By The Saracens
August 20 2023

Gareth Simpson was born in Coventry in 1997 but is a South African. Although primarily a scrum half, he can also fill in at 10. He started his career playing for Kwa-Zulu Natal and also represented the Sharks in the Currie Cup. He had a spell in New Zealand playing for Wellington in the Mitre 10 Cup. He decided to try his luck in the UK and paid his own way to come over. He played for Stourbridge in NL 2 and Cavaliers in the Premiership Rugby Shield before joining Worcester Warriors Academy in 2018-19. 

He played sevens for Warriors before making his Premiership debut against Leicester Tigers in the Premiership Rugby Cup. He scored his first try for his new club in the Challenge Cup in Russia against Enisei-STM. He had to wait until 2020 to make his Premiership debut against Wasps, having now been promoted to the senior squad. He went on to represent Warriors 45 times before sadly his contract was terminated in October 22 along with the rest of Worcester’s playing staff when the club went into liquidation. He was picked up by Saracens in November to provide some short-term cover and played twice for his new club. He scored a try in that remarkable come-back game against Northampton Saints.  He headed back to Australia to represent Western Force. However he impressed during his time in London and Saracens offered him a 2 year contract to support Ivan Van Zyl and Aled Davies.

“I can’t wait to get back into the environment at Saracens” he said “It is a great club and I really enjoyed my time there. I am looking forward to continuing to learn and grow my game  with some amazing players and coaches around me and I am really grateful for the opportunity”.

Mark McCall said “Gareth made a brilliant impact during his first spell here and we are delighted that he is returning to us. He showed his quality both on and off the pitch and we believe he will have a great impact on the group.”

OLIVER HOSKINS

Ollie was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1993. As a young man he player for Western Force before joining the senior team in 2014. He also represented Perth Spirit but in 2016, having been “chucked on the scrapheap” by Force, he took the decision to travel north where he joined London Irish who were then playing in the Greene King Championship. “I came over here on a bit of a whim and it has turned into the best decision of my life. The Force didn’t want me anymore and when I spoke to Tom Coventry (of LI), they had a real genuine interest and really wanted me.” He helped Irish gain promotion to the Premiership the following season and didn’t look back, winning the fans player of the season in 2018-19. He was called up to the Australian team in 2021, making his debut against England at Twickenham. He has the jersey framed in his living room! He played for Irish 164 times.

Ollie is a Tighthead prop so will provide useful cover for Marco Riccioni although he had an interesting take on scrummaging! Back in 2021 he said: “Scrums were like a necessary evil to me. I’d just hit and hope… I struggled massively for a good year or two and set-piece wise I definitely wasn’t up to the standard. Even later in my career, there were some points even a year ago where I really felt under the cosh. More than anything it was a mental thing. “I did quite a lot of work in pre-season and towards the end of last season with our team psychologist. I had a few self-fulfilling prophecies in running demons around my set-piece and I was just in a negative mindset around it. When things were going right I’d think it was lucky and then when one scrum went wrong I would catastrophise it in my head and have this running (negative) narrative. But I worked a lot with the psychologist around my set-piece and we focused on things that I can control and how I can bounce back from setbacks. It has been really revolutionary. I just feel a lot more confident and it has manifested into me physically being in a better space around scrummaging technical wise and all that stuff but it really started with the mental aspect. It wasn’t something that came naturally to me, it was something I had to really work on and develop over a long period of time and now I’m 28 I feel like I have hit my straps with it and I can let the rest of my game flourish with my scrum.”

The demise of London Irish suddenly saw Ollie on the “scrapheap” for the 2^nd time in his career. “The last month has been chaotic, emotional and stressful for me and my wife, so I am really grateful for the opportunity to represent Saracens, everyone I have spoken to throughout this process has been super supportive, and I'm motivated to throw myself into pre-season and become a better player, it is an exciting challenge”  He had a few kind words for Irish too: “I want to thank London Irish for the last seven years. They meant a lot to me. When this [the club's demise] all went down, I don't think I have cried that much in a long time. It was a super emotional time for me and my wife [Amber]. I have got a bit of family in the UK but not much so it was kind of like me, my wife and my dog [Bron] and my mates who kind of propped me up. That support network is really important to me. It also meant it was a big deal for me in making the transition away from Irish. They shaped me into the player and man I am today, and I wouldn't be in this position without them."

Mark McCall added We are delighted to welcome Ollie to our club. He is a very experienced Premiership player and will add important depth to our front row options.

Welcome to both of them and we look forward to seeing them in Sarries' colours soon!