BRAMLEY'S APPEALING


By Behind the Bench
October 1 2015

I'm gutted to be missing this one. In a shrewd nod to the history, and indeed, spiritual home of the club, Sarries have turned a negative into a positive with this innovative return to Oakwood, but, unfortunately, I already had tickets for Samoa against Japan at Milton Keynes. Very much at the hub of Saracens Amateurs, this is an excellent way of reinforcing that sense of place, something directly referenced in the website Inside Sarries interview with Jackson Wray, although it is given rather low key coverage elsewhere on the official website.

After the disappointment of the heavy 36-17 defeat to Northampton Saints, at Allianz Park last Saturday, Saracens will hope for improvement, but the result was more than offset by the welcome return of Will Fraser, which is even more important in succession terms given that this will be Jacques Burger's last season with the club. Given the flexibility afforded by pre-season friendlies, it is likely that the same squad of 27 will be in action, although there may be some changes between the starting XV and the replacements to ensure there is enough game time for all, but also to experience the different demands of starting the match as opposed to trying to make an impact later. That said, given the relative lack of cover at fly half or scrum half, Charlie Hodgson might miss out again, or be restricted to the bench. 
 
Predicting a starting line up is tricky, then, but I'll try. Given his impressive performance at full back, Aaron Morris may continue at full back, with Mike Ellery potentially swapping wings for Nathan Earle to come into the starting line up and give Chris Ashton a breather, whilst the centre partnership may remain as Tim Streather and Nick Tompkins, and a rotated half back combination of Nils Mordt and Neil de Kock, not a duo seen in tandem much in recent seasons. In relative terms, there appear more options amongst the forwards, with a possible front row of Rhys Gill, Dave Porecki (as he didn't appear last week and has been recruited for World Cup cover) and Biyi Alo. The second row may see Jim Hamilton swapped for Alistair Hargreaves, alongside the continuing Maro Itoje, whilst a reshaped back row could combine Kelly Brown, Fraser and Jackson Wray. 
 
Worcester will be hoping to reestablish themselves at this level, although, when first promoted to the top flight in 2004. they had six unbroken seasons at Premiership level, before bouncing back from their 2010 relegation in one season, and doing likewise last time around, in the most dramatic circumstances as a late surge saw them come out on top in the Championship play-off against Bristol. Sixways is undoubtedly an excellent set up, but for all the commitment of owner Cecil Duckworth, whose autobiography was an interesting read over the summer, and an impressively loyal support, the Warriors will be eager to improve on their best ever finish of eighth in the Premiership, having never played top tier European Rugby; Saracens coming out on top in a 2005 play-off for this. They have made three eye-catching captures in particular, two in the second row, with Fijian Tevita Cavubati teaming up with former Munster and Ireland stalwart Donncha O'Callaghan, as well as South African centre Wynand Olivier. 
 
However, this has been billed as a Development Squad game by Worcester. Hence, there may be a number of familiar faces from the Worcester Cavaliers line up in the A League final in January, which Sarries won 27-19 at Sixways. So, a possible line up would be Ben Howard at full back, Josh Adams and Dean Hammond on the wings, and a centre partnership of Fijian Ravai Fatiaki and Alex Grove. The half backs could be fly half Tom Heathcote and scrum half Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier. Into the forwards, and the front row could comprise of props Val Rapava-Ruskin (formerly with Saracens) and Joe Rees with hooker Niall Annett, with a second row combination of Darren Barry and Dan Sanderson, and a back row of Carl Kerwin, Marco Mama and Matt Gilbert at number 8.

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BRAMLEY'S APPEALING
Discussion started by TheSaracens.com , 01/10/2015 20:42
TheSaracens.com
01/10/2015 20:42
Thanks Gerard, I'm sure Samoa/Japan will be a good one



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015:10:14:16:55:50 by sutton_sarrie.

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