Sarries try to make it 3 out of 3 over Wasps at HQ

By Jonjo
August 30 2005

The teams have not yet been announced but we can try to answer a few questions about what we may expect on Saturday, such as: Were Saracens' two warm-up games convincing? Who will start on Saturday? Who made the best signings in the close season? Who will win?!

I’ll start with last season’s form, however. Wasps started slowly before reaching a standard of play which was frankly in a class beyond the rest of the premiership. Perhaps Leicester could be said to match them for class at times, but were too prone to throwing their toys out of the pram and resorting to, shall we say, brute force if things didn’t go in their favour.

Sarries started the season OK, coached by Rod Kafer and beating Wasps (albeit not very convincingly) at the 2004 Double Header, before subsiding towards the bottom of the table at Christmas, and then following Kafer’s departure and Steve Diamond’s promotion, rising almost phoenix-like from their own ashes to finish 5th and qualify for the Heineken Cup. But we took a notable hammering from Wasps at London High Wycombe on the way, as indeed did Leicester at Headquarters, allowing Wasps to become Champions again.

When it comes to key players, Wasps have been having a few problems lately, at least on paper. Dallaglio is still out following his injury on the Lions tour, Lewsey has had an operation on a cyst on his shoulder and Greening is out after toe surgery. And what will they do with their English Lions Worsley, Dawson and Shaw? Rest them or play them, and if so, for 40 minutes or the full game?

Among those leaving at the end of last season were Craig Dowd, Trevor Leota and Will Green, while behind the scrum they have lost Peter Richards (and of course Rob Howley, who missed last season though injury). Possibly most significantly, they have lost their Director of Rugby, Warren Gatland.

On balance, I’d say they have lost more than they have gained in the merry-go-round.

For me, their two biggest signings (at least as far as we are concerned in this preview) are the excellent Ian McGeechan to replace Gatland (though whether the change in DoR will prove seamless is another matter) and one Raphael Ibanez who left Saracens at the end of last year, having not been treated as well as he felt he deserved. In my opinion, Ibanez failed to make a positive impact when coming on as a substitute, and perhaps only in the Leicester game at VR did he appear to be really fired up and committed.

At Saracens, there has been minimal turnover of personnel, which should be very good news. Alan Dickens joined from Leeds to replace the out of form and favour Morgan Williams and Shane Byrne has travelled across the Irish Sea to replace Ibanez. Robbie Kydd and Aston Croall also signed off.

Coming in is a very useful-looking young lock, Tom Ryder (no, Dimes, he is not Tom Palmer – but you knew that really …. didn’t you???) plus Nnamdi Obi on the wing, Emmanuel Amapakabo to strengthen the pool of flankers, and young centre Billy O’Driscoll. Oh and some bloke called Farrell. Sadly we will again be missing King Richard for much of the season as he recovers from another knee injury, but it was great to see him without crutches at the BBQ.

On paper, looking at last season’s form, the stability of the squad and the shrewd summer additions, Saracens should have a chance of aiming for the top this season. I am looking forward to the return of Dan Scarbrough and Alex Sanderson in real matches, and I feel sure that the Chief, Tevita Vaikona, is going to continue to improve as he masters the 15-man game.

I couldn’t get to Bedford but sadly I saw little at Harpenden to instil confidence that we are a real contender - yet. Then again I don’t know what objectives Dimes set for the match. If we rely on the evidence of the warm up games we could be in quite a bit of trouble on Saturday. The lineout misfired too often, both for Cairns and Byrne who twice overthrew the line into the hands of the eager Quins. Without TC in the centres we lack sparkle and several of the few decent chances were spilled due to handling errors. Perhaps more worrying were the holes evident in the defence. A reasonably promising start was thrown away, and only the most one-eyed supporter could claim it as a good win.

With the teams yet to be announced, one can only look at the possible opposition backs with respect… Van Gisbergen is potent at full back and a line up of Sackey, Erinle, Abbott and Voyce is one any team would be eager to put out. By contrast, Sarries are very strong in the scrum and will look to make Wasps sweat hard for any possession.

Key battles may start with Cairns and Ibanez, where there is reputed to be no love lost. I assume that Hart will captain the side from 6, where he will have to deal with the experience of Taine Randell, O’Connor will face Seymour, Sprout or the Axe at Openside and Worsley will be up against Vyvyan or maybe Skirving.

For my money, I expect Wasps to be under a fair bit of pressure in the scrum and hopefully the lineout, but they will be a handful every time the three-quarters get the ball in space. The crucial battle will be at the breakdown where our back row must dominate if we are going to win

Will we see Farrell? I suspect not. I remember watching Tevi when he first played Union, with Del telling him where to stand to receive kick-offs and what to do. I believe that Faz may prove to be the missing part of our jigsaw, but I fear that Wasps could expose his inexperience with a try-fest. There is that risk whenever he first appears, but I have no difficulty believing that he can make the 12 shirt his own by the end of the season, and in combination with TC at 13, we might have the incisive back line we need in order to reach the top of the GP table.

Last year there were 51,000 spectators at the London Double Header. Ironically, as a result of Harlequins relegation last season, this year the LDH involves Leeds, from 200 miles to the North; “London” Wasps, who are based in High Wycombe; “London” Irish, based in Reading; and Saracens, the only Premiership club inside the M25. Neither match in 2004 was of high quality. The deal was struck for two years, but unless there is some improvement in the quality of rugby, (and perhaps Quins return to the Premiership) this could be the last one.

Saracens are good enough to win with a bit of luck and a following wind. Realistically, they look more likely to come second. Maybe more important than winning this match is to see continuity of the robust scrum, gritty defence and the bloody-minded refusal to quit that we saw particularly in the latter half of last season, hopefully with more creativity behind the scrum.

Beating Wasps again will put down a big marker for the season – but equally, a heavy defeat will damage the momentum we created earlier this year. We meet Wasps at least three more times this season: in my view this is our best chance of the lot for a win, so GO SARRIES!!!