s big thing was committing to promoting from within,’ added McCall. 

‘They knew they had a batch of good young players who would be very good if they were given time. The whole club were on board, the public were on board and that philosophy was backed.

‘English rugby has got piles of young players coming through who need to be given opportunities and time. We’ve got some but all the other clubs have got some as well. Investing in youth, everybody being patient with the youth, rather than just grabbing players from overseas is ultimately what is going to make the difference.’

There is no quick fix to bridging the gulf between English and French clubs in European competition. Muscle costs money and the Top 14 teams have it in abundance. Yet it took an angry half-time team-talk for them to flex into action.

‘We got a proper old rocket at half time,’ revealed Toulon captain David RIbbans. 

Former England prop Kyle Sinckler is another player enjoying life in the South of France

Leicester Fainga’anuku of Toulon celebrates after scoring their seventh try

‘I didn’t need to do much speaking. Our coach is pretty firey. A traditional French fire up. We weren’t respecting our game plan, we were trying to win the game individually, losing collisions and that’s unacceptable for this team in front of our home crowd.’

Unbeaten at home in the Top 14 this season, Toulon responded with 40 unanswered points. At times, felt like Saracens were being submerged into the harbour just outside the he stadium, drowned by half a tonne of forwards deployed from the Toulon’s bench.

Jiuta Wainiqolo charged down his wing like a racehorse and Baptiste Serin, France’s fourth-choice scrum-half, delivered a cameo worthy of most nation’s first choice. 

The tries came thick and fast. Facundo Isa, Melvyn Jaminet, Brian Alainuuse, Leicester Faingaanuku – each score reminding Saracens that it may be a while yet before they can compete on Europe’s main stage.