Saracens v Newcastle Falcons preview

By Ben Harman
November 23 2002

15 April 2001 is the last time Sarries beat the Falcons. On that day it was the boot of Jannie De Beer that saved Saracens in the face of 4 tries from the Falcons. Of the ten scorers in that match only Flatman for Sarries and Vyvyan for Newcastle will make appearances at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

In a close fought fixture at VR last year it was the overbearing power and pace of Epi Taione and the "streetwise" performance of the massively experienced Pat Lam that ultimately made the difference between the two sides. It is that experience, or lack of, that the Falcons miss so dearly now.

There are more than passing parallels between the Saracens of last year and the Falcons of this. With the departure of many of the big names in the squad - Weir, Armstrong, Graham, Lam, Tuigamala - and the combination of injuries with the autumn internationals, the Falcons team looks long on promise and short on experience.

Their depleted front five have been given a torrid time by the bigger and more experienced men in the ZP and this weekend will prove no different.

Behind the scrum they are lacking the cool head of Wilkinson and still missing long term injured Dave Walder. Falcons will have to rely on veteran Earl Va'a to run the game from 10; he has been parachuted into the team for a month to provide cover for the threadbare backline and, whilst demonstrating a wealth of personal skills, he has yet to gel into the team.

Compare this with the struggling Sarries team which took to the field in the corresponding fixture last year. Missing the power of White, Wallace, and Grewcock - who had moved to pastures new - and with emergency 10 Luke Smith filing the gap left by perennially injured Jannie De Beer. The similarities are striking.

With the boot firmly on the other foot the big Saracens pack should steamroller the Falcons up front. This in turn should tie the effervescent Taione to the forward graft leaving more room and time for the half backs to work.

Expect a better showing from Goode and still more fireworks from Horan, who has hit truly rich vein of form. All of the remaining backs will have to fight to retain their place for next week's derby game against the Quins.

This ought to make a high scoring game for the real Men in Black who should be looking for 5 points for their toil.