Saracens vs LIrish - Sun 3pm

[Puja]

Saracens Men team to play London Irish:

1 Mako Vunipola
2 Theo Dan
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Maro Itoje
5 Callum Hunter-Hill
6 Nick Isiekwe
7 Ben Earl
8 Jackson Wray
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 Ethan Lewis
17 Eroni Mawi
18 Christian Judge
19 Hugh Tizard
20 Toby Knight
21 Ruben de Haas
22 Olly Hartley
23 Rotimi Segun


London Irish:
15 Ben Loader, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 7 Tom Pearson, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o.

Replacements:
16 Mike Willemse, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Hugh O’Sullivan, 23 Henry Arundell.

[Puja]

Not quite the full-bore Saracens side that I was expecting, but still a very much bigger and better team than faced Northampton. Irish will be fuming - Saries giving Saints 5 points and then bringing the big guns out to play here is probably costing them a place in the play-offs.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Irish have every right to be pissed off. They've just got to get on with it. They havent played for 3 weeks so will be fresh.

[Margin_Walker]

Not got a huge problem with it. They probably fear us a little more than Saints, given that we tend to do well against them. We'd have to beat a fully stacked Sarries team away in the semi anyway if we got there, so may as well have a crack at them here.

Big question is what impact the extended break has had. It's actually 4 weeks since the last game.

[Puja]

Not got a huge problem with it. They probably fear us a little more than Saints, given that we tend to do well against them. We'd have to beat a fully stacked Sarries team away in the semi anyway if we got there, so may as well have a crack at them here.

Big question is what impact the extended break has had. It's actually 4 weeks since the last game.

Eesh. Traditionally, having a big gap doesn't always work well for the rested side and that's a big gap to be covering off. I'll be cheering for you though!

Interested to see how Dan gets on from the start for Sarries. He's apparently the great hope at hooker, but I haven't seen much of him yet.

Puja

[FKAS]

I'm not sure how much more Sarries can add, they've got a few injuries.

[Spiffy]

Looking forward to a couple of head-to-heads : Earle v. Pearson; Farrell v. Jackson.

[Peej]

Not got a huge problem with it. They probably fear us a little more than Saints, given that we tend to do well against them. We'd have to beat a fully stacked Sarries team away in the semi anyway if we got there, so may as well have a crack at them here.

Big question is what impact the extended break has had. It's actually 4 weeks since the last game.

Eesh. Traditionally, having a big gap doesn't always work well for the rested side and that's a big gap to be covering off. I'll be cheering for you though!

Interested to see how Dan gets on from the start for Sarries. He's apparently the great hope at hooker, but I haven't seen much of him yet.

Puja

Great in the loose but his lineout throwing is pretty ropey

[Banquo]

Not quite the full-bore Saracens side that I was expecting,

Puja

who is missing?

[p/d]

Looking forward to a couple of head-to-heads : Earle v. Pearson; Farrell v. Jackson.

The head-to-head at 2 should be a cracker.

[Puja]

Not quite the full-bore Saracens side that I was expecting,

Puja

who is missing?

They're not at their best at 2 and 5 IMO, although I'm not sure if the other hookers are injured.

Puja

[p/d]

Not quite the full-bore Saracens side that I was expecting,

Puja

who is missing?

They're not at their best at 2 and 5 IMO, although I'm not sure if the other hookers are injured.

Puja

Dan is magnificent

[Margin_Walker]

Yeah, Dan is a prospect. Don't think they lose a huge amount there. Billy is probably a bigger miss for them.

Clearly will struggle to be match sharp, but that's also a very good LI line up. Will be interesting to see how they match up to the pressure of a must win game they will be underdogs for. The bench could make a difference if its close in the second half, as there's some serious dynamism there in Haffar, CCS, Gonzales and Arundell. Good to see Haffar get the nod in front of a fit again Goodrick Clark and Gigena. Incredible athlete for a prop and has been holding his own at the set piece so far.

[rjjb]

What's Dan's throwing in like?

[Banquo]

Not quite the full-bore Saracens side that I was expecting,

Puja

who is missing?

They're not at their best at 2 and 5 IMO, although I'm not sure if the other hookers are injured.

Puja

Who else would be at 5? Can't see they are resting anyone. Isiekwe would prob be at 5 if Billy/McFarlane/Christie were fit. Think George is crocked too.

[Banquo]

What's Dan's throwing in like?

Desperate

Seriously...not as strong as his carrying.

[Mellsblue]

What's Dan's throwing in like?

Desperate

Seriously...not as strong as his carrying.

If he puts the practice in he’ll be dandy.

[Banquo]

What's Dan's throwing in like?

Desperate

Seriously...not as strong as his carrying.

If he puts the practice in he’ll be dandy.

You minx

[FKAS]

Not quite the full-bore Saracens side that I was expecting,

Puja

who is missing?

They're not at their best at 2 and 5 IMO, although I'm not sure if the other hookers are injured.

Puja

I think Wolstencroft is but not sure on George.

MacFarland is a continued loss, this time of year his offloading game would be causing carnage.

Hartley and Segun is quite a green bench, if they were fit you'd think Morris and Lewington would be in there.

Billy V obviously the biggest miss, the whole pack is going to have to work harder to make up for his relentless carrying game.

[Puja]

who is missing?

They're not at their best at 2 and 5 IMO, although I'm not sure if the other hookers are injured.

Puja

Who else would be at 5? Can't see they are resting anyone. Isiekwe would prob be at 5 if Billy/McFarlane/Christie were fit. Think George is crocked too.

Tizard? I was assuming he was on the bench for rotation rather than form.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

who is missing?

They're not at their best at 2 and 5 IMO, although I'm not sure if the other hookers are injured.

Puja

Who else would be at 5? Can't see they are resting anyone. Isiekwe would prob be at 5 if Billy/McFarlane/Christie were fit. Think George is crocked too.

I feel like Tizard has quietly become a very solid partner for Itoje already.

It’s great to see him getting starts in big European cup games. Obviously I still hate him for going to Sarries, but I think he’s got a big future. Could be a bit like Launchbury but better on the technical stuff. He doesn’t look incredibly athletic but always seems to be in the right place.

[Banquo]

They're not at their best at 2 and 5 IMO, although I'm not sure if the other hookers are injured.

Puja

Who else would be at 5? Can't see they are resting anyone. Isiekwe would prob be at 5 if Billy/McFarlane/Christie were fit. Think George is crocked too.

Tizard? I was assuming he was on the bench for rotation rather than form.

Puja

mebbe, but Hunter Hill was pretty good last week.

[stepsider]

Lol as a commentator is a master of saying the bleedin' obvious

[Banquo]

bar sarries millions of knock ons, good stuff. Earl carrying well. Irish very good both sides of the ball.

As George Michael may have sang, if you are looking for faz love, listen to the commentary team. A more creative 10 would have seen 2 more tries for sarries.

[twitchy]

Feisty first half. LI always impress me.