Hard work at HQ for Sarries

New squad for Rod
By Jason Harris
September 4 2004

So the new season is upon us and once again Sarries must try to improve on another dismal showing last term. 10th place in the table secured on the last day of the season was another miserable return for the efforts of the Men in Black who once again flattered to deceive.

The 2004-05 campaign couldn’t start with a more difficult opponent of Zurich Premiership and Heineken Cup double winners London Wasps providing the first test of a season in which they really must do better than the last few.

With so many changes at Vicarage Road this season, Sarries will be relatively unknown quantity for the other 11 ZP sides. However, many pundits have already written off the Men in Black as doomed to failure, citing their past underachievement as a guide to future performance.

For Wasps, meanwhile, the only way is down. After emulating Leicester in capturing domestic and European championships in the same season, the pressure will be on them to keep up the form they have shown in the past couple of years to stop the chasing pack overtaking them at the top of the pile.

Wasps head coach Warren Gatland has made a habit of publishing teams before matches that don’t quite resemble the 22 players on duty come match day and despite injuries to regular centre pairing Stuart Abbott and Fraser waters, plus the untimely absence of first choice hooker Trevor Leota, one can’t help wondering whether the squad announced yesterday will be the same at Twickenham on Saturday.

What Gatland does have is captain Lawrence Dallaglio available for the full 80 minutes after his international retirement earlier in the week, but he will have to make do with limited input from Josh Lewsey and Joe Worsley who should both start on the bench. The Wasps front five looks solid enough with Will Green and Tim Payne at prop and George Skivington and the underrated Richard Birkett in the second Row. Ben Gotting, whose lineout throwing almost single-handedly bailed Wasps out in the Premiership final against Bath after Leota’s shocker wears the no2 shirt.

With Worsley forced to sit out at least half of the game due to his summer exploits with the England squad, Gatland puts faith in James Haskell on the blind side and everyone who follows Wasps will be thrilled to see Jonny O’Connor return at 7 following a long injury lay-off.

Behind the scrum, one of the most enduring and endearing battles over the years has been the one between Matt Dawson and Kyran Bracken. With Bracken likely to be heading for retirement at the end of the season and Dawson having to fight for his place with Robert Howley due to be fit for the return game next April, this could be the last time the two old adversaries square up in a competitive fixture. It’ll be one to savour.

Alex King, the long-serving stand-off is on the bench and Dawson’s old Northampton colleague James Brooks continues in the no.10 shirt after a solid performance against the Scarlets last week. The back three has proven points scoring ability in Mark van Gisbergen and Tom Voyce and New Zealander Matt Priscott will want to take advantage of a wonderful opportunity to impress in front of a bumper Twickenham crowd.

One area of potential weakness could be in the centre where a makeshift partnership of Ayoola Erinle and Peter Richards will have to step into the big shoes of Messrs. Abbott and Waters. Richards turned in a man-of-the match performance at no.12 down at Stradey Park, but there were signs during that match that the normally bomb-proof Wasps midfield defence could be breached.

Up against the Wasps temporary midfield combination will be Kevin Sorrell and Thomas Castaignede. The Frenchman showed in pre-season that he still has a turn of speed and could exploit any gaps that appear before him in the opposition rearguard.

The Saracens back three look very quick indeed. Dan Scarbrough and Robbie Kydd have hit it off very well in pre-season and the burned Bedford’s wide men no fewer than three times last Saturday from long range. On the right wing will be Richard Haughton and his duel with Voyce will be intriguing.

A lot will rest on the shoulders of Mark Bartholomeusz at stand-off. The Australian’s first half at Bedford was nervous and he will need to move the ball out wide early if the Sarcens speedsters outside are to make an impression on the opposition. Nicky Little covers from the bench in case of emergency.

In the front row, Sarries look stronger in depth than Wasps. Craig Dowd was immense last season but although his absence won’t be felt too much, should Payne and Green run out of steam or get injured, their supporting cast is relatively unproven compared with Nick Lloyd and a certain French chap called Raphael Ibanez. Starters Yates, Cairns and Visagie should at least give as good as they get and they will look to acquire the same dominance the Scarlets pack enjoyed late on against the champions if they can.

Lock could prove to be Sarries Achilles heel this season. Starting duo Simon Raiwalui and Iain Fullarton are both seasoned campaigners and back up will be provided by the versatile Kris Chesney. However, beyond those three, second rows are very thin on the ground after Craig Yandell’s retirement and Alex Codling’s sabbatical after a rotten run of bad luck with injury. It’ll be fine on day one, but if any of the aforementioned trio is ruled out for whatever reason, Sarries will have to draw upon reinforcements from the back row corps.

And it is with the back row we come towards the end of this preview. Richard Hill, like Worsley and Lewsey, will have a limited part to play in this one and starts on the bench as bright young prospect David Seymour wears the coveted no7 shirt. Even though Seymour has looked mightily impressive; impressive enough to keep England Under 21 international Ben Russell out of the squad altogether, Hill will be expected to make an appearance soon after half time. Last year’s no8 and player of the season Taine Randell moves to the blind side to make way for new captain Hugh Vyvyan who needs to impress against outgoing national captain Dallaglio if he is to replace the great man locking the England scrum. The Sarries bench is completed by Morgan Williams, an able deputy for Bracken at half back and outside back Paul Bailey who scored in the season opener last year against Newcastle.

Let’s be brutally honest and say that despite the renewed optimism at Sarries, the new personnel and the fact that Wasps go into this game shorn of some start players due to international restrictions and injuries, it will be very hard indeed for the Men in Black to prevent their nemeses making it 10 wins on the bounce in the league. Memories of last year’s 42-3 home defeat and a 41-0 shut-out in the return are still fresh and Sarries will need to banish them entirely to get that mental edge they appear to have lacked in recent years.

It won’t be enough just to secure first phase and loose possession and try to nick a few from Wasps if at all possible. The ball will have to be moved wide quickly if Saracens are to cause problems for the now legendary Shaun Edwards defensive system. O’Connor & Co. will be in Bartholomuesz and Sorrell’s faces all afternoon and what cannot happen is for the supply of ball to Castaignede, Haughton, Scarbrough and Kydd to be cut off.

Defensively, It’ll be down to Saracens to take advantage of the few errors Wasps will make and put them under the pressure they are renowned for applying to their opponents. My heart, of course, goes for Sarries, but the head still nods towards Wasps, even with their personnel crisis. I think their winning streak will run into double figures as they are the champions, have total belief in themselves and have nothing at all to prove, plus they have an edge over Sarries that hasn’t been matched in nine previous encounters.

SARACENS
15 Robbie Kydd
14 Richard Haughton
13 Thomas Castaignede
12 Kevin Sorrell
11 Dan Scarbrough
10 Mark Bartholomeusz
9 Kyran Bracken

1 Kevin Yates
2 Matt Cairns
3 Cobus Visagie
4 Simon Raiwalui
5 Iain Fullarton
6 Taine Randell
7 David Seymour
8 Hugh Vyvyan (c)

Replacements
16 Nick Lloyd
17 Raphael Ibanez
18 Kris Chesney
19 Richard Hill
20 Morgan Williams
21 Nicky Little
22 Paul Bailey


LONDON WASPS
15 Mark Van Gisbergen
14 Matt Priscott
13 Ayoola Erinle
12 Peter Richards
11 Tom Voyce
10 James Brooks
9 Matt Dawson

1 Tim Payne
2 Ben Gotting
3 Will Green
4 George Skivington
5 Richard Birkett
6 James Haskell
7 Jonny O’ Connor
8 Lawrence Dallaglio (Capt)

Replacements
16 Jonny Barrett
17 Alistair McKenzie
18 Joe Worsley
19 John Hart
20 Mark Lock
21 Josh Lewsey
22 Alex King