However a couple of things made me pause; one being it intimates the best way to succeed in battle is to ‘imitate a Tiger’, and frankly I don’t think us sacking Argentinean Head Coaches with no justification or having our Fijian players commit illegal tackles bordering on Grievous Bodily Harm is our best strategy; and the other being that the speech focuses on how often the English members must suffer injuries for the cause – which would have been fine to gloss over, until Faz managed to break another world record for the longest period on the sidelines for a ridiculously small injury! 

 .... But anyway, I digress. Onto the analysis of our forthcoming battle with the Jesters down the road who for some inexplicable reason have suddenly found it crucial to be labelled the ‘True London Club’...  

Last February, many of us pitched up at our increasingly derelict home, and suffered one of the most soul-destroying days of the last season. On a pitch that was saturated from the incessant downpour, we witnessed a Sarries team that seemed to be playing from an equally saturated ideas book. Bereft of invention, momentum, and any seeming desire to claim the victory, Saracens slumped to a Quins side that until that point were guilty of everything I’ve just accused Sarries of being.

From that miserable afternoon, Dean Richards used the scraped victory as a springboard to galvanise his side, ditch his old warhorses, and allow his young guns to play a free-flowing, exciting game that, though it pains me to say it, was incredibly entertaining. Far from without flaws, granted, but damn effective, and bought them within a Tom Varndell moment of brilliance of a spot in the playoffs. In contrast, from that moment on, our form became progressively patchy, and European competition aside, realistically sent us on a downward spiral that resulted in what no-one can dispute was an awful final league position.  

...So this is our chance to turn the tables. This is our game that kick starts our Season. This, unlike previous years against the Pests, (which when they were at full strength, losing wouldn’t have too much effect on our season), is our key opener. If we wish to mount a serious challenge, and I’m sure Borthwick didn’t join us just to give himself more chances to win the ECC, then we have to beat teams like Quins, and I believe we will. This is why:  

Firstly, lets look at the Middlesex sevens. (And before you stop reading in disgust Bboonie, trust me, this is going somewhere!) Yes, Quins won, Yes, we crashed out in the first round, but that doesn’t tell the full story. As a nice side-story pre-season, we put our well-documented sevens-specific training to good effect, (wow, apologies for my trainee lawyer’s brain over-hyphenating everything!) and picked up a trophy. In all probability, if we’d had a few warm-up matches in the early rounds before meeting the army, I think we would’ve been the ones facing Quins for the main prize. However, this doesn’t take away from the fact that Quins looked good and took the prize. So, it appears Quins are looking strong.... Not quite true!   

When you look closer at what happened that day, Quins had almost every one of their big names out there – Strettle, Monye, Guest, Skinner, Brown, Care, even Nick Easter, not a natural choice for sevens, were wheeled out. We played equally well by the end of the day, but only needed to have a select few of our big names around, the rest recovering from going toe-to-toe with some pretty skilful touring Wallabies. We have a spread of genuine talent across our match-day team and beyond that I feel Quins are lacking, and this was shown up to me at the sevens. Don’t get me wrong, Quins have developed a handy side, but I feel that the squad depth is likely to be Quins downfall.  

In comparison, Eddie Jones has, with the possible exception of props, developed excellent depth throughout the squad, but without compromising on finding genuine talent. He doesn’t seem to have bought any players just to bulk up the squad (with the possible exception of Wyles, but he’s apparently on ‘secondment’, so that clears that up). All of the so-called ‘squad players’ are young prospects already established in super 14 rugby. No ancient has-beens or innocent new boys with no experience under their belts.

I refer of course to the likes of Barritt and Jacobs in the centres. These guys will also supplement our own academy boys who have been promised their chance this year. Admittedly Goode and Cato were given a bit of a wake-up call at Bristol last year, but they’ve moved on, and I have no doubt that both will translate their superb England age-group performances into burgeoning Premiership careers.    

Then, shock horror, we even add an England international to our ranks! Initially I was worried we might actually achieve recognition on the national scene when Borthwick was picked as captain for the summer tour, but thankfully order was restored when none of our bright sparks were even in the Saxons. To be fair, I can’t remember Haughton completely outplaying apparently the ‘best winger on the planet’ in a major European game, can you? But that’s something that’s been thrashed to death on the forums. Move on Rob, move on.  

The point to take from this is twofold; firstly that our squad has a quality and depth that I haven’t seen in a while. In the likes of Wikus, we have leaders all over the park in places we used to barely have players! Surely preventing another post Christmas collapse, and allowing us to compete on all fronts. Secondly, nearly every press report relating to us seems to include an almost mandatory quote from a player saying why he joined the club – the weight of authenticity that Eddie Jones gives to our club’s extravagant dreams. This is the man to build on what Gaffney started. Yet more consistency in the main squad, excellent signings, form players given chance to play with flair, and a strong no-nonsense attitude emanating from a coach who has the utmost respect from both players and media alike. Our team is in good shape!  

As I’ve already pointed out, Quins showed almost their entire hand at the sevens. Almost. However much Mark Evans seems to want to appear as a shrewd businessman, he doesn’t seem to be finding much in the budget for Deano to improve his squad. The core elements remain from last year, revolving around young players who have had a real chance to develop on a well-structured Saxons tour. However, previous transfer slip-ups like De Wet Barry have yet to be covered, and gaps in both the centres and the front five have not been addressed. In fact Quins’ list of purchases is surprisingly small across the board.

One huge name, though, is Nick Evans. He might be considered a gamble (but then how can anything else be called a gamble when you’ve just signed Epi Taione?!) as he hasn’t played the English game before, and we might be playing him at the right time – before he’s had time to settle in. But there is no denying his considerable talent. He was, in part, the reason for Jackson joining us, as he was keeping him at 3 in the All-Blacks pecking order. This is a man who kept an Auckland Blues backline flowing and almost orchestrated the Crusaders downfall this season – not something many, if any, can claim. Quins’ only pre-season friendly of note this summer (before what was a slightly opposed training session in posting a cricket score against Overmach Parma) was a full squad run-out against London Irish, and it is clear from numerous perspectives that Evans was playing at a tempo above almost any others on the field. He tore the Irish defence apart within five minutes of coming on. If he can release his dangerous back three, we could be in difficulties.  

All of the above is worthwhile in constructing an opinion of the match to come (And I hope at least some of you agree, as it took me bloomin’ ages!), but my final section needs to be about the battle areas on the park. In my mind, there is no doubt that a front three of Lloyd, Cairns and Cencus are a match for anyone on their day, and we should have dominance in the scrums. Moving back to the other key set piece of the day, we again should dominate. Ollie Kohn, one of Quins’ shining stars at the back end of last year, may have a huge future in front of him, and for England’s sake I hope so. But I’m sorry; there is no way he should be getting close to either Jack or Borthwick. It’s one of the areas where we are blessed at the moment. Great, so we should win the set pieces.

Looking promising. I have one major concern however, and that’s ball in the loose. Until the arrival of Van Heerden, we have no ready-made replacement for HRHRH. Quins on the other hand have England’s future (and current, if you consider Easter to be our first choice 8) back row blossoming, and central to their rise is their ability to scrap. Skinner and Guest are both handy ball carriers, but are also excellent at doing the donkey work. Chesney aside, as that man lays his body on the line at every occasion, our other back rowers seemed to slacken off last year. Skirving had no competition, so cantered around, and I’m yet to be swayed by Owen, as his laziness needs to be addressed more so than one good friendly against a former club. Seymour and Barrell have talent, and I really hope they step up a level this year. Seymour will be buoyed by his commanding captaincy at the sevens, and sporting his new streamlined hair, may well be attempting to lock in a regular starting spot. I hope so, because Quins will stop our ball dead all day otherwise!  

The scrum-half battle should be superb. De Kock, relieved of captaincy, has the freedom to order his pack around and box-kick to his heart’s content. Up against one half of a potentially lethal half-back combo for the newlook England. Care has the flair, but I think Neil may well be able to show him a thing or two about experience. However, Care’s pace and sniping is something again our back row will have to pick up.  

At 10, I cannot wait! As a connoisseur of fly-half play, Evans v Jackson promises to be enthralling. Both play flat, release the backs well, but more often than not, take the initiative on themselves. They are also not afraid to kick for territory when required to relieve the pressure. Evans has been criticised for his inability to use the drop goal as a weapon in key moments, like against France in the World Cup, but anyone who saw Jacko’s gloriously wobbly Ospreys drop will know it’s hardly our weapon of choice either! The key here in my mind is experience of England. Jackson arrived with a great reputation, but struggled in his first season with us. Many New Zealanders have. So whilst I hope for a classic 10 encounter, I don’t think Evans will have had quite enough time to gel.

In the three-quarters, it’s tight, but in our favour. Our centres, with Super-Kev at the helm, are the definition of watertight. The same cannot be said of the Quins centres. However, throw it wider, as they are bound to do, and you find pace galore. A solid fullback in Brown (and that’s a huge compliment from anyone who knows my view on the man) and raw acceleration on the wings in Monye and Strettle. However, if Sprout is fit, a back three of Del, Sprout, and Ratty refreshed and ready is one proven to perform at high level, and entirely interchangeable. The last point is something not applicable to Quins, as Monye’s tackling and high-ball work leave a fair amount to be desired!  

Overall, I think our set-piece domination could be key, especially as we are one of few teams remaining who regularly fashion scores off first phase possession. This combined with the ELV’s could allow us to witness some real pace, width and cutting edge from the Sarries backs. (This is my only mention of the ELV’s, I am reserving judgement ‘til after a few games, and Eddie Jones seems to have been saying it all for me over the last few days anyway!) If we get bogged down in a scrappy game around the park, we might struggle, but I believe our new captain will spearhead our pack into providing controlled and regular ball to our backs, and the double header should end in glorious victory!  

Thank you to anyone who has managed to stick through this entire preview, and I promise any future pieces will be shorter, and much less like just a conglomeration of my brainwaves on a page! It’s just that I, like so many of you, cannot wait for this season to start, and needed to get all my pent up thoughts and pontifications out of my system. It is a season filled with potential and optimism. Once again, to be a Sarries fan means to be able to dream, and this year we might, just might, have the people in place to start turning this dream into reality! Whatever happens, let’s hope the double header isn’t the only time we visit Twickenham this year....  

...ALLEZ LES NOIRS!!!!!!!!!!!

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