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Owen Farrell is back as Saracens show their spurs for Bristol
England skipper Owen Farrell is set to play for a star-studded Saracens XV on Saturday for the first time since October 24, the out-half finally overcoming a pair of ankle injuries that required surgery in recent months and confined him to the sidelines. The London club has held nothing back for the high-profile Gallagher Premiership encounter at Tottenham in front of an expected attendance of more than 40,000.
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Aside from the return of the fit-against Farrell for his first club outing in five months, Jamie George, Nick Isiekwe, Maro Itoje, Elliot Daly and Max Malins – who all played for England in the recent Six Nations – are all named as starters. So too is Wales midfielder Nick Tompkins in a fixture where Bristol will start England scrum-half Harry Randall and they also have sub Wales out-half Callum Sheedy in reserve on a bench featuring Semi Radradra and Charles Piutau.
It’s the comeback of absent England skipper Farrell, though, that will catch the eye most. Having originally limped out of the Autumn Nations Series win over Australia with an issue that needed an operation, he then needed a separate operation on his other ankle when he got injured on his London club’s training just over a fortnight before he was due to lead his country in the Six Nations.
Farrell missed the entire tournament but the 30-year-old will now take his first on-pitch steps towards making this July’s tour of Australia after he was named by Saracens in their team to take on Bristol in the Gallagher Premiership match on Saturday that is set to attract a crowd in excess of 40,000 to the Tottenham Hotspur football stadium.
Saracens boss Mark McCall had given an optimistic update on Farrell on Wednesday, saying: “Owen has been training over the last couple of weeks and fingers crossed he will be available on Saturday. He has been in team training sessions for about two weeks we have had a training session just finished there now [Wednesday afternoon] and we will assess him tomorrow and Friday and make sure everything is okay and fingers crossed he will be able to take part in the game.
“As a captain, he is rare and unique and as a player, he is a force of nature. The bigger the game the better he is. He is a Test match animal. Nothing brings the best out of him more than a huge game of rugby and certainly, we have missed him over this period. The unfortunate thing with this period he has been out, it wasn’t one injury, it was two injuries. He was almost back in January and he was out doing a training session – like he did today – and got injured in that training session, so that was a double blow and hard to deal with it.
“But over the last six weeks, he has made an enormous contribution. It is not like he has been sulking in any way. He has been throwing himself into everything, helping our younger players, helping the team prepare off the field as best as possible so I have been really impressed with the enthusiasm he has shown for that but he likes to play and we are excited to have him back and he is excited to be back.”
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SARACENS: 15. Alex Goode; 14. Max Malins, 13. Alex Lozowski, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Elliot Daly; 10. Owen Farrell (capt), 9. Aled Davies; 1. Richard Barrington, 2. Jamie George, 3. Vincent Koch, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Nick Isiekwe, 6. Jackson Wray, 7. Ben Earl, 8. Billy Vunipola. Reps: 16. Tom Woolstencroft, 17. Eroni Mawi, 18. Sam Wainwright, 19. Tim Swinson,20. Andy Christie, 21. Ruben de Haas, 22. Duncan Taylor, 23. Sean Maitland.
BRISTOL: 15. Rich Lane; 14. Alapati Leiua, 13. Piers O’Conor, 12. Antoine Frisch, 11. Jack Bates; 10. Tiff Eden, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Jake Woolmore, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Jake Armstrong, 4. Dave Attwood, 5. Joe Joyce (capt), 6. Chris Vui, 7. Dan Thomas, 8. Fitz Harding. Reps: 16. Jake Kerr, 17. Yann Thomas, 18. John Afoa, 19. Sam Jeffries, 20. Max Green, 21. Callum Sheedy, 22. Semi Radradra, 23. Charles Piutau.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
19 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
19 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
12 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
19 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
12 Go to commentsAfter missing the curfew, the player was simply too “Shagged” to stand up.
12 Go to commentsVernier is probably the best 12 in the world though she has some English competition these days . I am nervous for England because it is unpredictable France and who knows which team will turn up, but they have not yet shown anything that should worry England, Saturday could be a different day. I would be more confident against the BFs.
1 Go to commentsWhat a difference Rodda and Carter made. Rodda has been out for ages but he is really the only world class lock in Australian rugby. Him, Carter and Beale made a huge difference on the weekend. If only they had a few decent props they’d be a much more dangerous team. Hamish Stewart was excellent last week as well. His carrying has improved significantly and has to be next in line after Paisami at 12 for the Wallabies. He’ll benefit hugely with Beale at fullback, there’s just no better communicator in Australian rugby than him and his experience will make a huge difference for the Force. No one sees space like Beale and he’s still sharp. I can see Force making a late charge into the top 8 if they can get some consistency.
2 Go to commentsRodda will be a walk up starter at lock. Frost if you analyse his dominance has little impact and he’s a long way from being physical enough, especially when you compare to Rodda and the work he does. He was quite poor at the World Cup in his lack of physicality. Between Rodda and Skelton we would have locks who can dominate the breakdown and in contact. Frost is maybe next but Schmidt might go for a more physical lock who does their core work better like Ryan or LSL. Swain is no chance unless there’s a load of injuries. Pollard hasn’t got the scrum ability yet to be considered. Nasser dominated him when they went toe to toe and really showed him up. Picking Skelton effects who can play 6 and 8. Ideally Valetini would play 6 as that’s his best position and Wilson at 8 but that’s not ideal for lineout success. Cale isn’t physical enough yet in contact and defence but is the best backrow lineout jumper followed by Wright, Hanigan and Swinton so unfortunately Valetini probably will start at 8 with Wright or Hanigan at 6. Wilson on the bench, he’s got too much quality not to be in the squad. Paisami is leading the way at 12 but Hamish Stewart is playing extremely well also and his ball carrying has improved significantly. Beale is also another option based on the weekend. Beale is class but he’s also the best communicator of any Australian backline player and that can’t be underestimated, he’ll be in the mix.
8 Go to commentsWhy do people keep on picking Ardie at 7 when he's a ball in hand 8? A modern 7 is the lead tackler and ruck clearer which isn't his strength.
19 Go to commentsSly dig there at Ireland’s propensity to back a non-Irish coach. Must really want it. I’m not sure I like ROG very much. Comes off as unpleasant. But he’d gain my respect if he took a number 7 ranked team and turned them into WC winners. Not even back-to-back. Argentina? Scotland? Or how about Wales? France would be too easy, no?
1 Go to commentsA bit of sensationalism, but surprised by the comments about SBW. I’ve always thought of him as a pretty authentic person. There is nothing worse than working with a colleague you’ve seen straight through.
12 Go to comments100% agree with your comment about Touch. I’ve been playing it competitively since Covid. It’s on a Wednesday night after work. It means the weekend is free for time with my family.
2 Go to commentsRodda back is massively important for the Wallabies. Kaitu at hooker important too coz he was very good a few years ago.
2 Go to comments