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Saracens name a 34-year-old veteran as 'one of our best signings'
Saracens boss Mark McCall has praised the enormous impact that ex-Scotland lock Tim Swinson has made at the club since coming out of retirement last year. The 34-year-old had opted to retire after his contract at Glasgow elapsed in 2020 but he went on to sign for the Londoners just six days after hanging up his boots.
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He has since become a cornerstone of their pack, initially bedding in during the resumed 2019/20 post-lockdown campaign and then going on to win the players’ player of the year award at the end of their Championship-winning season last June. By that time he was set to retire again only to agree to another one-year deal taking him through to the end of this season’s 2021/22 Premiership.
“Tim has been remarkable,” enthused McCall, the long-serving Saracens coach. “He actually had retired when we asked him to come out of retirement to help us in the Championship year. We thought our younger players needed a wise old head like him.
“He was voted our players’ player of the year at the end of the Championship year, which is an achievement that all the players want because you are voted by the players and he won it by a landslide. And he has continued that form this year.
“He does all the things that people don’t see. A great mauler, great maul defender, brilliant scrummager. You know what you are getting from Tim all of the time. He is one of those players you can count on all the time and he is a hugely popular member of the squad. In lots of ways one of our best signings over the last couple of years.”
'It is certainly not a time I look back on fondly'
After a 6-day retirement in May 2020, Tim Swinson is now in his 2nd season at @Saracens He talks to @heagneyl ??? about a year that has seen the Scot go from Barbarians villain to resurgent secondrow forcehttps://t.co/3aA0EgBRmQ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 17, 2021
It was last week when Swinson, in an exclusive interview with RugbyPass, explained why he fitted in so well at Saracens and why his game-cancelling high jinx with the Barbarians wasn’t going to prevent him from being a success at the club he supported as a young boy. “The basics are working hard and that is something I found quite easy to do, to keep going. I feel like once you start working hard, everything else falls into place. Although the Saracens players are extremely good and it can be quite an intimidating environment when you are new, I felt very lucky to have this opportunity to be with this team.
“I had not enjoyed rugby for a year or two-year period (at Glasgow) and felt ready to move on with my next challenge, but I am really grateful for the opportunity to come down here. It was a club I supported in my childhood, I played with some of the coaches and it would be too good an opportunity to turn down. It highlights also why I chose to stay (another year), that it is an opportunity that is a really good end to my career, to really enjoy rugby and playing.”
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It's been a busy England-influenced midweek catch-up with Mark McCall – the exclusion of the Vunipolas, the reprieve for George and the situation regarding last weekend's Itoje shoulder injury#England #Sarries #GallagherPrem #SARvWAS
https://t.co/46mSZlIqRM— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 20, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Grt bench player..keep him there..
3 Go to commentsA Springbok 2-0 win: haha told you we were champions now shut up An Irish 2-0 win: the referee was under orders from world rugby to cheat us but luckily we don’t care because this is part of Rassie’s grand world Cup plan.
107 Go to commentsI hope they didn’t pay Jones fee?
2 Go to commentsTo be fair, the teams he's had to put out are reminiscent of those available to Gatland during his horrible run at the Chiefs in late 2020. Anyway, he's only got a two year contract and Wellingtonian Tamati Ellison will be ready by then, as will a lot of talented youngsters (like the Chiefs Gatland blooded). The Crusaders are planning for the long term.
5 Go to commentsGreat to see more community spending leading to higher participation in the community. It's a long road but that's a good first step.
2 Go to commentsPoetic justice for trying to sell him to Australia as another kiwi saviour coach, not ! Deans was just as bad actually but McCaw and Carter covered up for him. That’s why they didn’t want him as All Black coach, even after Graeme Henry’s bumbling effort in 2007.
5 Go to commentsSACK HIM !
5 Go to commentsSafas are so triggered by Ireland. 3 consecutive losses, incl RWC. 8 losses out of last 12 Tests. Always excuses, of course, with Bok fans. Now Rassie with his “88%” nonsense, the Claytons Excuse is an embarrassment to Bok teams of the past when every test mattered. Their fickle mojo will be on edge for the Ireland tour. Have the referees been appointed yet ? They will need security. Have WR laid out strict guidelines for TMO’s and replays on the stadium screens ? Will the constant stoppages from Bok forwards for cramps and bootlaces be tolerated ? We’re not talking a dominant Springbok team here, they won the LOTTO Cup and they know it whether they admit it or not. The Disney doco has their fans positively fermenting internally, its going to be a nasty hangover if they get beaten on home soil. What will the excuses be then……
107 Go to commentsGreat role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
107 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
107 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
107 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
107 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
107 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
107 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
3 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
107 Go to comments