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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:04:03:06:50:39 by Darraghgirl.

Nice preview although I think we have to accept that if rugby if to survive it has to appeal to a younger demographic hence some of the marketing and events.
I can't remember who the lock? was that made that incredible break but even as a Sarries supporter it was hard not to feel for him when he butchered the final pass.

As you say it's an interesting mix of players available to McCall. I agree this is the sort of game Sarries sometimes struggle in (thank goodness it isn't a Friday night game!) so I think familiar combinations that have been playing together recently might be a good start? Even if Woolstencroft is fit unless George is rested I think it would be a huge call to throw him straight into this. I suspect nothing short of shutting him in a cupboard will stop Farrell starting but I'd be tempted to have some of the Internationals coming on from the bench.

I don't expect to see but would like something like:

Mawi, Dan, Riccioni, Isiekwe, Tizard, Christie, Earl, Billy, IVZ, Farrell, Lewington, Tompkins, Lozo, Maitland, Malins
Mako, George, Clarey, Maro, Wray, Davies, Goode, Segun.

I am sure Goode will be at FB but I can dream

Saracens Men team to play Harlequins:

1 Mako Vunipola
2 Jamie George
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Maro Itoje
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Andy Christie
7 Ben Earl
8 Billy Vunipola
9 Ivan van Zyl
10 Owen Farrell (c)
11 Sean Maitland
12 Nick Tompkins
13 Alex Lozowski
14 Max Malins
15 Alex Goode

Replacements:

16 Theo Dan
17 Eroni Mawi
18 Alec Clarey
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Jackson Wray
21 Aled Davies
22 Duncan Taylor
23 Alex Lewington



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:24:12:01:13 by Sarriebone.

Harlequins Starting XV

1. Joe Marler (262)
2. Jack Walker (40)
3. Wilco Louw (63)
4. Irne Herbst (19)
5. Stephan Lewies (58) - Captain
6. Jack Kenningham (37)
7. James Chisholm (130)
8. Alex Dombrandt (109)
9. Danny Care (354)
10. Marcus Smith (135)
11. Cadan Murley (95)
12. Andre Esterhuizen (65)
13. Luke Northmore (55)
14. Joe Marchant (148)
15. Nick David (28)

Impact Players

16. Sam Riley (25)
17. Fin Baxter (21)
18. Will Collier (216)
19. Dino Lamb (78)
20. Will Evans (59)
21. Scott Steele (30)
22. Tommy Allan (29)
23. Oscar Beard (25)

Both teams fully loaded. Excitement mounts!

So happy to have prem rugby back! Let’s hope we’re a bit more on it than the showdown last season.

With Luke Pearce in charge we need to (a) keep our mouths shut and (b) get on with it. No silly penalties please.

+1 and no Mothers Meetings before the lineouts either!

COYS

Will be very tough, even with that team. Quins desperate for points now which could prove decisive if we are in any way not switched on.

Game day. Two very good looking teams and it looks like the weather might be kind.

So many stories and massive head-to-heads (hopefully NOT literally) in the game. Let's take the game out of the referees hands and send the salmon-trousered mob back to the Stoop to think again

From the Quins site:

Late change:

Stephan Lewies drops out of the squad replaced by Dino Lamb with Hammond coming into the Impact Players.

Murley will now wear jersey 11 with Marchant at 14. Danny Care will captain the side.

So that's the home semi sorted and a big hole in Quins' chances, by the look of it.

Great game. Ideal result. Fantastic stadium. Quins season over. What’s not to like?

On the train heading home from the game. Smith really is a one trick show pony. Thought we didn’t really get out of 3rd gear today but a wins a win,

Good Sarries supporters turnout as well I thought.

Great occasion, great result, just disappointed I couldn't be there.

Ref bottled two reds imo

Smith had a couple of good moments but looked like a rabbit in the headlights a lot of the time

Danny Care one definitely not even a penalty, but how on earth Northmore wasn’t I’ll never know.;Max Malins made 3 of ours and sadly 3 of theirs too. Just hope Owen is OK or a massive decision to make next Sunday.
Maro getting back to his normal standards

Congratulations are certainly due to the Saracens support staff on organising today’s game. A very decent crowd and the ground is superb with much more atmosphere than at Wembley. I enjoy seeing the mass dancing by all the children who I am sure all enjoyed their day.
The rugby was pretty entertaining with some very high skill moments but also a fair few errors for the coaching staff to get their teeth into. I personally thought that Maro probably deserved MoTM as Billy lost the ball in contact a few times, although Murley from Quins also did well.
We have secured our first prime objective of a home semi with 3 games to spare which is pretty special.
Obviously my main concern is over Owen’s ankle as we could really do with him next week at home to Ospreys.

Apparently Owen did injure his ankle pre Eng vs Ire. Grade 1 strain apparently

Personally, whilst Billy, Loz, Maro, Faz and Ivan were all excellent, my MoM was Andy Christie! A good win, we played some lovely rugby at times, but a few errors showed out lack of game time together over the last 10 weeks. Let’s hope Faz fit for the Welsh.

Yippee!!! Well done Sarries enjoy your evening

Brilliantly marketed and held event and a fitting tribute to Oscar by two sides playing exciting rugby.

Quote:

Sarriebone
Great occasion, great result, just disappointed I couldn't be there.
Ref bottled two reds imo

Smith had a couple of good moments but looked like a rabbit in the headlights a lot of the time

On the other he played a crucial part in 3 tries which kept them in the game. From a Quins perspective he was probably MoM?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:26:10:10:12 by Duncan96.

The one thing that did surprise and disappoint me was the total lack of publicity for next Sundays game. Ticket sales are terrible and here we had 55000 potential customers seeing a glorious appetiser.

Quote:

The Bard
The one thing that did surprise and disappoint me was the total lack of publicity for next Sundays game. Ticket sales are terrible and here we had 55000 potential customers seeing a glorious appetiser.

Yes. Good point. The marketing job for the Showdown is exceptional but I sometimes wonder if the focus on it which is undoubtedly necessary comes at the cost of reduced attention on games at the Stonex

Quote:

Duncan96

Quote:

Sarriebone
Smith had a couple of good moments but looked like a rabbit in the headlights a lot of the time

On the other hand 3 perfect cross field kicks lead to 3 tries which kept them in the game. From a Quins perspective he was probably MoM?

3 perfect crossfield kicks? I must have been distracted for those. The only perfect one was Cares to Marchant. I remember one that was good but checked the runner. I don't remember a single kick of his that resulted in a try Duncan. I'm really looking forward to a re-watch after lunch guests have gone though so will look out for it. For me he wasn't great except the nice flat pass for Murleys first and the wonderful break that almost lead to the FBs try. Agree with Sarriebone about how he played. Dithering and running into contact when his first option was cut down but he had numbers on the other side, kicking down the throats of our back three, passing to no one or hospital passes rather than take contact. A continuous source of easy metres for our players in the carry and 50% off the tee. Tbf if he was their best player that perhaps says why Sarries won but personally I think that gives the team far too little credit.

One thing watching live reminded me how talismanic Farrell is for this team. I often lose sight of that but it's really noticeable when they play together. Also how sharp he is. On the first try before it's taken quickly you could see Farrell screaming for guys to get wide (and he was pushing the furthest out to cover an easy pass to the winger for a walk in whilst telling George to take Dombrandt on the inside) later hoping on one leg he was making sure the wide channel was numbered up again. The leadership from him and some others in the team was in marked contrast to Quins performance.

Tbh given the slow start and that I think we were all worried that Sarries can tend to get caught cold when re-integrating players from Internationals I thought it was a hugely encouraging performance.

As always the Quins we met at the game were a lovely bunch and whilst they seemed to see an awful lot of infringements missed by the referee that could have turned the game into a win for them, which ofc I never do they were magnanimous in defeat and a couple of then were of the view that as talented as Smith is he's not ready for this RWC which very much chimes with the view of the Sarries supporters I was with.

A great day out. 55,000 this year can the great marketing team make it 62,000 next?
Also as much as I love the StoneX can you imagine being like Leinster and having Spurs ground as our "other" home for knock-out and finals games? Almost certainly as dream but what would it feel like for the players to play to 50K a game? It must be incredible although tbh playing for over about 100 seems incredible to me

Going forward I think the showdown has to be going back to always be a London derby, whether it's quins or LI... The extra 15000 helped but that fact that quins supporters were there in good numbers really drives up the atmosphere compared to last year where I watched on TV only.... Watching the replay last night it was notable how much better it was in noise.

(Mind you some fan bases will never like it)

I guess the fact the rugby gave the neutrals more to cheer helps...fingers crossed the marketing use the emails of the ticket purchasers to advertise next Sunday...

Is it me or was getting a sarries chant going such a pain..I was almost horse at the end

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

I’m pretty sure there was an announcement during the match as well as the big screens showing the Maro v AWJs promotional shot.

A couple of further points. Our passing, off loading and general distribution was in a different league to theirs. For all they seem to see themselves at the forefront of positive entertaining rugby, they were very one dimensional whereas some of our interplay was dazzling.

We are going to miss Malins. Appreciate he occasionally looks a bit under powered and was caught out by Murley two or three times but he brings so much creativity to our attack and his work rate is amazing. A real loss.

With Jamie and Maro back our line out was perfect. Our scrum also held up well against a powerful Quins pack.

Lastly a word on the ref who I thought got the big calls right and contributed to an entertaining game. Maybe the Steward red card farce will have a positive effect on the way games are reffed going forward - no endless slowmos and the ref being prepared to make a decision based on what he sees.

Quote:

The Bard
Danny Care one definitely not even a penalty, but how on earth Northmore wasn’t I’ll never know.;Max Malins made 3 of ours and sadly 3 of theirs too. Just hope Owen is OK or a massive decision to make next Sunday.
Maro getting back to his normal standards

Disagree on Care, he was running across the field and actively halted his run to shoulder check Ivan, and there was shoulder to head contact.

I've seen lots of plaudits for Pearce only wanting to see the Faz one in actual speed, which is all very well but it meant he got the decision wrong. It's also led to a shed load of abuse online towards Faz claiming he was pretending he'd been hit in the face, when you watch the slow motion of it, he fairly clearly took a glancing blow to the cheek, before the arm came down and wrapped around the next. The only reason it wasn't full on contact with the face was because Owen sees it coming and lifts his chin. [twitter.com]

Now I'm all for the refs watching replays actual speed to determine the severity of a collision, but surely the only way to determine the point of contact is to slow it down? In this case Pearce decided that it hit the chest first and rode up, when in fact it was face then neck contact and there was never any contact with the chest.

There's also a screen shot floating round of that first monstrous hit on Earl that led to their first try potentially being in RC territory as well. Edit: Found it [twitter.com]

It does highlight the difficulty for the refs that so many people can see the same incident in so many different ways.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:26:11:28:13 by Sarriebone.

Quote:

TommyKentish
I’m pretty sure there was an announcement during the match as well as the big screens showing the Maro v AWJs promotional shot.

Quite right, there was. My memory this morning is definitely suspect. I even mixed Marcus Smith and Danny Care up for cross field kicks. I think my fundamental point stands though. The challenge for the club is to bring the marketing and sales success of the Showdown to games at the Stonex. Different challenges and next season’s Showdown will require the same Herculean effort but it’s the next step up for the back room team.

Quote:

Sarriebone

Disagree on Care, he was running across the field and actively halted his run to should check Ivan, and there was shoulder to head contact.

I've seen lots of plaudits for Pearce only wanting to see the Faz one in actual speed, which is all very well but it meant he got the decision wrong. It's also led to a shed load of abuse online towards Faz claiming he was pretending he'd been hit in the face, when you watch the slow motion of it, he fairly clearly took a glancing blow to the cheek, before the arm came down and wrapped around the next. The only reason it wasn't full on contact with the face was because Owen sees it coming and lifts his chin. [twitter.com]

Now I'm all for the refs watching replays actual speed to determine the severity of a collision, but surely the only way to determine the point of contact is to slow it down? In this case Pearce decided that it hit the chest first and rode up, when in fact it was face then neck contact and there was never any contact with the chest.

There's also a screen shot floating round of that first monstrous hit on Earl that led to their first try potentially being in RC territory as well. Edit: Found it [twitter.com]

It does highlight the difficulty for the refs that so many people can see the same incident in so many different ways.

Well I agree with the final para. Even as Sarries fan I was relieved Care didn’t get red for that challenge as I wanted to see us end their season fairly and squarely which we did. I would really like it recognised that defenders should be given the benefit of the doubt in those situations where there is no time to adjust. The yellow was also correct in my view. Even if there was glancing contact with the face there was no great force and I thought the ref got it spot on.

Quote:

JimG

Lastly a word on the ref who I thought got the big calls right and contributed to an entertaining game. Maybe the Steward red card farce will have a positive effect on the way games are reffed going forward - no endless slowmos and the ref being prepared to make a decision based on what he sees.

ha, I would stay clear of the quin's site lol

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

Ha. I did have look and it is amazingly one eyed. Firstly I, like a number on this site, was there which none of the keyboard warriors on that site appear to have been. I have also rewatched it and really you can always find fault with some decisions if you are desperately looking to but to suggest that he reffed the teams differently which some of the contributors there appear to be suggesting is laughable. My conclusion was that there wasn’t any insight to be found there.

Great game great ground and now I’ve found a good way to get there via Cheshunt very easy. BV easily MoM with top carry count, great passing and that mega clearance kick. Mallins I thought was only one who had a poor game, Murley was excellent and should be on England radar.

Seeing a few comments about Farrell diving, honestly like these people have never watched him play. I remember him taking a huge shoulder from an American player in the World Cup (player was sent off) and he popped straight back up. He does not go down unless properly hurt. I imagine Faz snr would disown him if he ever did feign injury as well 😂

The Waterman woman doing the commentary suggested he dived, but she's not impartial when it comes to Sarries.

Quote:

maynas
Mallins I thought was only one who had a poor game, Murley was excellent and should be on England radar.

Really? Malins would've been my MOTM. There were audible intakes of breath around me at some of his play. Multiple line breaks, try saving tackle etc.

Quote:

Roger G

Quote:

maynas
Mallins I thought was only one who had a poor game, Murley was excellent and should be on England radar.

Really? Malins would've been my MOTM. There were audible intakes of breath around me at some of his play. Multiple line breaks, try saving tackle etc.

Unfortunately he was responsible for missed tackles for both Murley's tries

And the hospital pass to Goodey leading to their first one as well as a couple of poor decisions when he’d broken clear.
But yes some absolutely outstanding stuff too!

Max certainly showed that x-factor yesterday, we’re really going to miss that next season unless Parton has something that I haven’t seen in him yet.

Well that isn’t at all fair. He didn’t miss the tackles. Murley is a powerful guy and Malins isn’t the heaviest. Both tackles were made but Murley had enough to get to the line. Malins also stopped David from scoring which was crucial. His general play was excellent - offloads, breaks, a kick through and collect which led to one of the tries. I haven’t seen the stats but I imagine his metres gained was right up there.

Quote:

JimG
Well that isn’t at all fair. He didn’t miss the tackles. Murley is a powerful guy and Malins isn’t the heaviest. Both tackles were made but Murley had enough to get to the line. Malins also stopped David from scoring which was crucial. His general play was excellent - offloads, breaks, a kick through and collect which led to one of the tries. I haven’t seen the stats but I imagine his metres gained was right up there.

100% spot on JimG.

I am obviously a massive fan of the guy and I genuinely find it incredible that some folks see the game so differently. I'm not quite on Roger Gs page of him being MotM but that was largely due to the quality of some many performances. I actually think that the shocking pass to Goode in our 22 (mentioned by the Bard) was probably his only really bad mistake of the game. He fluffed a catch as well but that can happen and it didn't cost Sarries anything.

Suggesting someone was the worst player or even they were bad because they failed to stop another very good player scoring trys seems a bit odd to me.
In both situations Malins is the last man defending what becomes or has the potential to become a 2 on 1. The first one the concern is the FB on the wrap-around so Malins can't afford to jam straight in on Murley even so he makes a good tackle but Murley is too strong.
The second one is a legitimately fantastic bit of defending. That the try was still scored doesn't change that. To his detractors actually watch it from when Esterhuizen gets the pass. Malins is the last man marking Dombrandt with Murley out on the wing. When the pass goes out it is a two on one against Malins and unlike the first time where the FB joining was a possibility here it is 2v1 against Malins. Although the defence is coming across if he goes straight to tackle Murley an inside ball for Dombrandt almost certainly gives him a walk-in. Instead Malins treads water to buy the defence some time to come across. Having been out-muscled the first time and also needing to try and stop a potential offload he goes to wrap the ball as much as tackle the man. Tompkins joins and they almost get him to touch. It is in fact a phenomenal finish from Murley but even so that is an exceptional bit of work from Malins.
He also created the break that resulted in Maitlands try, created another that Goode would have had a great chance of scoring is he hadn't decided to run away from Malins and as we know caused the FB to fumble when a try looked certain.

It was IMO a seriously impressive performance and probably the clearest one yet which shows what we will miss. With Lozo having a great game at 13 and being as involved as I've seen him for an age. The Daly over Malins call looks as bad as it ever has IMO (I know people don't agree and that's fair enough)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:26:21:13:36 by OldMarovian.

Oh and having watched the game ... what a joy that was

Special mentions:

IVZ. The guy is incredible and so important to Sarries playing at our best.
Best game for Lozo for an age.
The support and handling was at times, sublime.
Discipline was excellent. As it was to see the players enjoying playing.
Tompkins for getting the ball of the field. Yes it would have been lovely to score another one but the game was won, TBP conceded but no need to risk giving Quins a point for within 7 or a Sarries player picking up a knock like Farrell did.
Fair play to Billy good balanced comments including Sarries work-ons.
Riccioni making Marler look like the has-been, lack-wit that he is. All through the game Marler was blethering away, even taking the time to walk about 20M to sledge Davies for a kick out on the full. Maybe if he spent some of that energy playing rugby he wouldn't have been so poor yesterday?
I don't like the "phrase love to hate" but I get it with Care. Credit to him, he's a horrible player to play against but a brilliant one. I'm still not quite sure how Christie got carded. Care runs round him and Christie spins at no time is Cares run checked. If Christie did actually get a hold of him then absolutely a card but it looked a lot to me like Care "bought" that card. Fair play if he did it was excellent dark arts!! Less impressed with his tackle on IVZ.
I thought Isiekwe was great when he came on. Time to pair him back up with Maro as a starting combo.
Time for Goode to move to 22nd man. The 50/22 was exceptional. Much of the rest wasn't. I don't care that he's leaving play Malins at FB for the rest of the season. We were at times playing Daly over Goode and Malins offers a similar threat plus has actual FB skills.
Gosh we're going to miss Peel. Scrum excellent, starter and bench. Well done the Clarey another excellent performance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:26:21:15:47 by OldMarovian.

There is a lot of daylight between IVZ and Aled the way we are playing this season. One poor thing was IVZ not going off immediately for an HIA

Yep Bard, that was deeply concerning. Also fair play to Luke Pearce making it really clear that he was somewhat 'surprised' that hadn't been called for.

Quote:

JimG
Well that isn’t at all fair. He didn’t miss the tackles. Murley is a powerful guy and Malins isn’t the heaviest. Both tackles were made but Murley had enough to get to the line. Malins also stopped David from scoring which was crucial. His general play was excellent - offloads, breaks, a kick through and collect which led to one of the tries. I haven’t seen the stats but I imagine his metres gained was right up there.

Just to finish this thought I have now checked, Max was second behind only David in metres gained - 124. Second behind Esterhuizen in number of caries with 7. Joint first offloads and also joint first with turnovers.

Quote:

The Bard
There is a lot of daylight between IVZ and Aled the way we are playing this season. One poor thing was IVZ not going off immediately for an HIA

I assume it was an independent doctor who called for the HIA. Pearce clearly asked if the Sarries doctor had given him the all clear before he played on. The fact that he passed the HIA in some way vindicates the Sarries doctor's initial judgement.

Yes but surely it is a risk that should never be taken. The fact he went off 5 minutes later made it even worse I’d say

Having just rewatched the match I've changed my mind about Malins, I was definitely too harsh on him.
Still don't get how the Care and Northmore incidents weren't reds. Seems Lawes thought so too about the care one but didn't really want to cause a fuss by saying so

Presumably there have been no citings.

Successful hills are here to stay
Everything must be this way
Gentle streets where people play
Welcome to the Soft Parade

🌻🌻🌻

Looking at the Quins forum I think I must have been at a different game!

I feel very sorry for the handful of people on that site who understand this sport as they are massively outnumbered by numpties. Too many are obsessed by the odd big hit or individual success as opposed to the overall performance and result. For Saracens the collective is so much more important than the individual.

Far too many comments about Luke Pierce as well, which is incredibly self-defeating (and also slightly odd when you have dodged two nailed-on red cards).

For the NFL fans among you Sean Payton would have been impressed with Care's pre-determined assault on IVZ. I thought Pierce and Andrew Jackson showed staggering naivety not to spot the sub-text behind that one.

Care knew exactly what he was doing, and, after the Steward RC dismissal (rightly so), he was confident he may get away with it.

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ninjafez

Is it me or was getting a sarries chant going such a pain..I was almost horse at the end

The noise was good but nothing like a football stadium. Can't be helped though. 10,000 to 15,000 "real" Sarries fans diluted by about 40,000 Quins, neutrals and curious is going to make getting a chant going difficult.

Hopefully the marketing strategy of holding these events works and the "curious" become supporters making the home noise louder in future years.

Quote:

tpr's headmistress
Care knew exactly what he was doing, and, after the Steward RC dismissal (rightly so), he was confident he may get away with it.

I don’t believe it was premeditated but having looked at it again it is essentially a body check shoulder to head. No wrap so no mitigation available = red card. Unlike Steward, he put the brakes on to effect the block so he did have time to adjust but did what he did to stop IVZ stepping inside him.. I am the last person to call for cards as I just want to see a fair contest but if refs are going to be even vaguely consistent then he ought to have gone. Still think the Northmore yellow was correct mind.

Quote:

TOKS
Looking at the Quins forum I think I must have been at a different game!
I feel very sorry for the handful of people on that site who understand this sport as they are massively outnumbered by numpties. Too many are obsessed by the odd big hit or individual success as opposed to the overall performance and result.

Agree. Some going wild about Esterhuizen handing off Farrell. Know what I see there? Farrell handed off and coming straight back for another bite and helping tackle the player. Similar talk about him being driven back over the tryline but seemingly missing he (helped) stop a try being scored! I mean how badly do you want to see failure to not appreciate that?

I'd say again that the Quins supporters we sat next to were a lovely bunch. A touch myopic re the referee but let's be honest aren't we all?!

Just seen the Chisholm on Earl one. That is a stone cold red and exactly the kind of “tackle” they are trying to rid from the game. What was the TMO doing? And why isn’t that being cited? If Farrell had done it we wouldn’t have heard the last of it.

I think Lamb tackling Earl and the drop in height probably (?) makes it a yellow JimG but like you I find it bewildering it wasn't caught in game. I mean it caused Earl to spill the ball and they showed it a couple of times so ... ?

Quote:

OldMarovian

Quote:

TOKS
Looking at the Quins forum I think I must have been at a different game!
I feel very sorry for the handful of people on that site who understand this sport as they are massively outnumbered by numpties. Too many are obsessed by the odd big hit or individual success as opposed to the overall performance and result.

Agree. Some going wild about Esterhuizen handing off Farrell. Know what I see there? Farrell handed off and coming straight back for another bite and helping tackle the player. Similar talk about him being driven back over the tryline but seemingly missing he (helped) stop a try being scored! I mean how badly do you want to see failure to not appreciate that?

Was that just after Loz has smashed him, knee on the ground and he the got back up (penalty offence!) before being held up over the line?

Quote:

OldMarovian
I think Lamb tackling Earl and the drop in height probably (?) makes it a yellow JimG but like you I find it bewildering it wasn't caught in game. I mean it caused Earl to spill the ball and they showed it a couple of times so ... ?

But again we come back to the "tucked arm so no mitigation", and tbh there's not much change in height anyway[twitter.com]

I just don't know anymore tbh SB which is the problem for most of us I guess.

I think that's the big issues tbh. The Steward debacle has muddied the waters so much it's made it very confusing

No Danny Care on Rugby Union Weekly? Must be cleaning his beer-goggles for next season

Quote:

Duncan96

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ninjafez

Is it me or was getting a sarries chant going such a pain..I was almost horse at the end

The noise was good but nothing like a football stadium. Can't be helped though. 10,000 to 15,000 "real" Sarries fans diluted by about 40,000 Quins, neutrals and curious is going to make getting a chant going difficult.

Hopefully the marketing strategy of holding these events works and the "curious" become supporters making the home noise louder in future years.

im sure a number of Spurs fans may have made a curious visit on cheaper ticket pricess, maybe rahter than going saaarrriieees, i shoudl have started for more football like clap-clap-clapclapclap-clapclapclaclap- Sarr-iiees!

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

Quote:

ninjafez

Quote:

Duncan96

Quote:

ninjafez

Is it me or was getting a sarries chant going such a pain..I was almost horse at the end

The noise was good but nothing like a football stadium. Can't be helped though. 10,000 to 15,000 "real" Sarries fans diluted by about 40,000 Quins, neutrals and curious is going to make getting a chant going difficult.

Hopefully the marketing strategy of holding these events works and the "curious" become supporters making the home noise louder in future years.

im sure a number of Spurs fans may have made a curious visit on cheaper ticket pricess, maybe rahter than going saaarrriieees, i shoudl have started for more football like clap-clap-clapclapclap-clapclapclaclap- Sarr-iiees!

It's all personal taste of course but I find our very "rugby type" (i.e. there are similar chants at other clubs), long drawn out and slow "Sarries" a bit dirgy. Your suggestion of a football type, more snappy chant is a good idea IMHO (I shall now put my crash helmet on!)

There are some great chants in the Top 14. I can't find a clip of my favourite at Perpignan which goes "Ici,Ici c'est Perpignan" which makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. But this one (from La Rochelle) is sung at many grounds (including Perpignan) French chant

An English transaltion for us would be something like "Here we are, Here we are, Here we are we're Saracens"

If it weren't for the fact that it is very much the Teams personal thing can you imagine "Tiki-Tonga" done "Pilou, Pilou" Toulon style? Although it's more an after the game rather than pre-game thing.

Commission a pre-game one, "Pre-Tiki-Tonga?"

As ever I'm not sure it's so much about the chant as the huge swathes of the supporter base who just don't commit. No problem there in the sense that we all enjoy the game in our different way but it can be a bit dispiriting to be a little island of chanting in the East stand just as it can be amazing (even just chanting "Sarries") when it feels like literally every Sarries supporter in the crowd is doing so too.

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It is good and noisy in the North Stand , but then we do have a roof to provide a bit of echo !

1.5m viewers on Saturday, great news. Prem rugby finally doing something right and capitalising on the six nations viewers and getting a big game on free to air straight after. Also an excellent match for newcomers to watch, let’s hope there’s a few Sarries converts among them!

I have to say most of the neutrals/newbies around me on Saturday were cheering for Quins. Mind you, just from eaves-dropping, some claimed to have some kind of connection with Andy Christie but weren't sure who he was when he scored or got carded, and others were convinced that Ben Youngs played for Saints (no idea why he was in the conversation at all). From the amount of chat and beer trips they made they probably only watched 10 minutes of the match!!

Quote:

Roger G
From the amount of chat and beer trips they made they probably only watched 10 minutes of the match!!

Sounds like Twickenham!

Sarries Twitter suggesting the game was viewed by 1.5M!! Most watched Premiership game in history. Well done again marketing bods and well done team for putting on such a brilliant display.

Quote:

Duncan96

Quote:

Roger G
From the amount of chat and beer trips they made they probably only watched 10 minutes of the match!!

Sounds like Twickenham!

Indeed! Except better seats, better beer, better.....err everything!

Queuing for the beer was a nightmare though, took 25 mins at half time!

Edit: I maintain that Saracens greatest gift to the world is the bag of ale, it should be ubiquitous at all rugby stadiums.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:28:15:02:19 by TommyKentish.

Quote:

OldMarovian
No Danny Care on Rugby Union Weekly? Must be cleaning his beer-goggles for next season

Strange, happened last year after the semi final too!

Abiding memory of Care, hand cupping his ear to the north stand after scoring football style during that game. Oh dear - no wonder he didn’t want to talk about it afterwards.

Danny is in Cape Town for our ‘European’ match.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:28:21:58:46 by Monte.

Quote:

Monte
Danny is in Cape Town for our ‘European’ match.

Are many Quins fans travelling to that? Any idea what the typical cost of a weekend trip for that would have been?

Quote:

Monte
Danny is in Cape Town for our ‘European’ match.

Thanks Monte, it's nice to see there are still some Quins supporters who lurk around these forums I do miss those days when we had supporters from "most" teams commenting, looking at some "closed" forums it just seems like a big echo chamber.
Best of luck against the Stormers.

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Help for Heroes

As we are all rugby fans it is nice to have some sensible positive comment from across the league …..like Tigerburnie for example ….

Quote:

OTsarrie
As we are all rugby fans it is nice to have some sensible positive comment from across the league …..like Tigerburnie for example ….

+1