RugbyRebels

Live on Freesports. Should be an entertaining game.

Newcastle Falcons A-Team to face Saracens Storm (Monday, 8pm, Kingston Park Stadium)

15 Tim Swiel
14 Adam Radwan
13 Ben Stevenson
12 Pedro Bettencourt
11 Josh Hodge
10 Brett Connon
9 Sam Stuart (captain)
1 Adam Brocklebank
2 Kyle Cooper
3 Rodney Ah You
4 Glen Young
19 Will Witty
6 Jamie Blamire
7 Connor Collett
8 Simon Uzokwe

Replacements
16 Santiago Socino
17 Sami Mavinga
18 Oscar Caudle
5 Tevita Cavubati
20 Rob Farrar
21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti
22 Tom Marshall
23 Joel Matavesi

Saracens Storm
15 Matt Gallagher
14 Elliott Obatoyinbo
13 Dom Morris
12 Tom Griffiths
11 Rotimi Segun
10 Manu Vunipola
9 Tom Whiteley
1 Hayden Thompson-Stringer
2 Tom Woolstencroft
3 Christian Judge
4 Dom Day
5 Joel Kpoku
6 Andy Christie
7 Ben Earl
8 Sione Vailanu

Replacements
16 Christopher Tolofua
17 Sam Crean
18 Billy Walker
19 Cameron Boon
20 Sean Reffell
21 Henry Taylor
22 Charlie Watson
23 Reuben Bird-Tulloch

Some exciting players in that mix.
In that regard it's a pity Falcons couldn't cling on..
Interesting to see Uzokwe continue on the quest to best-fit ..centre->hooker->flanker->no 8.

Bit of a tonking

FT: Falcons A 14 - 55 Storm
(2 tries vs. 9.)
Saracens comfortable in the North East ambience; a verily good long week-end for the club.

Are you surprised at all with how the Saracens are doing this season?

JacobRon wrote:Are you surprised at all with how the Saracens are doing this season?

I think it's the benefit of having built such a solid base. Their academy, talent identification, and player development is absolutely second-to-none and it means they have a constant production line of the highest quality talent coming in that's got an inbuilt loyalty to the club. There's clubs who would kill to have Kpoku and Isiekwe as first choice locks, but for Sarries they're just academy products content to wait their turn behind other academy products of Itoje and Kruis.

I think Sale are trying to build a similar edifice in the north-west, with huge investment in the academy and their best talent being tied in early to 5 year contracts. And it's the same reason Leicester have fallen - we stopped focussing on the base and had a whole generation of trying to buy in talent to diminishing returns. It's coming back now, but sadly we've got another 2-4 years before the likes of Martin and Heyes will be our Itoje and MVunipola.

Puja

There's clubs who'd have had the likes of Kpoku and Isiekwe poached due to not being able to afford them on top of other player demands. Who wouldn't have been able to afford to keep a key stable core with top quality players content to sit as 2nd choice until mid 20s.

Raggs wrote:There's clubs who'd have had the likes of Kpoku and Isiekwe poached due to not being able to afford them on top of other player demands. Who wouldn't have been able to afford to keep a key stable core with top quality players content to sit as 2nd choice until mid 20s.

True, although I think the bromide that people take lower wages to stay at Saracens has a lot of truth to it. Sarries have built a well-deserved reputation for promoting from within which is a lure for young players to keep the faith rather than take the larger pay elsewhere. They're also top of the tree for ancillary benefits like facilities, coaching, the holidays, the camaraderie, and player welfare. And there's the very serious factor that playing for them means regularly competing for trophies, as well as being in the mix for national selection just by being in their first XV. They have got a lot going for them outside of the exciting opportunities to go into business with Nigel Wray.

Puja

They do have a lot going for them, but would they have become a winning team, with that solid core without those offers?

Regardless, their coaching is clearly top class top to bottom. Having good players is one thing, getting so much out of them is another.