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Only one member of Saracens' six-strong England contingent will face Richmond
Hooker Jamie George is the only member of the six-strong England contingent from Saracens who will be involved in this weekend’s Greene King IPA Championship game away to Richmond on Sunday. Much was made during the disappointing Guinness Six Nations about the general lack of form of the Saracens players.
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Relegated from the Gallagher Premiership, they had no competitive club action over the winter in between England’s December Autumn Nations Cup final win over France and the February 6 Six Nations loss to Scotland.
Billy Vunipola was the only one to tog out, featuring in a pre-season loss to Ealing, but England skipper Owen Farrell, loosehead Mako Vunipola, hooker George, second row Maro Itoje and full-back Elliot Daly were all inactive and the consensus was this affected them on duty with Eddie Jones.
Both George and Daly were dropped during the Six Nations while there was also criticism of the form shown by Farrell and the Vunipola brothers. Meanwhile, Itoje came under much scrutiny for his high penalty count.
It all fed into a miserable campaign that ended with a hammering last weekend in Dublin by Ireland and only George is on deck for Saracens this weekend as the club, automatically relegated from the Premiership for repeated salary cap breaches, looks to pick up momentum following an opening day loss at Cornish Pirates and a home win versus Jersey.
Candid admission by the England second row about their Dublin drubbing #SixNations #IREvENG https://t.co/XY54H99Cls
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 26, 2021
Farrell and Billy Vunipola both suffered head knocks at Aviva Stadium last weekend while Mako Vunipola was withdrawn at the interval following a troubled first-half showing. Scotland winger Sean Maitland is on the Saracens bench after he was ruled out of selection for Friday night’s Test re-fixture versus France due to a Premiership Rugby cap on the number of English-based players made available to Gregor Townsend.
SARACENS (vs Richmond, Sunday)
15 Will Hooley
14 Alex Lewington
13 Dom Morris
12 Duncan Taylor
11 Rotimi Segun
10 Manu Vunipola
9 Aled Davies
1 Richard Barrington
2 Jamie George
3 Vincent Koch
4 Callum Hunter-Hill
5 Tim Swinson
6 Mike Rhodes
7 Sean Reffell
8 Jackson Wray (capt)
Replacements
16 Kapeli Pifeleti
17 Ralph Adams-Hale
18 Alec Clarey
19 Joel Kpoku
20 Andy Christie
21 Alex Day
22 Harry Sloan
23 Sean Maitland
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'Some of the hotels, especially the one in Dublin, Jesus Christ, honestly like, it was something else. Like there was silverware at the tables'
Witty, charming, unabashed; @Saracens prop & Durham lad @alecclarey is a breath of fresh air, w/ @heagneyl ???https://t.co/x5ePjGRcxz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 28, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Speell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
5 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
6 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to comments