Sarries v Tigers preview

By Henry Harman (filed: 17/9/03)
September 17 2003

Leicester may not have blown the world away with their victory over London Irish at Welford Road last Sunday but the wagon appears to be back on the rails. People all around have said that against the weakened Tigers, Sarries have a great chance to win. Weakened they are, weak they are not.

In the probable XV for this fixture, the Tigers include 5 England caps (Rowntree, Healey, Smith, Stimpson and Lloyd), 2 All Blacks (Gibson and Kronfeld), a Yank (Lyle) and a Welsh Lion (Morris). Up front, the boy Chuter (ta, ta, taaaa!) is a good club hooker, the Deacons and Jonno Jnr are solid players and with the introduction of Freddie Tuilangi's baby brother, Henry, the Tigers pack looks solid.

"England hard-man" Leon Lloyd may be a lot of things (insert random insult here!) but he is a fine runner in open play. Lloyd, Holtby and Smith will enjoy having Gibson inside them. He is a game breaker and creates plenty of space for those around him.

The only question remaining is where to play Austin Healey? Will he be played opposite the man he kept out of the Tigers’ 10 shirt - Andy Goode? Or will he play in his current chosen position in a white shirt - Scrum-half? I would guess at the latter. Morgan Williams will be kept very busy.

So what will Saracens bring to the party? As Thomas Castaignede mentioned in his column on Monday, we shouldn't get too carried away, there is still plenty of work to be done. The 3rd quarter at Kingston Park was like watching Sarries at their worst last season. Heads were dropping and feet were beginning to shuffle when Simon Raiwalui and Taine Randell took their men to one side and straightened them out.

Aside from the 3rd quarter relapse there were some signs of improvement. The lineout, although still a bit loose, was better. TR’s control at the back of a wheeling scrum was first-class and his "Acolyte" - Peacey and Roques worked tirelessly alongside him in defence, with only Rocky's missed tackle on Grindal being a blot on an otherwise solid performance.

At the Q&A with Ashley Rowden a couple of weeks ago, Mr Rowden commented that he expected Sarries to be far more combative at the breakdown and for once ;-)) he was right! Raiwalui, Chesney and the aforementioned Randell ruled the breakdown. Emi Bergemaschi's efforts in stopping the Newcastle driving maul were enormous.

Grunt we seem to have. What about behind the pack? Well, Del Boy Haughton is proving to be a deadly finisher when given the ball in space and his defence has improved again. Sorrell and Johnston won't let us down, neither, as it would appear, will Paul Bailey whjo was very impressive on debut last Sunday.

As Large pointed out In his Casbah Chronicles this week, T.C. and Nathan McAvoy both need to settle back into their Rugby. They both tackled above their weight at the weekend but seemed to lack confidence going forward. Darragh O'Mahony should (if he has recovered from his brother’s wedding) take McAvoy's place against the Tigers and provide some composure to the back three.

A lot will, once again, depend on the boot of Andy Goode who was generally strong against the Falcons but will want to improve on his kicking from hand. If he plays well and kicks his goals I think Sarries will pick up the 4 points - No pressure, Warney!