Sarries take Biarritz Clash to Cape Town

http://www.saracens.com/news/view.php?Id=6559

Reaction on the Sarries website is not good at all. A lot of people seem rather peed off.

Will season ticket holders get a rebate? How will this affect efforts to build local support? When you are in a group from which qualifying seems a distinct possibility, how will this affect the HC campaign?

Nigel Wray, Saracens chairman, said: “The world is becoming increasingly smaller and well connected, and, as a club, we are committed to thinking big and creating major events that people want to watch. We look forward to proceeding with these exciting plans, expanding the footprint and commercial value of European rugby.”

LondonTiger I will try and answer your questions

I believe the season tickets holders get a free extra ticket for the Saracens vs Ospreys game at Wembley or another choice of game.

Follow the link for more details:

http://www.rugbynetwork.net/boards/read/s104.htm?107,12715748

Won't affect effort to build local support as our support is appalling anyway. Will hardly enamour Saracens ticket holders but is unfortunately the price we have to pay for having South African investors. I am of course disappointed but I will take it on the chin. I hope this is just a one off reward for SAIL's investment.

I am personally not worried about the future ramifications. If all goes to plan with Barnet Copthall Saracens will stay an English club. You only have to see the quality of Saracen's youngsters coming through to see that we are English with a few top quality South Africans adding value to Saracens and the AP.

Barnet Copthall is definitely not a South Africa ex pat area so I have no fear of us becoming South Africa.

The Saracens management's priority is to look after the players and make sure everything on the pitch works out. They tend to be a little off the pace when it comes to the normal fan though. The marketing strategy could be a lot more effective. The ticketing strategy is all over the place but I like some of the marketing efforts they have tried out.

In terms of giving away home advantage, I am not too bothered. Saracens have performed very well away from home and I am sure some of you will point out that the South Africans will be right at home in Capetown.


If you were a player where would you rather play - sunny Capetown in a 55,000 seater stadium or a football ground dump like Vicarage Road in rain and snow.

Another point is that we will hopefully have more HC games to look forward to like the quarters,semis and finals.

I can understand that Sarries' season ticket holders would be hacked off, but it is Biarritz's travelling support that have a right to be fuming, imo - they will now have to pay a large fortune to follow their team to this fixture - that just doesn't seem right to me

An absolute kick in the teeth to the Biarritz fans.

Biarritz have travelling support?

Would you rather spend January in dark dingy VR or sunny Capetown?

Unfortunately I won't be able to go to this either but I expect to watch Saracens at wembley in the HC quarter finals anyway.

I had my rant a while back. This is the price we pay for having South African sugar daddies. It will be well worth the sacrifice of one home game if the South African sugar daddies acquire Barnet Copthall and stump up the £18 million needed to build it.

Beshocked,

I thought the marketing guy you used to have (~came from Bradford Bulls) did some great work with community links. The work players and staff did round the Hertfordshire schools, and the deals offered schools and local clubs was fantastic. I used to take a coach load of kids to some games - many of whom were well on the way to becoming serious fans.

I do not know if he survived the arrival of SA money, but certainly from a grass roots level in Hertfordshire/NE London it seems as if Sarries have stopped trying.

I really hope that Sarries make a success of the proposed move to Barnet - it places them back in their spiritual homeland.

It might be the price Saracens fans have to pay for the sugar daddies, but the Saracens fans also reap whatever rewards come about as a result. The opposition fans get nothing out of this, absolutely nothing.

greybeard Biarritz agreed to this. So did all the relevant authorities.

If Biarritz fans have a problem they should be looking at their club for answers.

Londontiger I thought Saracens won the community award or something like that for their work in Hertfordshire schools last season. I think the grassroots work is actually very good.

It's the normal fans who have been messed around by an erratic marketing and ticketing strategy which needs more structure.

Perhaps they do not come to my bit any more then.

Londontiger it depends where you are.

We are one of the best actually.


http://www.rugbyinthecommunity.com/saracens-announced-as-winners-of-premiership-rugby-community-club-of-the-year-award/



http://www.thebgmgroup.net/index.php?/Article/hayden_smith_wins_aviva_csr_award

Also Hayden Smith our American 2nd row picked up the Aviva Premiership Community Player Award.

As I said, we used to get players coming, and discounted tickets for groups of kids/families. That stopped a couple of years ago.

East Herts may be out of catchment I guess - from Watford anyway.

I do still miss going to Southgate though, and as I said before hope the Barnet move works - even if I am not sold on the plastic pitch idea.

beshocked, you shouldn't have any price to pay for having a sugar daddy. They chose to invest in an English club and not a South African one. The HC is the pinacle of club rugby and your home game against Biarritz should have been one of the star attractions. I'd be absolutely fuming if I'd been denied the chance to watch Glaws play such a big game. If you take this kind of action on the chin it will only happen again and again, so kick up an almighty stink!

beshocked wrote:greybeard Biarritz agreed to this. So did all the relevant authorities.

If Biarritz fans have a problem they should be looking at their club for answers.

Come on, man, you know this stinks.

Yes Biarritz have agreed to it, and shafted their own fans, but Saraces were the principle shafters. Please don't pass the buck on this, your team are treating paying punters, on both sides, with disrespect.

I do wonder what Saracens are doing in the Heinaken Cup to be honest, they want to play the Ospreys at Wembley, and biaritz in south Africa!
I can't see them progressing without "home" support!