A STAR IS BORN
By The Saracens
October 19 2025
This may be a day when in years to come we can say “I was there”. I was there when something special happened, I was there when a star was born. Of course the day didn’t start like that, over an hour in a traffic jam on the A1 meant I arrived at the ground as Matt Carley blew his whistle for the start of the game and as I got to my seat, Sale were scoring their first try in the far corner courtesy of Bevan Rodd. George Ford, currently the Premiership’s form fly half, kicked a lovely conversion and Fergus Burke was patched up dripping blood. It was looking like a long evening. At least this week’s announcer was kinder on my eardrums although Sale’s purple away strip under our indifferent floodlights was more challenging on my eyes trying to tell the sides apart.
A scrum penalty was encouraging and soon after Sarries managed a good maul to 5m where Gonzalez picked up the ball and touched down. Sadly Faz wasn’t able to emulate Ford with (frankly) a pretty appalling attempt at the conversion but we were on the scoreboard 5-7.
Noah Caluori. Now there’s a name. Noah decided it was time to make his mark. He fielded yet another very high ball expertly and set off down the wing. He chipped ahead as he did up at Kingston Park a few weeks ago but this time the ball just beat him to the dead ball line. Lightening doesn’t strike twice and all that stuff – well maybe it does. Noah was just warming up. With him on the pitch, the kicking game takes on another dimension!
2 big carries by Willis led to a Sale penalty for not releasing and then a Sale scrum after Louw collided with Matt Carley where they executed a nice move for Du Preez to touch down under the posts. A bit of a soft try to be honest but they all count and Ford landed the easy extras.
Sarries won a penalty from the restart after Noah was tackled in the air – already Sale were struggling to deal with his height and athleticism. Farrell took an easy 3 points. Now it was Malins’ turn to visit the blood bin and time for a little Jack Bracken cameo. More trouble for Sale involving Noah when attempting to secure another high ball, he was clattered illegally. Mr Carley marched them forwards 10m for some backchat. Noah was making a thorough nuisance of himself! Ben Earl found Noah and there was no catching him as he crossed the line complete with a perfect Ash Splash. Faz kicked the extras and we were ahead 15-14.
A prolonged Sale attack was well defended and ended with a Sarries penalty. A kick ahead by Sale and Noah was off again down the far wing beating Reed to the ball. A rather grumpy Reed seemed to push him into the hoardings, narrowly avoiding a camera. The officials looked at it but decided on a penalty only. Surely acts of petulant aggression like this ought to be more severely punished? If nothing else Reed was getting very frustrated. Max rejoined us as Sarries battered the Sale tryline. The clock was nearly dead. You felt that the outcome of the game could rest on this: a Sarries score and their pushing ahead; if Sale were to succeed in defending their tryline they would be cock-a-hoop at half time. On and on, right and left they went. Eventually a beautiful crossfield kick from Faz to the far corner wasn’t taken by Noah only for the TMO to reveal his legs being whipped away from under him whilst still airborne. The crowd were baying for blood now. Mr Carley decided it was a penalty try and sent O’Flaherty for an extra 10 minutes break. 22-14 was looking a lot better that I had expected after the first 10 minutes but there was still work to do.
Sarries started the 2nd half as they had ended the first and within 2 minutes the bonus point was secured with a lovely try involving great hands from most of the forwards, in the corner by Tizard. Faz landed a super touchline conversion. Meanwhile the TMO had seen head contact in the build up and Cowan-Dickie was shown a 20 minute Red Card. Incredible that Willis didn’t need an HIA. Must be made of titanium! Sale were now down to 13 so it was hardly surprising Sarries added a 5th try almost straight away with Jamie George finding Earl breaking and he generously passed the ball to Noah for his 2nd. This time Faz missed the kick but it was now 34-14.
Carre replaced Mawi (who put in a decent shift). Noah decided it was time for a hat trick, this time catching a high bouncing ball then running through 2 tackles to score. Faz got the extras with the help of the upright. O’Flaherty returned for Sale and Theo Dan replaced Jamie. Almost immediately Dan was involved in a clash with MacIntyre but all the officials felt it was a rugby incident and no further sanction required. Perhaps a bit lucky. However the departure of Sale’s replacement loosehead for an HIA led to uncontested scrums. No one seemed quite sure who should and shouldn’t be on the field. Eventually Mr Carley sorted the substitutions and ensured both sides had 8 in the scrum and we continued with something akin to Rugby League. Isiekwe replaced Tizard and Christie replaced Gonzalez. Now it was time for Noah to take a back seat (at least temporarily) as Burke and Cinti exchanged a lovely 1-2 running half the length of the pitch for Burke to score and Faz to convert 48-14. Riccioni departed for Street. Burke and Dan combined and Cinti almost scored an 8th but just couldn’t hold the pass.
Noah proved he was human when he overcooked his clearance kick and put it straight out but made up for it by setting up Earl for another try. Faz missed the kick but really who cared. McCall pretty much emptied the bench with Maro departing his 200th game to loud applause to be replaced by Wilson. Burke departed for Jack Bracken and brother Charlie made way for Simpson. Dan nearly got his name on the scoresheet (with one boot) but was just brought down then Isiekwe set up Noah for his 4th try – he really was scoring for fun now and Sale didn’t have a clue what to do with him. He was like olive oil, slipping through their fingers (or maybe like blood which was oozing from his nose.) Faz took too long on the conversion (2nd time he’s done that – one day it will matter). Bracken tried to get in on the try-scoring act but was tap-tackled near the line, got up but couldn’t ride the 2nd one. So it was left to Noah to close the show as superstars do with the final number. This time it was the unlikely figure of Rhys Carre who broke the tackle, dummied and set Noah off zig-zagging round the Sale defence as if they were trees and scoring under the post to make things easy for Faz. It finished 65-14 – five of those tries scored by young Noah (6 if you count the penalty try). Has there ever been a first Premiership start like it?
When we are old and grey (well some of us already are) we may look back on this day and say “I was there”: the day a star was born.
SARACENS: Malins, Caluori, Tompkins, Farrell, Cinti, Burke (J Bracken), C Bracken (Simpson): Mawi (Carre), George (Dan), Riccioni (Street), Itoje (Wilson), Tizard (Isiekwe), Gonzalez (Oneyama-Christie), Earl, Willis
SALE SHARKS: O’Flaherty, Roebuck (James), de Preez, Louw (Ma’asi-White), Reed, Ford, Warr (Quirke); Rodd (McIntyre), Cowan-Dickie (Woodman), Opoku-Fordjour (Caine), Bamber, Andrews (Burrow) Van Rhy, Woodman (Harper)
SCORERS:
Saracens (65) Tries: Gonzalez, Penalty, Caluori (5), Tizard, Burke, Earl; Conv: Farrell (5); Pen: Farrell
Sale Sharks (14) Tries: Rodd, Du Preez; Conv: Ford (2)
Referee: Matt Carley
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:11:05:06:37:07 by Darraghgirl.
Absolutely shambolic.
Lesley Vanikolo scored 5 on his debut for Gloucester after his switch from league.
You avoided the temptation of saying that Noah set off on another arcing run!
Excellent review.
Hard to look past the man of the hour but I really think C Bracken had massive performance and one the coaches will be very pleased with. Lovely passing, controlled the game well in the first half particularly and that’s the best I’ve seen him box kick. That should put some pressure on IVZ or at least means Bracken gets more than a minute off the bench in tight matches.
Quote:TommyKentish
Just watching the highlights and in the interview Sanderson gets how he’s going to reflect on the match and he answered “deeply”. For a second I thought he was going to say “three cheers for Noah Caluori” 😂
There are 8 other coaches I would have rather seen answering that question but it was the only downside of a great afternoon.
Supporting Saracens for over 55 years.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:20:20:47:36 by Supporting Saracens for over 55 years. .
Quote:Supporting Saracens for over 55 years.
I caught some criticism from TigerSimon and one other for lauding Noah on Saturday. The ‘other’ was also very disrespectful of our former club and England captain Steve B. Shame on them both.
❓
Think I said some commentators need to be realistic a lad on his premiership debut, no matter how good that performance was (and it was very very good!), shouldn’t yet be starting for England ahead of a 20+ cap Winger! - which I standby.
If those performances continue until the 6N and SB has seen enough in camp then that is a different matter!
He has a super talent (jumping high and catching) but to be an international wing he will need to improve other aspects of his game - that is what Mark McCall was in effect saying in his post match interview! The really good news is that I believe Noah also knows that as he is listening to those with greater experience around him. That is why one of Sarries 4 key values is humility as without it you reduce learning opportunities.
I rewatched the game on TNT and see Warburton was shrieking “GET HIM IN THE ENGLAND SQUAD” at half time. Stuart Barnes in the Times wrote a rare article where he didn’t have a dig at Farrell (he got that off his chest earlier in the week - apparently he doesn’t carry enough to be any good) saying how Noah just must play for England.
The kid has just turned 19. He has barely had to make a tackle yet. Can’t we just give him a chance to enjoy himself for a bit and develop his game?
No wonder the club game is dead in England - it is never treated as if it matters on its own terms; every game is treated by fans and the media like it’s little more than a trial for England. There’s been more analysis of this irrelevant training squad than any of the games this weekend. I didn’t see Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher talk about Liverpool v Utd on Sunday as a game that’s only relevance is whether Harry Maguire might get back into Thomas Tuchel’s starting line up.
Similarly the reaction to Tom going to Bordeaux. Handwringing from all over the place “How could he do this a whole 2 years from the World Cup??! Madness!!! He’s just got into the England side!!!”
Could it be possible he goes and watches Jack play on one of the very many weekends Saracens don’t have a game because the game here is struggling to the extent we can only have 10 top flight sides, sees his brother play for one of the best two sides in Europe for a load of money in front of 35,000 people each week and become the best player in Europe - and then Tom comes back and plays against Newcastle in front of 6000 people and thinks “hmm maybe going to play for Bordeaux sounds alright…”
Quote:#wolfpack1
The obsession this country has with international rugby does my head in.
I rewatched the game on TNT and see Warburton was shrieking “GET HIM IN THE ENGLAND SQUAD” at half time. Stuart Barnes in the Times wrote a rare article where he didn’t have a dig at Farrell (he got that off his chest earlier in the week - apparently he doesn’t carry enough to be any good) saying how Noah just must play for England.
The kid has just turned 19. He has barely had to make a tackle yet. Can’t we just give him a chance to enjoy himself for a bit and develop his game?
No wonder the club game is dead in England - it is never treated as if it matters on its own terms; every game is treated by fans and the media like it’s little more than a trial for England. There’s been more analysis of this irrelevant training squad than any of the games this weekend. I didn’t see Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher talk about Liverpool v Utd on Sunday as a game that’s only relevance is whether Harry Maguire might get back into Thomas Tuchel’s starting line up.
Similarly the reaction to Tom going to Bordeaux. Handwringing from all over the place “How could he do this a whole 2 years from the World Cup??! Madness!!! He’s just got into the England side!!!”
Could it be possible he goes and watches Jack play on one of the very many weekends Saracens don’t have a game because the game here is struggling to the extent we can only have 10 top flight sides, sees his brother play for one of the best two sides in Europe for a load of money in front of 35,000 people each week and become the best player in Europe - and then Tom comes back and plays against Newcastle in front of 6000 people and thinks “hmm maybe going to play for Bordeaux sounds alright…”
Can't fault anything. Superb 👍🏻
Re Tom W I think the particular confusion over his decision is that his express intent when coming back was to play for England. He’s perfectly entitled to change his mind of course but it does cause a bit of whiplash when he’s just established himself in the England team and been given the RFU contract and immediately goes back to France. It’s not like he’s suddenly discovered the Top 14 has better crowds than the prem, he spent a season with UBB already.
French clubs may pay plenty, but only if it’s worth it - and the JIFF rule means it isn’t always worth paying a non-JIFF player a massive sum. Was Tom worth this premium 3 years ago?
It’s entirely conceivable that what Saracens offered Tom three years ago was not massively different from what he was offered in France (if anything).
In my view it isn’t a controversial decision - anyone who has been to French rugby can see the appeal.
Incidentally, I don’t think that the requirement to play in England prevents the exodus of English players so much as the JIFF rule discourages their recruitment.
My understanding JIFF rule means that each club needs to average 17 French developed players in their squads across the season. So taking a very simplistic view,14 teams with 6 spots for non-JIFF players. Obviously English players will face competition from players from other countries but there would be plenty of space for teams to take for example Maro Itoje, Marcus Smith, Ben Earl, Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Chessum. Etc if you’re bemoaning the obsession with test rugby over club rugby in the country imagine what it would look like without the most recognisable and marketable England players playing here.
Quote:#wolfpack1
No wonder the club game is dead in England - it is never treated as if it matters on its own terms; every game is treated by fans and the media like it’s little more than a trial for England. There’s been more analysis of this irrelevant training squad than any of the games this weekend. I didn’t see Gary Neville or Jamie Carragher talk about Liverpool v Utd on Sunday as a game that’s only relevance is whether Harry Maguire might get back into Thomas Tuchel’s starting line up.
Similarly the reaction to Tom going to Bordeaux. Handwringing from all over the place “How could he do this a whole 2 years from the World Cup??! Madness!!! He’s just got into the England side!!!”
This!!
I suspect most of those who want England to pick overseas players never attend a Prem game and don't give a thought to how the players become that good in the first place. Much though I respect the decision of any player, I'd much rather see our top stars playing in a healthy domestic league week in week out than just in a handful of international games. And, as I've said elsewhere, where are these players going to develop if there are no strong professional clubs to develop them...which is a real possibility unless we find a way to fix our league and match the French experience and salaries.
These budgets capture a lot that the salary cap doesn't (and I believe there's some things in the salary cap that wouldn't be in that budget) but you can see the broad "order of spending" in the top 14 itself.
Quote:nedrichards
UBB budget for this season is 39m Euro. [www.reddit.com]
These budgets capture a lot that the salary cap doesn't (and I believe there's some things in the salary cap that wouldn't be in that budget) but you can see the broad "order of spending" in the top 14 itself.
Beware though. As you say, not all the budget goes on 1st team squad player wages. The salary cap was Euros 10.7 million in 23/24 but international credits took that up to Euros 13.4 million at Toulouse (probably the highest) and then to compare like with like you have to add on social costs (the equivalent of NI) which are 30 to 40% in France.
So you are probably looking at a player budget of something like Euros 16 m at UBB
When kicking is such a big part of your game and for us it 100% is and you have the option to play someone who at 19 is already one of the best out there in kick receipt it feels like you'd need very good reasons not to pick them. Of course the lack of maturity in other areas of his game is a legitimate factor but even so he just seems like such a quality option.
I'm sure there are lots of clever ways to neutralise him but the main ones I can think of are; don't kick to him (doesn't stop us from doing so) and making sure he gets absolutely clattered every time he lands so that he becomes increasingly hesitant to compete (Sale tried that too) with blocking, at least in theory, taken out of the game it feels like it's going to be quite tricky for opposition to legitimately counter him. Ashton mentioned he has ideas, I'd be interested to know what they are.
Re France don't they also have some rule about players who came through the Academy not counting against cap.