By Jonjo
April 20 2007

At the start of the season, to be told that Sarries were in the European Challenge Cup semi-final AND in the mix for the knock-out stage of the Premiership would have delighted most supporters. I think we would have seen it as a very good result for the season. It is no longer enough!

It is a measure of how far we have come over the last 8 months that losing the semi-final on Sunday will be seen as failure (as will losing next week to Worcester, but I must leave that for the next Preview). Our expectations have risen such that we now must beat Bath and go through to the final. Losing in the semi-finals will not be a result we want to remember.

As with Glasgow in the Cup, we drew away to Bath (in the league) and beat them at home (although thrashed them at home would be slightly more accurate in the case of Bath). We can also look down from our lofty position of 3rd in the league at Bath in 10th place, barely avoiding the relegation fight. None of this will mean anything on Sunday. We start again with a clean sheet, and Bath will be looking to turn their season from failure to success by at least reaching the ECC Final. This will be a very big game for them, and we must not be over-confident.

A key man on Sunday will be Nigel Owens. As a Welsh referee, he will have slightly different interpretations of the laws to those of the Premiership regulars, although as Hugh said at the Fans Forum, they don’t spend too much time analysing the ref’s performance, and his likes and dislikes, as they can change, not only from game to game but as the game develops. We have to be ready to play to the referee on the day, because, as the Laws of the game state, “The referee is the sole judge of fact and of Law during a match”, despite what the likes of Dayglo might like to think! If we get this wrong, we could be giving endless penalties away, and it will be no good saying “Mr White let us do that last week.” Bizarre though it seems, the rather motley crew of referees that we have had this year may even work to our advantage, as we have become accustomed to some curious decisions.

When it comes to the team, Bath have a good pack – Barnes, Mears, Stevens, Borthwick and Grewcock have to be respected as a very capable front five, and their back row is not too shabby either. In the backs, they have the likes of Nick Walshe, Olly Barkley, and David Bory, with Rugby League convert Chev Walker on the bench. I would expect them to have the edge in the line-out, but with Cobus back I think that they will struggle to match us in the scrum. Behind the scrum, however, I don’t see them matching our creativity, the power and passing skills of Faz, the deceptive strength and pace of Super Kev, the speed and elusiveness of Scabs and the wonderful ability of Thomas to glide through gaps that no one else can see. They will see a perceived weakness in defence in the 10-12 channel, but with our back row I think they will find the door pretty effectively closed on them.

It will be a battle, but the force should be with us. Unfortunately I will not be at Vicarage Road on Sunday because my son’s team is at the Herts Festival (good luck to Tabard and to everyone else taking part) but I will be there in spirit(s) - and looking forward to Springtime in Paris for the winners.

Saracens:
Castaignede, Scarbrough, Sorrell, Farrell, Penney, Jackson, de Kock, Lloyd, Byrne, Visagie, Vyvyan, Raiwalui, Chesney, Hill, Skirving.
Subs: Cairns, Johnston, Fullarton, Seymour, Dickens, Powell, de Vedia

Bath
Maddock, Cheeseman, Fuimaono-Sapolu, Barkley, Bory, Berne, Walshe, Barnes, Mears, Stevens, Borthwick (captain), Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Feaunati
Subs: Dixon, Ovens, Short, Scaysbrook, Williams, Stephenson, Walker: