By Jason Harris
August 29 2002

Saracens go into their opening Zurich Premiership game with Bristol Shoguns on Sunday with the possibility of an historic moment for the club materialising. Those who will be at the Memorial Stadium on Sunday could witness one of the most important moments in the brief history of Saracens’ professional side. For the first time in a competitive match, they could see two greats of the game take to field the at the same time.

Thomas Castaignede and Tim Horan have both been selected for this weekend’s trip to the West Country and although the Australian World Cup winner starts on the replacements bench, this most mouth-watering of combinations could be, - after two long years of waiting – together at last.

As this game away at Bristol Shoguns is the first in this year’s Zurich Premiership campaign for both sides, there is a mood of expectancy in both camps after a very busy summer. With two new Kiwi coaches in charge and some changes in playing personnel at the clubs, there is a different look to the sides and a different outlook in their approach since the end of last season.

Peter Thorburn arrived at Bristol last year and under his guidance the Shoguns finished their season very strongly. Proof of this was a charge into the Zurich Championship Final at Twickenham after becoming the first English side in four years to win a competitive game at Leicester and then demolishing Powergen Cup finalists Northampton on their own patch. Though they lost that final to near neighbours Gloucester, the Shoguns qualified for their maiden Heineken Cup campaign as a result and now look forward to the 2002-03 season with high expectations and lots of optimism.

Saracens, meanwhile, have been through a lot of turmoil since the resignation of Francois Pienaar in February. Several failed attempts to court new coaching talent and a dismal second half of the season saw the Men in Black slump to their worst ever finish in the professional era. Tenth place was simply not a good enough return for the faith put into the side by owner Nigel Wray, the club’s household-name sponsors and the long-suffering supporters.

Enter Wayne “Buck” Shelford. The former New Zealand captain arrived at the end of last year to see just how bad things had become at Sarries. One win from the last 11 games of the season against fellow strugglers Bath saw the club just about stave off the threat of relegation to National League One. Shelford got down to business as soon as he was confirmed as new head coach and called a press conference to set out what he intended to do at his new club. “To teach them how to tackle” was the first thing on a long “to do” list.

Since that comment was made in early June, Sarries have seen a player turnover of twenty. A round dozen have moved on and eight new names will see action in the black shirt this year. Due to injuries and suspensions, three (Craig Quinnell, Nicki Little and Christian Califano) will have to wait to see league action, but the other five all feature in Shelford’s first squad. Craig Yandell starts in the second row, Johnny Marsters at tighthead prop, Andy Goode plays at outside half. Joining the three new starters will be two newcomers to the bench in the shape of scrum half Morgan Williams and hooker/prop Joe Ross.

Unlike the one frequently suffered by his predecessor, Shelford has the right type of selection headache. A headache caused by healthy competition for places rather than one caused by trying to find players to fill in the gaps. And it is this competition that is hoped that will bring the long-overdue success to the club.

Joining Marsters in the front row are old-head-on-young-shoulders pairing of Matt Cairns and David Flatman. Stuart Hooper, the England Under 21 lock so impressive in pre-season, joins Yandell in the boiler house. The back row has a ring of familiarity to it, although the positions have changed since last time out. Shelford has moved all three players around and so Kris Chesney moves to no8, Richard Hill starts at 7 and Tony Roques wears the 6 shirt.

Behind the scrum club captain Kyran Bracken partners Goode at half back. Kevin Sorrell and Tom Shanklin are in the centres and the wide men are Ben Johnston on the right, Darragh O’Mahony on the left. Last and certainly not least, Thomas Castaignede makes his first league start in 23 months at fullback.

The replacements bench has Ross, Williams, Horan, young hooker James Parkes, last year’s player of the year Adey Winnan, Ben Russell – so impressive since his debut late last year which kept England stalwart Lawrence Dallaglio quiet for long periods in the game against Wasps – and probably the most capped player on any bench in the land: Abdelatif Benazzi.

Bristol will have three former Saracens to call upon. Julian White eventually arrived after his well-publicised contractual wranglings and has finally settled down into a strong front row. Ben Sturnham is another ex-Sarrie who’s playing well down at the Memorial and since his move from Bath has been the main contributor that has kept the big Bristol pack moving forward. By contrast, Brendon Daniel arrived last year via Harlequins and Coventry as someone looking for a bit of shelter after stormy periods at The Stoop and Coundon Road. Daniel quickly proved himself to be the classy finisher he was renowned to be at Sarries and is challenging England flyers David Ress and Phil Christophers for a starting berth.

Of course, no preview involving Bristol would be complete without a mention of their Argentinian contingent; Felipe Contempomi, Gus Pichot and Emiliano Bergamaschi. The half backs Pichot and Contepomi were instrumental in getting Bris to HQ last year and they are also the incumbent test pairing for the Pumas. Sarries will have to contain them if they are to come out on top. Front row giant Bergamaschi will be a handful for any opponent and the Sarries front row will have their work cut out if he and White are on form.

Although it is early in the season there are pointers that convince me that Saracens can pull off what many pundits think will be a surprise victory. The proven Sarries back row will be on top of their counterparts and Andy Goode has hit form at the right time with 31 points in his last match. Perhaps it’s too close to call in the centres and maybe Bristol will fancy that their wings will get the better of those from Saracens, but look for that combination of Castaignede – on his own (and he will be for a while at least) a match winner – and Horan to deliver the goods. I think they will and Sarries will take four points with Bristol bagging a losing bonus.