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Saracens and Racing name their semi-final teams

By Online Editors
(Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

Saracens have kept faith with the same team that eliminated Leinster from the Champions Cup last weekend for Saturday’s semi-final against a Racing XV showing two changes from their quarter-final win at Clermont.

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The win by the Londoners in Ireland was viewed as a major upset as Leinster had just been crowned PRO14 champions and came into the European tie on the back of 25 straight wins, a streak that stretched all the way back to May 2019 when they were beaten by Saracens in the 2018/19 season European final. 

With Owen Farrell suspended, Alex Goode ran the show from out-half last weekend, scoring a try and a plethora of kicks for a 19-point haul that was pivotal to the 25-17 Aviva Stadium success. 

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What do Owen Farrell’s teammates at Saracens think of his tackling technique?

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What do Owen Farrell’s teammates at Saracens think of his tackling technique?

Goode will now run the team again in a Saracens XV where only Sean Maitland and Jackson Wray remain from the pool defeat at Racing last November. Tighthead Vincent Koch and semi-final replacements Callum Hunter-Hill and Manu Vunipola were also involved off the bench that day. 

Back row Michael Rhodes, the man of the match in Dublin, had feared missing the semi-final after he was cited for an incident with Robbie Henshaw. However, he was cleared at a disciplinary hearing to play. 

Racing, meanwhile, recall Teddy Thomas for the injured Louis Dupichot while veteran former Ireland lock Donnacha Ryan comes in for Bernard Le Roux. The only change on their bench sees Boris Palu step up for the promoted Ryan. 

RACING: 15. Simon Zebo; 14. Teddy Thomas, 13. Virimi Vakatawa, 12. Olivier Klemenczak, 11. Juan Imhoff; 10. Finn Russell, 9. Teddy Iribaren (capt); 1. Eddy Ben Arous, 2. Camille Chat, 3. Georges Henri Colombe, 4. Donnacha Ryan, 5. Dominic Bird, 6. Wenceslas Lauret, 7. Fabien Sanconnie, 8. Antonie Claassen. Reps: 16. Teddy Baubigny, 17. Hassane Kolingar, 18. Ali Oz, 19. Boris Palu, 20. Baptiste Chouzenoux, 21. Maxime Machenaud, 22. Antoine Gibert, 23. Francois Trinh-Duc.

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SARACENS: 15. Elliot Daly; 14. Alex Lewington, 13. Duncan Taylor, 12. Brad Barritt (capt), 11. Sean Maitland; 10. Alex Goode, 9. Richard Wigglesworth; 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Jamie George, 3. Vincent Koch, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Tim Swinson, 6. Mike Rhodes, 7. Jackson Wray, 8. Billy Vunipola. Reps: 16. Tom Woolstencroft, 17. Richard Barrington, 18. Alec Clarey, 19. Callum Hunter-Hill, 20. Calum Clark, 21. Aled Davies, 22. Manu Vunipola, 23. Dom Morris.

 

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M
Mzilikazi 21 minutes ago
How England reverse-engineered unlikely attacking change

Thanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.

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