By Jason Harris
July 11 2002

Saracens announced on Thursday morning the arrival of a new fitness coach to replace the long-serving Mike Yates. Head Coach Buck Shelford has added to the list of Kiwi recruits by signing New Zealander Pat Fox for this vital role after Sarries ran out of puff so frequently last season. After six season with London Wasps, the 39 year old joins the new-look Men in Black and has already begun work to improve the squad's fitness in preparation for the 2002-03 Zurich Premiership campaign.

Citing that "it was time for a change" and that the Sarries challenge has come at just the right time, Fox said "My work with Wasps was very rewarding. We managed to get our hands on a fair bit of silverware and I'm hoping to bring that edge with me to Saracens".

Peter Deakin, Saracens' ebullient Chief Executive, rates Fox very highly indeed: "We received a lot of CVs for this post but Pat's was head and shoulders above the rest." Deakin also said that he is very enthusiastic about Shelford and Fox working together for the first time.

Fox lists on his cv an array of international teams as well as Sarries closest neighbours. Four years were spent at the New Zealand sports academy working with the country's national squads in rugby, squash, hocky, cricket and basketball. Also, he had been involved with the New Zealand Amierica's Cup yachting team.

Since coming to the UK and completing post-graduate studies at Brunel University (Fox is a qualified Physiologist), he has worked with Rosslyn Park, Leeds United FC and the London Towers basketball squad.

Fox hopes that he will be able to help Sarries kill off their legendary injury jinx in the coming seasons: "Saracens have sustained a lot of injuries, seemingly far more than other clubs. Obviously sometimes injuries are unavoidable, you can't protect against someone breaking their leg in a tackle, it's the persistent tissue injuries that I'll be trying to avoid. Part of my job is to minimise strains and tears etc and I will be going over the old records with the Physio Team to see if there are any anomalies."

Finally, Pat Fox says that he wants to pick up where his predecessor Mike Yates left off and take the squad further, and to greater heights. The main thing, however, is trying to put an end to those injuries.

*Wayne Shelford returns from New Zealand at the weekend and will be raring to go at Bramley Road on Monday with this new-look Sarries squad. Pat Fox will be there, of course, along with fully-rested players like Richard Hill, Kyran Bracken, Tim Horan and Thomas Castaignede.