This is one of very few small mercies in the week in which we are all apparently ‘uplifted’. I’m not personally particularly ‘uplifted’ by the knowledge that we aren’t moving to Fulham, or all the other info in this week’s official club statement, but I do commend Mr Griffiths for continuing to field our questions on this forum. I will reserve my judgement for the signing news next week. I’m also not uplifted by the prospect of facing a Newcastle team that, narrow loss to Wasps aside, have been the form side in the Guinness Premiership. If we are to be uplifted by anything though, if there is anywhere we could wish to be facing the Falcons, it’s not Craven Cottage, or Wembley, but what is slowly turning back into fortress Vicarage Road. We’ve now won our last 8 home games in all competitions, and the Bath and Wasps games demonstrated how well we can fight to the death to seal these games. Our away form, which to use the word ‘form’ is almost to be overstating the issue, is not worth dealing with here, as it almost seems our home and away teams are entirely different entities. Our stadium is far from the best in the league, but far from the worst, and in recent months the fervour in our fans at home has been impressive to behold. Whether this is in response to the team’s performances or vice versa, it is a current stronghold for us, to such an extent that even on the Rugby Club, in the brief 30 seconds when they ran out of things to say about Wasps, whilst talking to Toby Flood about Leicester’s run in, the presumption was that whilst an imperious-looking tiggers side will sweep the floor with most teams, they would happily take a losing bonus point on their travels to Watford! The accuracy of this remains to be seen, but it underlines the slow scraping of respect we are beginning to garner for our home form.

To our opponents on Sunday then. Yet again, as it was with the Quins game at Christmas last season, it was us who handily gave them the scrappy start that provided a leg up to a highly impressive run. Even with our abysmal away form I don’t think many of us foresaw anything other than a fairly comfortable win down at Kingston Park a few months ago against a side bereft of ideas and with no attacking flair. But then this being Saracens, we don’t like to disappoint our critics who expect such implosions on a weekly basis. It was from then that Newcastle sorted themselves out into the impressive unit we will be facing on Sunday. The youngster Clegg was dropped from fly-half, and while I can see a bright future for the lad, the slow introduction of our own prestigious young fly-half Mr Goode shows the ideal way to blood youth and get the best out of them. Having the 18-year-old continually halted so brutally for 80 minutes as he was by Steffon Armitage against the Not-nots whilst he was defending at one-out is not the way to introduce him to Premiership rugby. Instead, they moved to someone who has been ever-present at the Falcons seemingly since the dawn of time – the reliable Tom May. Far from merely being a filler, May has proved to have genuine talent at controlling the game, combined with a solid kicking game that has set Newcastle on the road to recovery.

The other huge boost for Falcons is the return both from injury and to form of Carl Hayman. The giant All-Black prop was brought in to galvanise and spearhead their pack, and over the past month, he has done so. There isn’t much difference in personnel from when I saw their pack fail to control a single ball in the tight in an abysmal away encounter in the Challenge cup, but a number of that pack are genuine talents who simply needed putting back on track. The likes of Balding and the ever-present captain Phil Dowson spring to mind. The same can be said of their backline. Gloucester may have the most criminally-minded backline, (allegedly!) (and if you count Balshaw’s criminal inability to hold onto the ball as an offence, then they have a complete set!) but if was Newcastle’s backs with such a record, i’d be far more scared – the size of them is pretty impressive! Alex Tait at full back stands out as the only back who actually looks like one in a lineup containing the likes of Rudd, Williams, Visser, (admittedly on the bench for Sunday) Noon, Tuipuloto, and the aforementioned May, who is hardly the traditional fly-half build. The key for them being that they have finally realised this and begun to use it to their considerable advantage. If the passes stick on Sunday, it could be a long afternoon in defence for our midfield!

As to us, our team has just been announced, alongside the huge blow that was the news that we have lost both Wikus and Ratty for the rest of the season. We certainly do not appear to be trying to combat the Falcons’ size with similar tactics, instead opting for more guile and pace. The centre pairing of Barritt and Powell could be exciting, and it’s good to see Penney getting the start he richly deserves. Welcoming De Kock back into the fold is also great to see, as whilst Marshall has been superb cover, he is of course ineligible for this match. The pack seems to be a combination of rotation for the remainder of the season and an aim to dominate the set piece. We have 4 lineout jumpers in Jack, Brucie, Borthers and Chesney (who it’s great to see back in the side, if purely for sentimental reasons) and all add substantial stature as well, coupled with the raw power of Census and Aguero up front. Our plan therefore appears to be to dominate the set pieces and then keep it fast and loose to avoid the bash boys in the Newcastle midfield. I may be wrong, but this would be entertaining to see – almost an amalgamation of the free-running risk taking halcyon days that now seem so long ago under the Gaffer and the set-piece efficiency instilled by Yoda. As long as Visagie comes off the bench, then we’ll also be able to combine the South African influx brought by Venter. (Sorry, irresistible facetious dig, and something that we are assured will not happen!)

However we play, we know we will have our work cut out against a thriving Newcastle team, but they are far from unbeatable, and on our pitch, I believe we will have more of the ball and make enough of our chances to win this game. We can then but hope for an Irish upset down at Franklins Gardens to send us travelling for a semi against Connaght, which after Bourgoin’s victory out of the blue against London Irish last night now is far from impossible! The potential for a second Irish team in a European semi-final in two years, only this time surely without Nigel Owens – what could be more of an incentive!

Saracens:
15. Goode 14. Wyles 13. Powell 12. Barritt 11. Penney 10. Jackson  9. de Kock

1. Aguero 2. Ongaro 3. Johnston 4. Borthwick 5. Chesney 6. Jack 7. Seymour ;o) 8. Skirving

16. M. Cairns 17. C. Visagie 18. T. Ryder 19. D. Barrell 20. M. Wilson 21. A. Farrell 22. N. Cato

Newcastle Falcons:

15 Alex Tait 14 Danny Williams 13 Jamie Noon 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu 11 John Rudd 10 Tom May 9 Micky Young
1 David Wilson 2 Matt Thompson 3 Carl Hayman 4 Geoff Parling 5 Mark Sorenson 6 Phil Dowson 7 Brent Wilson 8 Adam Balding

16 Rob Vickers. 17 Micky Ward 18 Tim Swinson 19 Russell Winter 20 Hall Charlton 21 Rob Miller 22 Tim Visser

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