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Saracens make one change as they roll out big guns for semi-final tilt
Saracens have named a full-strength side as they seek to secure a home semi-final with a win over Northampton Saints.
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Director of Rugby Mark McCall has made just one change to the side who lost to Toulon at the Stade Mayol, with Scotland international Sean Maitland, who signed a new contract earlier this week returning to the right wing, replacing Max Malins who suffered a hamstring injury in France.
The pack will remain unaltered. Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, and Vincent Koch will pack down in the front row once again, with Maro Itoje and Nick Isiekwe in charge of the lineout. At the base of the scrum, Theo McFarland, Ben Earl, and Billy Vunipola are in charge of providing front-foot ball for the backs.
Halfbacks Aled Davies and skipper Owen Farrell remain, while Nick Tompkins and Elliot Daly maintain their strong midfield pairing.
Rotimi Segun, who keeps his place on the left wing, says the prospect of securing a home semi-final has given the squad huge motivation for Saturday’s crunch match.
“Northampton are a group that love to play attacking rugby but we are pushing to secure a home semi and first and foremost that’s what we’re going after.”
“We know what went wrong last week and we know that there is loads to improve on, and this is the first opportunity to do it. The Premiership is now the only competition we can go for so we want to put our teeth straight back in to it.”
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Meanwhile Northampton Saints Director of Rugby Chris Boyd has made four changes (See below) to his side for the game.
SARACENS:
1 Mako Vunipola
2 Jamie George
3 Vincent Koch
4 Maro Itoje
5 Nick Isiekwe
6 Theo McFarland
7 Ben Earl
8 Billy Vunipola
9 Aled Davies
10 Owen Farrell (c)
11 Rotimi Según
12 Nick Tompkins
13 Elliot Daly
14 Sean Maitland
15 Alex Goode
Replacements:
16 Ethan Lewis
17 Ralph Adams-Hale
18 Alec Clarey
19 Callum Hunter-Hill
20 Jackson Wray
21 Ivan van Zyl
22 Alex Lozowski
23 Alex Lewington
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS:
15 George Furbank
14 Tommy Freeman
13 Matt Proctor
12 Fraser Dingwall
11 Courtnall Skosan
10 Dan Biggar
9 Alex Mitchell
1 Emmanuel Iyogun
2 Mike Haywood
3 Ehren Painter
4 Alex Coles
5 Api Ratuniyarawa
6 Courtney Lawes
7 Aaron Hinkley
8 Lewis Ludlam (c)
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REPLACEMENTS:
16 Sam Matavesi
17 Alex Waller
18 Paul Hill
19 Alex Moon
20 Brandon Nansen
21 Tom James
22 Rory Hutchinson
23 Ollie Sleightholme
Comments on RugbyPass
Hats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
2 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
21 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
13 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to comments