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CLUBS UPDATE, 30th August 2005

Team News

Last minute try helps Saracens to Quins win

Saracens sneaked past Harlequins 25-24 in their final pre-season friendly game before the start of the Guinness Premiership next weekend.

Glen Jackson’s injury time try gave the Men in Black victory in the game being played at Harpenden RFC in front of crowd of over 2,000.

Saracens were made to work hard throughout the game which saw visitors score the first try of the match through winger Ugo Monye after Jackson had started the scoring with a successful penalty, a feat his fellow countryman Andrew Merthens couldn’t match as his conversion attempt went wide.

Saracens hit back after good pressure with David Seymour charging down an attempted goal line clearance and managed to pounce on the loose ball as it spilled over the line to score. Jackson was again on target to make the scores 10-5.

He extended the lead further with a second penalty before Quins had the final say of the half with a rolling maul that saw Ward cross the line to make the half time score 12-10.

Saracens drew first blood in the second half with Alex Sanderson powering over for a close range try but that was soon cancelled out by Quins scrum half So-oila who socred under the posts.

The visitors scored again with Monye grabbing his second try and Quins were leading 18-24 with 10 minutes to go and Saracens were finding it hard to retain possession.

The Men in Black finally got the break through they were looking for as Nick Lloyd was in support of a good run from Sanderson and he fed fly half Jackson who scooted through to score just to the right of the posts. With the scores at 23-24 the Kiwi converted his own try to hand his side victory and as the ball bobbled around in the dead ball area referee Ashley Rowden blew his whistle.

Another good test for the Men in Black but they certainly made hard work of it. Ben Johnston was again impressive and there was a definate hunger for the ball from the back row trio of Seymour, Sanderson and Skirving.

With the two pre-season games now out of the way Saracens now have to step up several gears when they face Wasps at Twickenham next Saturday.

Saracens
Scarbrough, Nnamdi Obi, Johnston, Sorrell, Haughton, Jackson, Dickens, Lloyd, Cairns, Visagie, Chesney, Vyvyan, Randell, Seymour, Skirving

Substitutes
Byrne, Broster, Yates, Fullarton, Ryder, Russell, Sanderson, Rauluni, Russell, Harris, Little


Ford keen to learn from pre-season games...

The victory over Harlequins makes it two from two after Saracens beat Bedford at Goldington Road the week before but Head Coach Mike Ford felt that the performance only ‘adequate’ leaving his squad plenty to attend to before the Guinness Premiership kicks off on Saturday at Twickenham.

“It was good to get the victory in the end,” confessed Mike, “it’s good to get a winning habit going and although it wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, the greatest win we’ve ever had it was a win none the less.

“Sometimes we look too much into friendlies and pre-season games, I remember as a player myself I use to hate them as all you could do in them is get injured, and you can’t really compare them to a Guinness Premiership game. Quins got myself and Steve (Diamond) thinking about a few things, so certainly the game was good in that respect and we can gear the weeks training towards the things we were poor at.

“There were a few negatives and also a few positives. I could see things starting to unfold, things we have been working on in training. Some of them didn’t quite come off through a lack of execution but there were good signs.

“The main thing we got out of it was that the players got some game time under their belt, 60-70 minutes for some of them, and we’ve got things to work on. We also suffered no injuries."

There were a number of players absent from the team sheet this weekend with Andy Farrell, Kyran Bracken, Simon Raiwalui and Tevita Vaikona all carrying slight injuries. Also Thomas Castaignede was unavailable as he was best man at his brother’s wedding.

“There were a few players missing from the side this weekend but we feel that we have got a big enough squad not to play people when they are injured. If someone isn’t 100% fit we’ve got players to fit into their boots safe in the knowledge that the team isn’t going to lose anything.

“People like Andy Farrell, Simon Raiwalui, Kyran Bracken and Tevita Vaikona have been allowed recover fully from training ground knocks and although they’re household names we’ve got to have an attitude that if someone’s not available we concentrate on the guys that are playing and get the best out of the 22 that are selected.”

Other News


Next stop Twickenham

On Saturday 3rd September Saracens’ Guinness Premiership season kicks off with the London Double Header at Twickenham, which sees them face premiership champions Wasps. We caught up with Head Coach Mike Ford to see what lies ahead for the players this week and what mood the camp is in with the first game now just days away.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” explained Mike, ”there’s always a buzz about the place ahead of the first game of the season. The guys have been in over the last few days doing recovery work and then a session at the Season Ticket Holders BBQ and they’re in good spirits – we’ve got a big week ahead of us!

“Training will be short this week as we want the players to be fresh for Saturday. What we want is good quality sessions and then lots of rest as this is now as important as time spent on the field.

“We know that what we want achieve and the way we want to play won’t happen over night as you can do all the pre-season work you like but it’s not until you start playing competitive games that you really start learning.

“We know we’re not favourites at Twickenham at the weekend and that we’re up against the best team in the competition but at the same time it really helps to focus the mind and coming up against the best means that we will have to be at ours to have a chance.

“Thomas (Castaignede) returned from his brother’s wedding yesterday and will be available for selection this week. As for the other players that missed Saturday’s game like Simon Raiwalui, Kyran Bracken, Andy Farrell and Tevita Vaikona, we’ll be looking at their rehab progress over the next 48 hours to see whether or not they’re ready to include in the equation.”

The team will be hoping that they are welcomed to the hallowed turf at Twickenham by a mass of Saracens supporters in their opening game.


Randell calls for fans to play their part

Saracens' Taine Randell wants fans to recreate the atmosphere of the final few games of last season when the 2005/06 Guinness Premiership gets underway at Vicarage Road for Saracens first home game of the season.

Cup winners Leeds Tykes visit Watford on Sunday 11th September; kick off 3pm, as Saracens are back in league action - starting their Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup campaigns.

Saracens had their most successful campaign for five years last season and the players will be looking to pick up where they left off - especially following the victories over Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers in the final two league games of the season.

Randell said: "There was a great atmosphere for the Leicester game and all the players enjoyed that and I think the supporters also appreciated the efforts of the players on the pitch that day - that's the kind of feeling we want to recreate every game this season at Vicarage Road. We need everyone to play their part."

Tickets for the game are on sale now and it will also be a chance to see some of the new squad members in action at Vicarage Road for the first time with Alan Dickens coming up against his old club and Andy Farrell, Shane Byrne, Tom Ryder, Emmanuel Amapakabo, Billy O'Driscoll and Nnamdi Obi all battling for first team spots to make their home debuts.

The game will also see All Black legend Justin Marshall in action for Leeds Tykes following his move to the Guinness Premiership in the summer - and he's a player who fellow Kiwi Randell knows well.

"I've played with Justin a number of times and he's someone I know very well," explained Randell. "He's a very combative player and can makes things happen. He's very talented and it's no surprise that he's the most capped scrum-half to play for New Zealand. It's going to be a hard game, but it will be good to get back at Vicarage Road again and look to get the season off to a good start."

Tickets for the game against Leeds Tykes are on sale now, please call 01923475222 or visit www.saracens.com for further details.


CEO gives end of season structure the thumbs up

Saracens Chief Executive Mark Sinderberry believes the changes to the end of season structure will benefit the game and provide more clarity as the season enters its final stages.

Under the new structure, the Premiership semi final and wildcard semi finals, which have been in place for three years, have been replaced by a straight GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP semi final.

This will see the two teams finishing top of the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP at the end of the regular season both having home ties against the sides finishing third and fourth respectively. The winners of those games would play at Twickenham in the GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Final for the right be crowned GUINNESS PREMIERSHIP Champions.

All other European qualification places would be decided by either league position or cup success.

Sinderberry said: "If you look at our situation going into the final few games of last season, it was almost impossible to determine whether we would qualify for the Heineken Cup and by what route. There were a number of permutations possible and some that could also have been embarrassing for all of us.

"This new structure will provide much greater clarity as the season draws to a conclusion which will benefit all of us - clubs, sponsors and supporters.

"Speaking from personal experience of the Super 12, having first and second place clubs both have home semi-finals is a huge boost for those clubs involved. So overall, this is a very positive step and will give us some certainty in the closing stages of the season


Masterclass


Over 100 youngsters worked on improving their rugby skills in preparation for the new season at our second Masterclass of the summer held at Hertford last week.



                              
                    Glen Jackson & Tomas Castaignede with the U9’s and U10’s         Nnamdi Obi takes a full on tackle from one of the children

Aimed at players aged U7-U16, the Masterclass not only gives player top quality coaching throughout the week, but participants also get the chance to receive top tips from the likes of Thomas Castaignede, Richard Haughton, Taine Randell, Hugh Vyvyan and other members of the squad who are also involved on the course.

The next course is set for October Half term. For further details on this and other courses please email masterclass@saracens.net





 

 

 

 

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