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.
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Farrell and Billy Vunipola both suffered head knocks at Aviva Stadium last weekend while Mako Vunipola was withdrawn at the interval following a troubled first-half showing.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
'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
Steve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
15 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
3 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
3 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
15 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
18 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
15 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
15 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
15 Go to commentsLove Manu but he's not the player he was and I imagine Bayonne have paid too much money for him.
3 Go to comments