Saracens vs Sharks 25 January 2014

There is a ,ittle birdie that whispered the Sharks will play their first warm up match of the Season against the Saracens tomorrow.

Something to look forward to from a rugby starved South African

The team.

15. Tyler Fisher
14. Odwa Ndungane
13. Paul Jordaan
12. Andre Esterhuizen
11. Lwazi Mvovo
10. Tim Swiel
9. Cobus Reinach
8.Willem Alberts
7. Jean Deysel
6. Tera Mtembu
5. Pieter–Steph du Toit
4. Etienne Oosthuizen
3. Jannie du Plessis
2. Bismarck du Plessis (C)
1. Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements

16.. Kyle Cooper17. Dale Chadwick18. Lourens Adriaanse19. Stephan Lewies20. Jacques Botes21. Charl McLeod22. Heimar Williams23. Jaco van Tonder

The pack is looking really solid, Springbok front row, Pieter Steph du Toit at last being able to play 80 minutes of rugby, and a mean backrow.

Not the best backline though as Jake Whitems first choice 9, 10 and 12 combination won't be on the tour.

But it will be good to see Paul Jordaan having a run after being out for the whole season last year. This younf man is as exciting as Willie le Rroux, high hopes for him to make the Bok squad before the World Cup.

I imagine Saracens will be depleted, missing the players who are with England? Although in the case of having to play Hodgson over Farrell at 10, that might be an advantage...

Two obvious reasons why this game is being played.

John Smit is the CEO of Sharks

Johann Rupert


Notch they will be depleted, especially in the backline but still a good looking pack, 9/10 combo.

15.Chris Wyles
14.James Short
13.Michael Tagicakibau
12.Marcelo Bosch
11.David Strettle
10.Charlie Hodgson
9.Neil De Kock
8.Ernst Joubert
7.Jacques Burger
6.Justin Melck
5.Mouritz Botha
4.Steve Borthwick
3.Matt Stevens
2.Schalk Brits
1.Richard Barrington

16.Scott Spurling
17.Nick Auterac
18.Petrus du Plessis
19.Tom Jubb
20.Takashi Kikutani
21.Richard Wigglesworth
22.Duncan Taylor
23.Sam Stanley

Pretty good team. What are your own thoughts on this game?

Will be interesting to see the reaction from Sarries fans if a player picks up an injury in this match that rules him out of some of the big matches coming down the line...

At first glance i thought Saracens were playing Sale in some lv cup fixture!

Notch wrote:Pretty good team. What are your own thoughts on this game?

Will be interesting to see the reaction from Sarries fans if a player picks up an injury in this match that rules him out of some of the big matches coming down the line...

Two sides of the coin to this one.

I understand why it's being played - being a club owned 50% by South Africans means that sometimes we need to do things that are South African centric. This warm up match is a case in point.

I don't feel like Saracens have resonated that well with South Africans in England though. Lots of effort has been made but I don't think it's bearing fruit. Personally I am quite pleased with that as an Englishman but obviously the South african investors can't be too pleased!

The South African investors have put money in so this is their request and it's fair that Saracens oblige them.

You are correct - the biggest worry is if players get injured and subsequently miss matches. I am sure the coaches would want to give key players a rest, not a play a "friendly" vs a physically powerful side like the Sharks.

I am not going to this game - tells you my stance I suppose.

I will be going to the LV game on Sunday vs Newcastle. Want to see some of the talented youngsters like Ransom,Tompkins and Spencer in action.

Wait, they are playing this on the same weekend as Saracens have a proper game, the England Saxons are playing and England players are in their national training?! That just seems nuts to me.

That is crazy... wonder what Newcastle make of that (possibly quite pleased to be playing a much weakened side in the LV Cup?).

It's thing like this that make people so uneasy about the increasing influence of overseas businessmen in sport.

Yeah well, for the all the players Europe gain from our development system the odd game isn't much to ask

Biltong wrote:Yeah well, for the all the players Europe gain from our development system the odd game isn't much to ask

No, but for me it does highlight the issues about our calendar. If we had a global calendar the scheduling of this game would be much less problematic for Saracens. I have no issues at all; we in Ireland gain an on-field advantage in many ways from our competitors playing good players in meaningless games. They'll hope to get an off-field (financial) advantage over us in the long term through things like this.

Notch wrote:Wait, they are playing this on the same weekend as Saracens have a proper game, the England Saxons are playing and England players are in their national training?! That just seems nuts to me.

That is crazy... wonder what Newcastle make of that (possibly quite pleased to be playing a much weakened side in the LV Cup?).

Notch true it does look Saracens will put out a makeshift pack.

I just hope they aren't playing an England U20s this weekend too or we will be royally £$%^ed.

15.Ransom
14.Wilson
13.Streather
12.Tompkins
11.Earle
10.Mordt/Sharp
9.Spencer
8.Stringer
7.Hankin
6.Wray
5.Smith
4.Sherriff
3.Alo
2.
1.Saunders

Bench - don't know...

Don't know what the frontrow will be! Potentially tasty backline though. Pack will look like it will be whoever is available.

so a good trail game for the sharks players towards the Saracens management.

Nice to see you tone down your comments a bit Jimpy.

Still know it's you though.

What do Newcastle make of it?

Well it shows exactly how remotely they're bothered about us? And rightly so...our pack is not bad and improving but overall we're rubbish!

beshocked, sorry to have to use the red writing but I want to make a point of order;

If you believe a poster is a new incarnation of a previously banned poster please alert the moderators and ignore the person in question; direct accusations on the forum generally result in topics becoming derailed and general unpleasantness

Having said that, I was curious about broadcast rights for this game. I take it it ins't being televised? If it was, would Saracens negotiate their own deal or do they have to conduct any business under the aegis of the PRL?

GeordieFalcon wrote:What do Newcastle make of it?

Well it shows exactly how remotely they're bothered about us? And rightly so...our pack is not bad and improving but overall we're rubbish!

 

I'll be cheering for youse anyway Geordie   

beshocked wrote:Nice to see you tone down your comments a bit Jimpy.

Still know it's you though.

 You directing that at me?

Notch, the game is broadcasted on Supersport in SA, so someone will be doing it there

GeordieFalcon wrote:What do Newcastle make of it?

Well it shows exactly how remotely they're bothered about us? And rightly so...our pack is not bad and improving but overall we're rubbish!

If you're pack is not bad and improving it could cause us problems. I wouldn't say Newcastle are rubbish. You're just going through a rough patch. If Newcastle could hold onto all the players that you've lost over the years.....

I think Dean Richards is doing the right thing - get the foundations in first -build the pack first. Get the wins - don't get relegated then slowly improve.

Apologies Notch.

Biltong is this game attracting a lot of interest in SA?

We've put a very young team out ...many of the exciting academy players are starting or on the bench.

Very excited to see some of these playing....and thats a massive front row we're putting out.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Tom Catterick, 13 Danny Barnes, 12 Alex Crockett, 11 Zach Kibirige, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Chris Pilgrim, 1 Franck Montanella, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 4 Sean Tomes, 5 Glen Young, 6 Ben Morris, 7 Dan Temm, 8 Chris York (c)

Replacements: 16 David Nelson, 17 Gary Strain, 18 Grant Shiells, 19 Will Witty, 20 Ollie Hodgson, 21 Andy Davies, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Tom Penny

Interesting move by Sarries. Haven't they done something similar to this game in their own preseason as well? Or am I imagining...

Saracens squad to take on Newcastle Falcons ;
15. Ben Ransom; 14 Jack Wilson, 13 Tim Streather, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Nathan Earle; 10 Nils Mordt ©, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Rhys Gill, 2 Jared Saunders, 3 James Johnston, 4 Hayden Smith, 5 Eoin Sheriff, 6 Nick de Jaeger, 7 Matt Hankin, 8 Jackson Wray
Replacement;
16 Scott Spurling, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Biyi Alo, 19 Tom Jubb, 20 Maro Itoje, 21 Duncan Taylor, 22 Sam Stanley, 23 Charlie Kingsman.

Looks like someone realised that Newcastle might put out a strong frontrow so Saracens put out an even stronger one. Don't fancy Newcastle's chances. Liking that Sarries backline - so much pace.


Biltong sorry that geordiefalcon and I have kind of hijacked your thread.

Should really chat about the Saracens - Sharks match a little bit.

How do you fancy your chances?

Didn't realise Eoin Sherriff was with Saracens now.

Beshocked, I don't know the Saracens players all that well, but considering that they are doing very well in both the Aviva and HC I suspect the team will be strong, the Sharks pack is very strong, but their backline is missing key players.

I am hoping for a good performance by the Sharks, even though it will be their first match of the season

I thought Jared Saunders was a loosehead? Interesting to see him starting at hooker against the Falcons.

Just seen the sarries team for the game against the Sharks and noticed there is a Japanese international on the bench.

Is this the first Japanese national to join a club in Europe?

Who was that guy for the Dragons who played for Japan, Aldridge? Something like that?

James Arlidge.

Yes, he was a Japanese international in his day.

Ye I know he and Lomanu are here but I mean someone who has actually lived in Japan for the majority of his life. Not someone who just played for Japan to experience international rugby.

Sorry misread 'Japanese national' as 'Japanese international'.

It's worth noting that during the AIs AP clubs look to secure friendlies against SH second teams mid week in between LV cup games. I don't see this as anything different. Would have been good to see the games played one after the other at the Allianz Park. Billed as a day of rugby that could have been a good draw.

Notch wrote:Sorry misread 'Japanese national' as 'Japanese international'.

Some of the foreigners who qualified for Japan on residency grounds did go on to naturalize, so they would be both. Luke Thompson, Ryan Nicholas, Shaun Webb, and Sione Vatuvei all applied for, and received, Japanese nationality.

Auckland Blues play the Canes in Masterton this weekend as a warm up as well. I'll be popping along- I like the informality of trial matches plus be good to see Henry and JK plus around 15 or so AB's turning out.

Sounds like the Sarries-Sharks game was a good one. I heard it was a good atmosphere and lots of beer was drunk too.

Did the game go ahead? Confused, as Saracens played Falcons on the 26th, which would have given them a days turnaround... Not ideal if your playing the Sharks.

Sarries split their squad between the two games with a lot of youngsters playing against the Falcons. It was a good game and I damn sight better watch than the dross that was the Saxons vs the Wolfhounds. Nice to see both teams play a very physical game with plenty of attacking intent. Anyone wanting to see a highlight should check out the Botha hit on Deysel that was a mahoosive tackle.

The sharks were very rusty and it showed during that first half, execution in the back with Swiel didn't work out very well, Reinach will have to pull p his sox if he wants a springbok berth. He was very poor.

Oosthuizen was brilliant, this youngster is going to go places, Deysel was a monster, that hit of Botha was huge as he received man and ball at virtually the same time, but apart from that he ran holes through the defence.

The young centre Esterhuize shows a lot of promise as well, he stepped well, broke a number of tackles and managed to gain front foot ball most of the time, Paul Jordaan coming back from a year long injury was quiet, but I suppose that is to be expected if you haven't played any competitive rugby for so long.

Alberts had a decent game, but Deysel outshone him, Pieter Steph du toit was Ok.

Biggest issue for the Sharks in that first half was their timing and execution which cost them 2 yellow cards and plenty of penalties.

But overall I think Jake White will be satisfied, the game showed some promise, even though the second half was played in poor weather.

wow, Sarries must have a massive squad to come away with two wins with two different teams whilst also being hit by England call-ups.

The Saint wrote:wow, Sarries must have a massive squad to come away with two wins with two different teams whilst also being hit by England call-ups.

And all within the salary cap   

That's where I'm confused though, as the salary cap is meant to cover wages of players and management. So, does external investment (didn't Vodacom once invest in Saracens?) not count?