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Saracens confirm Fraser Balmain signing

Fraser Balmain of Gloucester Rugby looks on during the Gloucester Rugby Captain's Run and press conference ahead of the EPCR Challenge Cup Final against Hollywoodbets Sharks at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 23, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

Saracens have announced the signing of tighthead prop Fraser Balmain from Gloucester, as reported by RugbyPass. 

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The 32-year-old becomes the latest front-row signing for the three-time European Champions, and sixth overall, in a summer that has also seen plenty of props leave the StoneX Stadium.

Balmain will arrive with fellow tighthead Phil Brantingham from Newcastle Falcons, while Wales loosehead Rhys Carre will also rejoin from Cardiff. Meanwhile, loosehead trio Mako Vunipola, Tom West and Ralph Adams-Hale have all departed alongside tightheads Christian Judge and Logovi’i Mulipola.

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Damian de Allende talks about the plaudits heaped on him by his teammates

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    Damian de Allende talks about the plaudits heaped on him by his teammates

    The prop brings a wealth of experience to north London, with over 200 appearances in his career across spells with Gloucester and Leicester Tigers.

    “I’m really looking forward to joining Saracens, and am very excited for a new challenge!” he said to Saracens.  

    Balmain’s new director of rugby Mark McCall added: “Fraser is a player with plenty of experience and we are excited to see him add his quality to the squad for next season.

    “He is very well respected across the league and we believe he can have a very strong impact here at Saracens.”

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    Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington said: “Fraser has played a big role for us in his time here and we are grateful to his contribution in Cherry & White.

    “We do, however, recognise it’s a good opportunity and a new challenge for him at this stage in his career, and he departs with our best wishes and thanks for his time at Kingsholm.”

    Gloucester have acted swiftly in replacing Balmain, with RugbyPass reporting that former England U20 prop Alfie Petch has been lined up to arrive at Kingsholm. 

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    J
    JW 3 hours ago
    Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

    It is now 22 years since Michael Lewis published his groundbreaking treatise on winning against the odds

    I’ve never bothered looking at it, though I have seen a move with Clint as a scout/producer. I’ve always just figured it was basic stuff for the age of statistics, is that right?

    Following the Moneyball credo, the tailor has to cut his cloth to the material available

    This is actually a great example of what I’m thinking of. This concept has abosolutely nothing to do with Moneyball, it is simple being able to realise how skillsets tie together and which ones are really revelant.


    It sounds to me now like “moneyball” was just a necessity, it was like scienctest needing to come up with some random experiment to make all the other world scholars believe that Earth was round. The American sporting scene is very unique, I can totally imagine one of it’s problems is rich old owners not wanting to move with the times and understand how the game has changed. Some sort of mesiah was needed to convert the faithful.


    While I’m at this point in the article I have to say, now the NRL is a sport were one would stand up and pay attention to the moneyball phenom. Like baseball, it’s a sport of hundreds of identical repetitions, and very easy to data point out.

    the tailor has to cut his cloth to the material available and look to get ahead of an unfair game in the areas it has always been strong: predictive intelligence and rugby ‘smarts’

    Actually while I’m still here, Opta Expected Points analysis is the one new tool I have found interesting in the age of data. Seen how the random plays out as either likely, or unlikely, in the data’s (and algorithms) has actually married very closely to how I saw a lot of contests pan out.


    Engaging return article Nick. I wonder, how much of money ball is about strategy as apposed to picks, those young fella’s got ahead originally because they were picking players that played their way right? Often all you here about is in regards to players, quick phase ruck ball, one out or straight up, would be were I’d imagine the best gains are going to be for a data driven leap using an AI model of how to structure your phases. Then moving to tactically for each opposition.

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