Newcastle Falcons v Saracens Preview - A trip to the North

Hartley back in the mix
By saracensfan62
November 26 2024

What an interesting fixture this could be. Two teams with starkly contrasting recent histories: Newcastle recently broke a dire 25-match losing streak, securing their first Premiership win in 581 days, while Saracens have remained competitive, even this season, despite losing over 20 players, including many regular starters. To find Newcastle's last win in this fixture, we have to go back to 2009, when they edged Saracens 13-9 in the 2008-09 Guinness Premiership season. Glen Jackson was Saracens' starting fly-half, Alex Tait played full-back for Newcastle, and Phil Dowson lined up as blindside flanker—a different era indeed!

A Friday night trip to Kingston Park is no enviable task. Newcastle’s pack, featuring Callum Chick, Adam Brocklebank, and Jamie Blamire, promises to offer stiff resistance. Fresh off an impressive win against Exeter, Newcastle Falcons will be looking to move off the bottom of the table and turn around what has been a dire season. With Steve Diamond at the helm, changes are likely at Kingston Park. Love him or loathe him, Diamond runs a tight ship, with successful stints at Sale and with the England Saxons under his belt. He even directed Saracens at one point, until his sacking in 2006 following our failure to qualify for the Champions Cup.

Saracens will aim to reassert pressure on the top teams (Leicester, Bath, and Bristol) and climb into those coveted top-two spots but we will need to sort out the scrum, an area that has struggled recently due to injuries and international call-ups. Key players such as Marco Riccioni, Jamie George, Theo Dan, Kapeli Pifeleti, and Eroni Mawi have been away on international duty, while Fraser Balmain and Alec Clarey are injured. The injury list has been extensive this season, with key players like Alex Goode, Andy Onyeama-Christie, and Fergus Burke missing significant time. Operating with a depleted squad has brought new faces into the fold, with promising young players like scrum half Charlie Bracken (I still double take when reading the name Bracken at scrum half on the BBC team sheet!), openside flanker Toby Knight and versatile back-rower Nathan Michelow, who’ve both shown a lot of promise in their respective positions. Another fine academy product is Brandon Jackson who has really stepped up to the mark and added a spark to the backline with his electric footwork and pace. While exciting, their inexperience highlights the need for seasoned players who can manage and close out games.

The lack of rest between the international window and the Premiership is also a concern. The next two months will be among the busiest of the season, with consecutive matches every weekend, including tough fixtures like Newcastle, the Bulls at home, Stade away, Northampton at home, and Bath away—all within a month. Squad rotation will be crucial, and the likes of Ben Earl, Jamie George, and Maro Itoje cannot be expected to shoulder the burden week after week. Moreover, despite being called up for international duty, Nick Isiekwe played only 42 minutes in total, while Elliot Daly and Alex Lozowski didn’t feature at all—a frustrating situation for Saracens fans. Lucio Cinti and Juan Martín González will also likely require rest after a busy schedule with Los Pumas.

Turning to the lineup for Friday night, I’m excited to see the Hartley-Spink centre partnership, which has shown great promise recently, and hopefully (fingers crossed!) the return of Fergus Burke at fly-half. We could try and exploit Newcastle’s releatively inexperienced backline with a superior kicking game and also (in my opinion), a better ability to make steals at the breakdown and lineout. I expect the battle between Adam Radwan and Rotimi Segun to be a fascinating one, with both wingers having searing pace and footwork. Tobias Elliott vs Alex Hearle will be another fascinating tussle. My suggested 23 for the game is as follows:

Rhys Carre
James Hadfield
Ollie Hoskins
Hugh Tizard
Theo McFarland
Nathan Michelow
Toby Knight
Tom Willis
Ivan van Zyl
Fergus Burke
Rotimi Segun
Olly Hartley
Sam Spink
Tobias Elliott
Tom Parton
James Isaacs
Phil Brantingham
Fraser Balmain
Harry Wilson
Max Eke
Charlie Bracken
Tiff Eden
Brandon Jackson

There are no easy games in the Premiership anymore, especially not an away game at Newcastle. Best wishes to those traveling north—let’s hope for the best. Come on, Sarries!

Newcastle Falcons v Saracens Preview - A trip to the North

Posted by: TheSaracens.com (IP Logged)

Date: 26/11/2024 14:09

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:12:11:16:04:59 by Darraghgirl.