By T
November 18 2005

Given it's a Sunday afternoon, I don't expect many of the Newcastle faithful to make the trip, so I hope they enjoy the excellent commentary on Three Counties. However you don’t have to be a genius to work out that the crowd will be swollen by those coming to see the golden boy of English rugby. For all Saracens big name stars that have come and gone over the years, only one man can single-handedly put an extra couple of thousand bums on seats. Watching Wilkinson’s performance against London Irish last Friday showed that it won't be long before he's back to his best; his kicking was exemplary and his distribution top class, he'll be eager to get another game under his belt and get the other facets of his game upto speed. I expect Seymour will be told to never be more than 10 metres from him at any one point!

The Falcons are an odd side, dripping with players of the class of Noon, Tait, May, Walder, Burke, Charvis and Fineggan as well as next big thing in Toby Flood they frequently flatter to deceive, an excellent draw in a fiery game against a full strength Leicester where they were deserving of the win was followed several defeats on the road. Last weeks game against Irish was another example of Newcastle’s strange form which appears to fluctuate even during a game, a second half fight back brought them a losing bonus point when they should have won on the chances they created. Sarries spies will have noted that Newcastle’s tight 5 were under the cosh from the London Irish pack that Saracens bullied into submission in the Powergen Cup.

Saracens forwards have been going really well and the side must be disappointed not to turn superiority upfront into points on the board or extra points in the league. It's no surprise to see teams infringing in order to stop Saracens employing their devastating rolling maul and with referees not willing to nip these transgressions in the bud and forwards taking the law into their own hands, there must be a case for the decision makers on the field to try plan B when things aren't going quite right. Saracens at some point are going to have to start looking at using some width which we all know they're capable of when the time arises or we could well see more games like that at the Rec last Sunday.

The only change to the Saracens starting line up is Vaikona replacing Bailey on the left wing. The rest of the squad is unchanged, which means Matt Burke probably having nightmares when he sees Chesney on the bench! I can't imagine that the Newcastle pack will be sleeping too comfortably either, this could well be Visage's last game before an enforced break and I expect him and the rest of the pack to have a big big game.

The club have announced that the Saracens Village Marquee will be heated, hopefully the backs have been informed that there is at least somewhere warm to go at 3.15 on Sunday if plan A is working! We might see a more expansive approach but no one will complain to see a forward dominated Saracens victory which will put them into the top half of the table.