Saracens
SALING HOME
By The Saracens
November 25 2021
The Premiership returns this weekend after a 2 week hiatus and we welcome Sale Sharks to the StoneX led by a very familiar face, Sale’s Director of Rugby and formerly of this parish, Alex Sanderson. This will be his first visit to the away dressing room at StoneX but I have no doubt he will receive a warm welcome at his old club.
Sale are currently in 8th place in the Premiership table after something of a Curate’s Egg start to the season with 3 wins (including victory over Quins), 4 losses (including defeat to Worcester Warriors) and a draw (you guessed it, London Irish). They have not yet had a bye week. Some of those defeats have been pretty close: (33-32 to Glos). Sale, like Sarries, will be without some big names. Faf de Klerk and Josh Beaumont are already out and will be joined by Manu Tuilagi who is out for 6-8 weeks after his exploits with England. Will Cliff has also been absent for a while.
Sale have won 2 of the last 3 meetings between the clubs (both at the AJ Bell) but I read Sarries have won 22 out of 23 home fixtures against Sale – their best record against any club – including their last 14 in the League. Interestingly Sale have scored 77% of their tries from winning a line-out – Sarries will need to be careful as right now line-outs aren’t their strongest point. They will also need to avoid giving away kickable penalties as AJ McGinty (soon to depart for Bristol to make way for George Ford) has 100% record on goal kicks and is Sale’s highest points scorer this season despite only playing for 149 minutes due to injury.
Sale is a source of brotherly love featuring the Curry boys Ben & Tom, the James twins, Sam and Luke, and the 3 Du Preez’s – Jean-Luc, Dan and Rob. Sale will welcome back Lood de Jager and Tom Curry, Bevan Rodd & Raffi Quirke from international duty. Quirke made a good impression during his 2 appearances for England. Alex Sanderson clearly thinks highly of him: “If he stays fit he's probably going to be one of the country's greats,”. He certainly has a knack for scoring tries. Sale have a strong back line with international experience including Marlon Yarde, Denny Solomona, Simon Hammersley, Byron McGuigan and a now fit again A J McGinty pulling the strings. The front row is also pretty decent: new England prop Bevan Rodd and Nick Schonert propping either side of Akker van der Mervw. Sale may go with 6’10 ½” lock JP du Preez (no relation I believe) alongside de Jager or Wiese and a back row which could include 1 or both of the Curry brothers, Dan or Jean-Luc du Preez and Jono Ross.
Sarries will welcome back Max Malins, Maro Itoje, Nick Tompkins and Vincent Koch (Bomb squaddie) from International duty but have lost Faz, Jamie George and Marco Riccioni to injury while representing their countries. However there is good news with both Elliott Daly & Billy Vunipola back in training and likely to play some part in the game. Daly’s recovery in particular will allow some flexibility. He will probably link up with Loz or Nick Tompkins in midfield (allowing Loz to move to 10). Alternatively Goodey may retain the 10 shirt with Max Malins moving to full back. It’s good to see some permutations at least. I think Segun may have done enough to retain his place on the wing with either Sean Maitland or Alex Lewington (or of course Malins if they go with the Loz option). Aled Davis is likely to play opposite young Raffi. Up front Mako and Koch are the likely props with Woolfie at Hooker (probably still just ahead of Ethan Lewis). The rest of the pack is tasty though. If Maro starts there are options for his lock partner: Isiekwe or McFarland most likely with the other starting at 6. Ben Earl is the likely 7 and Billy (if fit) or Jackson Wray at 8.
The refereeing crew doesn’t light up my day – Tom Foley assisted by Jack Makepeace and Gareth Holsgrove with Rowan Kitt in the truck.
Sarries should have enough to win this one and if Malins carries on from his pre-internationals form we could see another try-fest. (Not that his form last week was anything to complain about). Rugby matches are won as much in the head as they are on the field. Against Irish we lost our heads, against Sale we need to keep them screwed on tight.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:12:05:21:03:32 by Darraghgirl.
Anyone know why there are four games tomorrow evening and only one on Saturday?
Successful hills are here to stay
Everything must be this way
Gentle streets where people play
Welcome to the Soft Parade
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Iβd say Malins FB, Lewi and Roti on the wings with Nick and Loz centres. Goodey 10 with Daley on the bench
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
The hope is that Caterpillar Rucks will be over quicker, to defy the Crab! Other small creatures are available
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
It's hard to believe that this author was once an Ed!
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
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