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The Saracens verdict on how the Simpson loan deal is working out
Mark McCall has lauded the impact ex-England international Joe Simpson is making during his short stay at Saracens on their return to the Gallagher Premiership. It was September 13, in the wake of the September 9 suspension handed down to new signing Ivan van Zyl, that the Londoners announced they had secured the services of the 33-year-old for a month to help get their season going.
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Simpson so far has come off the bench in the opening night win over Bristol and having started in last weekend’s bye round friendly win over Ealing, this Saturday’s game at Leicester will be the last game before South African van Zyl is free to play again.
“We are so fortunate to find someone as experienced as Joe to fill that short-term gap with Ivan getting a ban so that was great,” enthused McCall when asked for his verdict on Simpson, the scrum-half who won his one and only England cap as a sub at the 2011 World Cup.
“But also he has just fitted in brilliantly. He knew quite a few of our players. He had played with Billy (Vunipola) and Alex Lozowski when they were at Wasps together, but he has been brilliant.
“We played an A-team game against Ealing last Friday night and Joe played in that. He had a great influence on the younger players in that group so we have been really pleased with him.”
Ivan van Zyl has been given a four match suspension by an independent disciplinary panel following his red card against Ulster.
The full judgement can be found here: https://t.co/Z5hZWEC1Bo pic.twitter.com/mdberGLwqd
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) September 9, 2021
The reason why Saracens sought out Simpson on a short-term deal from Gloucester was that van Zyl, the ex-Springboks half-back, was red-carded in a pre-season match away to Ulster for tackling the airborne Craig Gilroy. At the resulting disciplinary hearing, van Zyl accepted the charge and was given a four-match suspension. McCall wouldn’t be drawn on whether the length of the suspension was warranted. “It is what it is and he will be available to play after this weekend.”
However, in the full judgment published after the hearing, it emerged that while the RFU agreed the offence “was not grossly negligent, it was sufficiently serious to warrant a mid-range entry point”. This was in contrast to the Saracens view where a submission in support of van Zyl said the offence should be assessed at the low end of the scale of seriousness.
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"That is really a good way to approach it"
– Saracens boss Mark McCall has been talking about when exactly his five-strong Lions contingent might return to action in the Premiership#Lions #PremRugby #Saracens #LEIvSARhttps://t.co/8BLEWQwqki
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 29, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m sick to death of waiting 3 years for league players to become half decent. It cripples Australian rugby in the meantime. The Reds actually looked half competent without Vunivalu not starting last week. He’s just a liability of errors. Paisami is looking better than he has in previous years but I’d have Kerevi back in a flash. A kiwi wont tho …...
4 Go to commentsExcellent analysis Nick as we have come to expect. I was not really aware that NFL strategies have been adopted by rugby teams, especially in defence. One point I would make is that the Northhampton attacking player on the end of the chain in the video examples has not maintained the correct depth to be effective. In the footage shown the outside player is too flat to make the best of the opportunity his inside players have provided. In each case they have to reduce speed and turn their body backwards to secure the ball, losing all momentum and giving the impressive scrambling defence the chance to shut down the threat.
1 Go to commentsMorning, John. Do you think that it may be a good idea to rest both teams from the Madrid comp leading in to the Olympics
2 Go to comments« I am preparing myself for much more, something much bigger. I’m focussing on the next cycle, » You don’t say…
1 Go to commentsGeez plenty of time to come right before test season starts. Dont panic mr Mannering!!!!!
1 Go to commentsGreat read Nick. The Reds really have been great to watch this year, and the improvement of not only the players you mention, but the squad in general has been obvious. The Reds 10/12 play making axis is a nice counterpoint to the 10/15 partnership at the Brumbies and Rebels. If Schmidt was to pick say, Lolesio, Paisami and Wright / Kellaway, would this be too many play makers? I notice in a lot of those clips Tim Ryan playing across the field in support of Vunivalu. Is this a feature of Kiss’s structure?
4 Go to commentsSo sad, god rest him. Too young to be gone. RIP
2 Go to commentsRIP big man 🙏
2 Go to commentsThe GB coach. “Just because we don’t get together as much as other teams we don’t use that as an excuse for performances when we don’t hit the mark”. Why mention it at all then?
1 Go to commentsNo mention of the yellow card for Harlequins which really cost them.
3 Go to commentsThought you’d left us Nick. Good to have you back writing for us. So hunter ikitau works? I reckon wright kellaway as two of the back 3. Tim Ryan and Toole looking good for strike winger but I still want the power of korobeiti and figure our forwards still need him to help them out. Million dollar question is who plays 10? I’m thinking Noah for his kicking and combo with wright. Reckon the pair adds up to an attack and kellaway will help. Can you comment on Zac Lucas in Japan? How is he going?
4 Go to commentsMack Hansen, Ethan Roots, Taine Plumbtree, Louis Lynagh, Emmanuel Meafou? Which country do you want to pick your Barbarians from?
3 Go to commentsInstead of apologising, try to act like an adult, fcknut.
3 Go to commentsLooks like the Force twisted his leg…ahem arm
7 Go to commentsScotland should change their name to the Barbarians
3 Go to commentsThe game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
3 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
8 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
3 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
3 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
3 Go to comments