WHAT DO WE THINK OF IT SO FAR?

By The Saracens
February 13 2024

A brief review of the season to date, mainly to keep the site alive, but here is a quick reminder of what has happened in the season so far

14.10.23 Exeter Chiefs 65 Saracens 10 position 10th

Not the start we were hoping for when a young and exciting Chiefs team, superbly marshalled by Henry Slade (still piqued by his omission from the World Cup Squad) scored 11 tries against a pretty average Sarries team missing most of our World Cup stars. Not the ideal game for Tom Parton to make his Premiership debut but there was a decent stint by Ollie Hartley who grew in stature as the season progressed. We also had a glimpse of hooker James Hadfield starting a 2^nd stint at Sarries from the now defunct Jersey Reds, another player who would prove his worth as the season progressed and our hooker crisis worsened.

21.10.23 Saracens 16 Bath Rugby 25 position 10th

A try in the first minute by Andy Christie was just about the only bright spark as a Finn Russell and Ben Spencer masterclass guided Bath to a 4 try bonus point win against a Sarries team still missing most of our England internationals

27.10.23 Gloucester Rugby 3 Saracens 24 position 8th

That’s more like it! Sarries, strengthened by an in-form Eroni Mawi and a man of the match performance by new boy Tom Willis, survived 2 yellow cards to overcome a pretty poor Gloucester team and record their first win of the season.

4.11.23 Saracens 32 Leicester Tigers 17 Position 7th

The return of Faz, Jamie George, Ben Earl, Elliot Daly and man of the match Maro Itoje inspired Sarries to their best performance so far with a bonus point win over the former champions (although it has to be said Tigers’ world cup stars were largely given the week off)

12.11.23 Newcastle Falcons 12 Saracens 50 Position 6th

Sarries did the job on whipping boys Newcastle Falcons with a 7 try rout at Kingston Park despite resting several of the England crew. Elliot Daly was at his classy best and the game also saw an impressive try-scoring debut for Juan Martin Gonzales and a debut from the bench for Lucio Cinti. Unwelcome news with training injuries for both Nick Isiekwe and Theo McFarland.

18.11.23 Harlequins 10 Saracens 38 Position 4^th

Billed as Marcus v Owen, super Sarries played like the team of old, hardly giving Quins a look-in and scoring 6 tries in a complete dismantling of their London rivals. It proved to be an expensive victory though with Earl and Daly unable to start then Loz limped off after 2 minutes and was subsequently found to have a ruptured ACL which is likely to keep him out for the season. It was also the last appearance of Marco Riccioni with a neck injury that would see him still sidelined and news that Callum Hunter-Hill was likely to be out for several months.

25.11.23 Saracens 39 Bristol Bears 31 Position 2nd

A real try-fest with 7 for Sarries as against 4 for Bears. The match proved to be a real game of 2 halves with Sarries behind at the break but coming back strongly to deny Bears the losing bonus point. Good news: Theo McFarland returned from injury, bad news Tom Willis would be out for 3 months and Ben Earl for 8 weeks. This was also the first game where we started to think all was not well with Faz.

2.12.23 Saracens 12 Northampton Saints 18 Position 4th

Sarries were taught a bit of a lesson by the best team in the league this season. Only a late score by Lewington rescued the bonus point. Finn Smith showed us what might have been. The cause (?) of Owen’s unease was revealed when he stepped back from England duties due to abuse on social media. He was missing from the game due to a minor knock.

9.12.23 Vodacom Bulls 27 Saracens 16

A South African adventure. The team had a week of fun and bonding in Pretoria before losing at altitude to the Bulls in the first round of the European Cup (I still can’t get my head around South Africa being in Europe!) It could (perhaps should) have been more of a thrashing especially as Sarries had to survive 2 yellows (one debatable) and a dubious red card for Billy (swiftly overturned) but some stubborn resistance meant that Bulls were unable to score that 4^th try. All was definitely not well with Farrell.

16.12.23 Saracens 55 Connacht 36

Injuries were mounting and there was a bench debut for Mulipola (signed as injury cover) as a boost to the prop crisis. An excellent performance from Gonzales and Ollie Hartley at centre but Faz was so far from his normal self it wasn’t true. Without a working scrum or maul Sarries did well to rack up 55 points (while leaking 33) and keep themselves in European contention

22.12.23 Sale Sharks 22 Saracens 20 Position 5th

A second successive Premiership loss, this time to the league leaders. Despite an inspiring performance once again from Maro, Sale exploited the up-front weaknesses to scrape a 2 point win on a pretty wet and windy night up north. England fly halves past and (presumably) present came up against each other with Ford edging it over an out of sorts Farrell.

30.12.23 Saracens 37 Newcastle Falcons 19 Position 5th

Sarries made hard work of beating Falcons for the 2^nd time this season with Adam Radwan in particular proving a handful in the last game of the year. A struggling Faz had the week off along with Maro and Jamie George. Nick Isiekwe and Elliot Daly were back after injury and a returning Ben Earl provided much-needed strength from the bench with Sarries finally claiming the bonus point. A Mako Vunipola red card in overtime proved costly with a subsequent 4 match suspension.

6.1.24 Leicester Tigers 19 Saracens 10 Position 6^th

The rematch at Welford Road was another tough day at the office. Elliot Daly and Tom Parton were the brightest sparks in an off-colour performance from Sarries. Rumours about Farrell moving to Racing next season didn’t help his performance and when Faz isn’t himself nor are the team.

14.1.24 Bordeaux Begles 55 Saracens 15

A bad day at the office. Faz’s head was somewhere else along with most of the team and this was a pretty abject capitulation to a very good French team. As luck would have it, we will play them again at the same venue in the last 16 so at least a chance to make amends!

20.1.24 Saracens 39 Lyon 24

Bristol losing to Connacht made it easy for Sarries – only 1 point required to qualify but for a long time even that didn’t look likely. A second half revival including 2 tries from Maro Itoje (back to his superb best) eventually produced a bonus point win and Theo Dan, Roti Segun and Daly were also on form. Sadly Faz was not.

27.1.24 Saracens 40 Exeter Chiefs 22 Position 4th

The best performance for a long time. Faz’s move to Racing was confirmed (at least by the French side) and maybe this being out in the open was a factor but the team played more like the Sarries we have come to know and love. Both teams were missing their England Internationals (Sarries numerically more than Chiefs but the loss of Henry Slade was probably a huge factor) and Mako was on the last week of his ban. James Hadfield (5^th ? choice hooker) was superb. Probably the best game of the season for the spectator as Chiefs refused to lie down until the final 10 minutes when Sarries pulled away, and definitely the best atmosphere at StoneX for a long time.

Off the field Lucy Wray announced she was stepping down from her role as Chief Executive after 4 years to be replaced by former Burnley CEO Mark Thompson and we heard the Maro is staying with us for the foreseeable future.

We are now a couple of weeks into a 7 week break. Most of the non-6 Nations internationals are sunning themselves in Qatar and Dubai. For us supporters we have a friendly against Leinster and the women’s games to keep us engaged before the domestic season resumes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 23^rd March and suddenly we are into the sharp end of the season. Just 6 games remain in the Premiership. It’s all very tight in the table with only Saints clear of the chasing pack. Every point will count. As for Europe we will probably need to win 3 tricky away matches if we are to reach a Tottenham Final. Unlikely but nothing is impossible. So for now we must hope those who have had a rest will return fit and fresh and raring to go, and those who haven’t will do what they always do, bandage up their bodies as best they can and prepare to go again.