Visagie Returns as Sarries take on Brive

By Rupert Thacker
January 7 2005

Having disposed of Bayonne and Parma in earlier rounds, admittedly in a slightly ham-fisted manner, a rejuvenated Saracens now have the opportunity to dispose of one of France’s best-known and, in European terms, most succssful teams.

Brive, European Champions in 1997, currently sit in 7th place in the Top 16, having won 10 of their 16 league games so far. To conform to the French stereotype of “not travelling well”, only 1 of those victories has been away from home. And looking in detail at their record this season, it seems to have remarkably similar characteristics to ours. They don’t concede too many points (too often), they don’t achieve many bonus points (only 2 try and 2 losing bonuses so far, hence only the 7th place) and, although they are trying to play an expansive game, are not achieving the heights that they possibly should. An upsurge in recent form has seen 3 wins from the last 4, the most notable being the 20-6 win over Perpignan – the defeat in the 4 games was, not surprisingly, away, at Bourgoin.

To get to the quarter finals of the European Challenge Cup, Brive have beaten Worcester by 14 points on aggregate (turning over a 14 point deficit from the 1st leg) and El Salvador by 73 points. It was notable that the game at Worcester saw them field a weakened side, very different from their regular Top 16 starting line up.

Although they are not a team packed with well-known internationals, they certainly have match winners. Julian Laharrague, a winger, is their leading points scorer in the French championship and is their main kicker. Reports say that his strike rate is worthy of a top line kicker, ie over 80%. And, of course, there is Alain Penaud. 35 years young, he has been rested for the away legs in Europe so far, replaced by Sebastien Laloo. But Penaud has played in the vast majority of the Top 16 games this year, suggesting that he is their preferred 10. The announcement of their team on Friday afternoon has confirmed that his knowledge of Vicarage Road has earned him his first European away start of the campaign, with Laloo left on the bench.

The announced Saracens team shows three changes from those who performed with such discipline and determination at Bath last weekend, two of which are enforced. Cobus Visagie returns for the injured Ben Broster, Nicky Little for the un-registered Glen Jackson and Nick Lloyd gets a start with Kevin Yates relegated to the bench. The performance last weekend was truly spectacular, in terms of the discipline shown and the way in which the team played the conditions. A gusting wind is forecast for this Sunday as well, positional kicking will be just as important as it was in Bath.

There isn’t an awful lot else to say about Saracens – the overused clichés about “consistency of performance” and “we must build on last week” could be wheeled out but they go without saying. What must be said though is that we have to go to Brive for the 2nd leg with a minimum 20 point lead; I can’t see past a Saracens win this Sunday, it’s a question of whether we can perform well enough to obtain the lead we need.

Saracens: 15 Bartholomeusz, 14 Haughton, 13 Castaignede, 12 Harris, 11 Vaikona, 10 Little, 9 Bracken, 1 Lloyd, 2 Cairns, 3 Visagie, 4 Raiwalui, 5 Fullarton, 6 Randell, 7 Seymour, 8 Skirving. Replacements TBC.

Brive: 15 Le Roux, 14 Laharrague, 13 Valbon, 12 Couttet, 11 Donguy, 10 Penaud, 9 Pejoine, 1 Rodriguez, 2 Djoudi, 3 Capdevielle, 4 Manhes, 5 Welborn, 6 Mallier, 7 Bonvoisin, 8 Azoulai. Replacements Pani, Moreno, Drodz, Maleyrie, Courrent, Laloo and Leite.

Referee : Guilio De Santis (Italy) – more cards than Clintons.