Saracens
Home semi up for grabs as Cherry and Whites come to town
Gloucester RFC
By saracens4life
April 21 2011
The business end of the season: Semi-Final places, Heineken Cup places, even Premiership places, all up for grabs. In seasons past, Sarries would have been approaching this penultimate round with either the fear of relegation or the dissatisfaction of mid-table mediocrity.
Well how things have changed, as the Men in Black are already assured of a play-off spot and enter a mouth-watering Easter Sunday clash against in-form Gloucester looking to earn themselves a home tie in the semi-finals…
It would be difficult to argue against the claim that these are two of the form sides in the league at the moment, with the Watford side not having lost since New Year’s Day and currently on a seven-match winning streak, including away victories at Welford Road, Franklins’ Gardens and Adams Park, and just last week a convincing 33-12 victory at the home of new boys Exeter Chiefs; Gloucester, similarly, come off the back of a home win against Northampton and an impressive 41-41 draw away at Leicester, with several first-team regulars missing, and it was not so long ago that they were setting English rugby alight with scintillating expansive rugby, which saw them claim silverware in the form of the LV Cup.
Until last weekend, there was a strong case that Gloucester away from Kingsholm were far less of a force to be reckoned with – shown by losses away to Leeds, Newcastle, Sale and Exeter – but the injection of fearless and talented youngsters, such as Freddie Burns, Jonny May and Henry Trinder, seemed to arrest that trend against a full-strength Leicester side. Gloucester’s team selection is difficult to predict given they have already played two games in the last five days, and that a bonus-point win at home to Sale in the final round will guarantee them 3rd spot, but whichever side Bryan Redpath selects, Sarries will have to show all the battling defensive qualities so abundant during the last two months…
In the front row, I would expect the second-choice unit of Scottish-capped Alasdair Dickinson, a mobile player who made a timely intervention last night to prevent a certain try for Soane Tonga’uiha, fellow Scot Scott Lawson, a man who continues to impress with good distribution skills and strength over the ball at the breakdown, and Rupert Harden, the Australian tighthead who took a pasting at the hands of Leicester’s Boris Stankovich last weekend. Although not a formidable unit in the tight, they will be backed up by the first-choice trio of club-servant Nick Wood, the excellent Saints-bound Paul Doran-Jones, and Frenchman Olivier Azam, whom I cannot see being banned in time for Sunday, even if he deserves never to play rugby again. Last time the Shed favourite came to Vicarage Road, he kicked Steve Borthwick in the head and the then England captain had to depart the field to get stitches around his eye; no wonder he has become enamoured to the Shed faithful…
Behind them, Gloucester, like Sarries, have an abundance of high-quality options in the second row, especially if the rumours are correct that big Scotsman Jim Hamilton will make his long-awaited return on Sunday, in which case I would expect him to take his place on a high-quality Gloucester bench. The starting locks are likely to be lineout exponent Alex Brown and the up-and-coming Dave Attwood, as at Welford Road last week, although the powerful Welsh international Will James would be equally worthy of a starting berth. Either way, the chosen pair will combine strength at the set-piece with mobility and good carrying ability. In the back row, again like Sarries, the Cherry and Whites possess a wealth of quality, and once more I would expect Redpath to opt for his second-choice unit, of ex-Leicester Number 8 Brett Deacon, who is a model of consistency but is somewhat lacking in the exciting, and flankers Matt Cox and Andy Hazell, who combined beautifully last week for the latter to score one of his sides’ five tries. Hazell has been an admirable club stalwart, but I reckon he must be up with the most ‘illegal’ players in the Premiership, be it at the breakdown or foul play. The referee on Sunday is Dave Pearson, whose propensity for showing yellow cards may be called upon if the Cherry and Whites commit offences with the same unashamed frequency as they did against Northampton the other night.
The Gloucester backs, despite numerous injuries to key personnel, have absolutely thrived on the hard grounds and enjoy putting serious width on the ball, a tactic especially effective against defences with a poor line speed. I would hope that our excellent defence coach Paul Gustard has been doing his homework this week and that our black wall will look to pressurise the Gloucester fly-half, whether it is young Freddie Burns or Welshman Nicky Robinson. My guess would be that Burns, the England U-20s man who put in such a standout performance during Sarries’ narrow defeat at Kingsholm last season; it appeared on Tuesday that Robinson had been brought back too early from his niggling hamstring injury, so I would expect Redpath to give him time to recover looking ahead to the Sale game and the play-offs. Burns will probably be served by youngster Dave Lewis, a talented prospect and a threatening runner in his own right, leaving Scottish-capped Rory Lawson, brother of hooker Scott, on the bench.
In the centres, I would expect and hope that Samoan #12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, to my mind the most precociously talented player in the country, would be given a rest after playing the full 80 minutes against both Leicester and Northampton, and in the absence of England captain and defensive linchpin Mike Tindall, my predicted starting combination would be ex-Nottingham Tim Molenaar, who has the build of a crash-ball merchant but also a propensity for hitting intelligent and dangerous lines through defences, and academy product Henry Trinder. On the evidence of the last few weeks, there may be some defensive weakness in this partnership, but their ability going forward is indisputable and the Sarries midfield will have to be on their mettle throughout.
Assuming the absence of England internationals Lesley Vainikolo, who in my opinion is overrated, and James Simpson-Daniel, who most certainly isn’t, I would expect an exciting back three of young Jonny May, match-winner for Gloucester in their victory at Franklins’ Gardens, the absolutely lightning-quick Charlie Sharples, who given his ability in defence and under the high ball is certain to get England honours sooner or later, and rejuvenated veteran, ex- of Bath and Wasps, Tom Voyce. This attacking-minded trio will, I think, be representative of Gloucester’s mentality: to go out with nothing to lose and play with as much width and ambition as they fancy; given the success they enjoyed with this tactic at Welford Road, albeit against a surprisingly porous Tigers defence, this method could bear some fruit.
On the Sarries side, I expect little change from the side that performed so well last week at Sandy Park, and has played so well for the last two-and-a-half months. A front row of Matt Stevens, Schalk Brits and ex-Gloucester man Carlos Nieto will look to achieve dominance at the set-scrum, and Brits last weekend showed signs of returning to his effervescent best after a few weeks of, by his own high standards, relative quietness. The second row selection will hinge on the availability of club captain Steve Borthwick, who was ruled out of last week’s encounter with a minor shoulder injury. Although the Sarries lineout performed with typical efficiency against the Chiefs, Borthwick’s return would be comforting given Alex Brown’s prolific ability at stealing opposition lineout. Having said that, I would expect, given the wide range of lineout jumpers available to us owing to our back-row selection, us to uphold our title of ‘Best Lineout in the League’. Aside from Borthwick, your guess is as good as mine as to who will start, although I think that Hayden Smith and Mouritz Botha, being the two most dynamic of our second row options, will both be included in the 23.
In the back row, Ernst Joubert will start at No.8, captaining the side if Borthwick remains absent, and I expect Andy Saull to be restored to a starting berth, having been left out last week to counteract the physicality of the Chiefs. At blindside, if Kelly Brown has recovered from the ankle injury that required so much strapping last Saturday, I would start him to go toe-to-toe with several of his companions in the Scottish squad; if not, I would select the no-nonsense Justin Melck and leave Jacques Burger, who has not quite regained full match fitness after a lengthy knee injury. If my Gloucester selection is at all accurate, I would envisage the Men in Black having superiority in the forwards exchanges – such a superiority, if it were to be achieved, would have to be manifested in points on the board so Gloucester don’t still have a sniff of victory when they bring on their big guns from the bench.
In the backs, I would assume Neil De Kock will remain absent with his troublesome hamstring injury, and so Richard Wigglesworth will start, backed up by Exeter-bound Sevens specialist Kevin Barrett. Outside will be 19-year-old Owen Farrell, who last week delivered another astonishingly accomplished performance to guide his side around the field and to victory; as impressive as anything else was his willingness to stand up to the big Fijian centre Sireli Naqulevuki, who came charging down his channel a few times last week. In the centres will be the rock-solid Brad Barritt, whose immense defensive capabilities will be tested by the running angles of the Gloucester midfield, and American Chris Wyles, who is starting to grow into the outside centre role and has transferred his ball-carrying abilities, as well as sound defence, into his new position.
In the back three, Alex Goode will start at full-back after an exemplary goal-kicking display at Sandy Park, where he also showed his ability to come into the line as first receiver, with Farrell shifting wider to act as the alternative playmaker. This approach, like Gloucester’s, is more profitable against a side with slow line speed, and gives strike runners such as Wyles, Brits and David Strettle, who broke tackles for fun last week, more space and time on the ball to work their magic. Noah Cato could not have done more to impress than his superb individual effort, which gave Sarries fans a glimpse of the talent they would be missing next season. It will be a straight shoot-out between him and fellow academy product James Short for the #11 berth.
Overall, there is a cracking match in prospect on Sunday, given the running talent at each side’s disposal and the expansive game plans they have employed in the last couple of weeks. Sarries will need to start strongly, play with the accuracy and precision of last week, and the usual efficiency at the lineout and breakdown, and remain solid in defence against a pacey and exciting Gloucester backline. If any extra motivation were needed, this is almost bound to be a dress rehearsal of the Premiership semi-final in three weeks time, so both sides will be looking to lay a marker down ahead of that game. My prediction is for a 4-0 Sarries victory, with at least 4 tries being scored…
Finally, three reasons to be loud and vocal on Sunday:
1) There was a great travelling following at Exeter last week, so we can look to continue the momentum, as it were, into this game.
2) It looks like it will be the highest crowd of the season so far.
3) As mentioned above, this game is actually a pre-cursor to the semi-final, and we should be looking to lay our marker down in the stands as well as on the pitch, drowning out the notoriously passionate Shedheads…
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Stumbleupon21/04/2011 12:14
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011:04:26:20:45:16 by Fozz1e.
Good luck with those assumptions on Sunday.
And I'll take a lot of convincing that Gloucester's defence is strong at the moment, apart from on their own goal-line at Kingsholm, where subtleties are immaterial and it is all about passion and commitment.
Thanks to all for the comments, as usual, and safe travels to all visting Gloucester fans...
Sorry crossed posts -
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:04:21:15:33:57 by farmer geddon.
Your defence was good in the last 10 minutes on Tuesday - try reading my last post.
On the Azam thing - would I be right to assume you were part of the Glaws faithful cheering him on every time he threw a punch/headbutt?
Quote:saracens4life
Apologies about the mistake with Rory and Scott Lawson.
Your defence was good in the last 10 minutes on Tuesday - try reading my last post.
On the Azam thing - would I be right to assume you were part of the Glaws faithful cheering him on every time he threw a punch/headbutt?
My last post crossed yours as my edit showed. I haven't expressed any opinion on Azam so please don't assume that I condone violent behaviour. You may be right about a citing, who knows, but a citing has not been made to date and some of the video footage may not support your opinion.
Will be watching the game at Watford with both eyes open, all the best.
However the hearing is not until next Wednesday, so he can play at VR, unless the club decide to do a Tiggs and nip in with a short ban of their own.
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:04:21:16:49:23 by TonyTaff.
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
No way Wade would have let that happen to him...
Saints put out a weakened team in the belief that they could get just the loosing bonus point: which would have almost certainly guaranteed them 4 the place. It would put the L/Irish out of the equation. And they so nearly achieved that goal.
Now its Glos turn. They may also think that Tigs are the softer option
However I am getting a bit fed up with these insinuations that the Kingsholm collective delight in foul play. I was at the game and didn't notice anything wrong with what Azam did - I am not saying there wasn't anything wron BTW. Nobody else sitting around me saw anything, Wayne barnes didn't see anything, Martin Fox (who was only feet away) didn't see anything!
I was only aware of the incident because my son texted me from his vantage point in front of the TV - the same as yours I suspect! The Shed is the other side of the pitch and consequently even if they had two eyes they wouldn't have seen it.
I am sorry to labour the point but to suggest Azam committed an obvious act of foul play which the Shed then gleefully cheered is just not right. Azam is an idiot at times and he will doubtless be banned. I am a Kingsholm STH and I am not condoning what Azam did, nor would I condone any act of foul play. I was disgusted by the behaviour of Dowson towards Gopperth, but interestingly that is deemed resonable behaviour on a rugby field. Perhaps because he is an England player - who knows? Mark Cueto is a player I have a lot of respect for, yet I have not seen images so shocking as those involving him recently. In fairness he has been given a jolly good slap on the wrist. I just wonder if a non EPS player would have been treated similarly?
But I'd say the characterisation of Azam as an incarnation of Beelzebub is a bit harsh, albeit understandable - he certainly has previous for 'crossing the line'.
All forwards know that Zed is susceptible to provocation and they often try to get him carded. And quite often it works - to Gloucester's cost. For all that he's a fine player and, like many others, a complete gentleman off the field.
And I have to set the record straight about Andy Hazell. Absolutely NOT a dirty player. Like any good openside should do, he will test the referee's limits at the breakdown, and if he misjudges it he risks a yellow card. That's his job and he's very, very good at it.
But for foul play his record is probably no worse than the most angelic of Sarries' pure-hearted forwards.
Here's hoping for a terrific game this weekend.
The foul play claim was admittedly based on only one incident - I think a while back now - when he deliberately stamped on an exposed and vulnerable leg nowhere near the ball at a ruck - for which he was only binned.
Hopefully he's eradicated that side of his play.
I too cannot wait for this game...
Quote:farmer geddon
Will be watching the game at Watford with both eyes open, all the best.
I hope that the glare didn't hurt too much.
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