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Can this Exeter team be the one to end Saracens 22-match unbeaten run
Exeter and Saracens square off in the Gallagher Premiership this weekend – first versus second, with just two points separating them.
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Saracens have not been beaten since a Champions Cup quarter-final defeat to eventual-champions Leinster on April 1st, with Mark McCall’s team on an astonishing 22-man unbeaten run.
But is this the first genuine test for Saracens? Cardiff Blues had a sniff of an opportunity last weekend when Saracens went down to 14 men after Will Skelton’s yellow card with a quarter of an hour to go at the Cardiff Arms Park. Saracens responded in typical style by extending their advantage thanks to an Owen Farrell penalty and Jamie George try and eventually won 26-14.
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What’s daunting is that Owen Farrell feels that this Saracens team have yet to hit their top gear, particularly in the first halves of matches in recent weeks.
“We want to put out a complete performance this weekend. We’ve won a few games now having not put out an 80-minute performance; we’ve seen it in glimpses but it’s exciting to see where we can take it and hopefully we’ll do a lot of figuring out around that this week”, Farrell told the Saracens website.
Now it’s a trip to Sandy Park. Exeter’s ground hasn’t had its usual fortress-like hold this season, notably in the Champions Cup with a draw against Munster and a defeat to Gloucester. But in the Premiership they’ve held firm at home, kicking off the season with a comprehensive 40-6 win over Leicester Tigers. Another thing to note is that Saracens have not won in Devon since 2016.
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Team's up!
Your Saracens team to take on Exeter Chiefs this weekend. ?? pic.twitter.com/R9YWWiPQwH
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) December 21, 2018
One of the most compelling areas of this contest will be up front with two formidable front rows; Alec Hepburn, Jack Yeandle and Tomas Francis coming up against Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Vincent Koch. However, when you analyse the RugbyPass Index the Sarries trio are vastly superior with RPI’s of 92, 91 and 91 respectively, compared to 76, 87, 84.
In fact Saracens dominate the RPI several key head-to-heads including at outhalf Owen Farrell (92) versus Gareth Steenson (86) and at scrum half Ben Spencer (89) up against Jack Maunder (73). Jonny Hill and Sam Simmonds are the only two Chiefs players in the top-10 when pitting the teams side-by-side in the RPI, however both are injured.
There are areas of encouragement for the Chiefs, namely the form of Matt Kvesic and the potency of Santiago Cordero.
There is a sizeable English contingent missing from this contest, Exeter are without their backline duo of Henry Slade and Jack Nowell, while the considerable talents of Maro Itoje or Billy Vunipola aren’t at Saracens’ disposal either.
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Chiefs head coach Ali Hepher pinpointed what he expects from the contest to “Both of us will be going full bore at it. It will be very physical and very tactical, but it’s something we are all excited about. For us, it will be a good marker to see where we are at in terms of our performance levels, our general work ethic and how we react in those big-game moments,” he told the Chiefs website.
Hepher has been impressed by Sarries longevity at the top and realises it’s no accident.
“Guys and teams who are at the top are always looking to move forward. The game is evolving all the time and if you stick where you are at, you are going to go backwards pretty quickly. In the case of ourselves and Saracens, both of us have been in and around the top of the division for a while, Saracens even more than us.
“For that, you have to give them a lot of credit. They have a fantastic coaching team and players who are prepared to drive themselves on and on. Equally, we are the same here. We have driven ourselves up the league over the years and we’re in a good position. That said, we have to keep pushing forward, we can’t afford to sit back. We need to be better, not just at this time, but in the future as well.”
Exeter have been burned in the Premiership final twice in the last three seasons by Saracens. Looking at the recent comparative form of the sides, coupled with how line-up’s have been affected by injury it appears that Saracens will still have the edge, and 22 matches will turn to 23.
Exeter Chiefs Team v Saracens
15. Joe Simmonds, 14. Santiago Cordero, 13. Ian Whitten, 12. Sam Hill, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. Gareth Steenson, 9. Jack Maunder; 1. Alec Hepburn, 2. Jack Yeandle (capt), 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Dave Dennis, 5. Sam Skinner, 6. Sean Lonsdale, 7. Don Armand, 8. Matt Kvesic
Replacments: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Mitch Lees, 20. Tom Lawday, 21. Nic White, 22. Ollie Devoto, 23. Phil Dollman
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Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
16 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
16 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
16 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
16 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
16 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
16 Go to comments