All posts tagged: Saracens

Unstoppable Noah Caluori inspires record Saracens win – but they cannot spell his name right

Unstoppable Noah Caluori inspires record Saracens win – but they cannot spell his name right

Published by Sam Flores

Scrum half Charlie Bracken was also exceptional while centre Olly Hartley and No 8 Tom Willis provided a continual stream of go-forward. Again, there was very little resistance from Sale and this will bear a long and painful review. Sale’s season may already be at an end and they have a horrific injury list but the absence of fight and heart was inexcusable, particularly at a point when the club were launching their season-ticket drive. At the very minimum, the CorpAcq should be a horrible place to visit for the opposing teams; the rugby equivalent of your cold Tuesday night at Stoke City. The inquest will begin in earnest on Monday morning as Sanderson gathers his squad to address what exactly their motivation is and where it has disappeared to. “I thought I was pretty clear at the start of the week around some of the things that were motivating the group,” Sanderson said. “Now I have asked them to come in tomorrow and tell me what’s motivating them individually. Some of those collective motivational …

Bath overcome Saracens in thrilling encounter to book spot in Champions Cup quarter-finals

Bath overcome Saracens in thrilling encounter to book spot in Champions Cup quarter-finals

Published by Sam Flores

Bath starting XV: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer, 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Archie Griffin, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Alfie Barbeary. Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Bernard van der Linde, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Miles Reid. Saracens starting XV: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Tobias Elliott, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Charlie Bracken, 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Jamie George, 3 Marcus Street, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Theo McFarland, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 8 Tom Willis. Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Max Malins. Source link

Northampton Saints and Henry Pollock land late knockout blow on Saracens

Northampton Saints and Henry Pollock land late knockout blow on Saracens

Published by Sam Flores

Saints, who shifted George Furbank to fly-half in Smith’s absence, were struggling without their talisman, while Tommy Freeman was uncharacteristically quiet. They had Pollock to thank for preventing a third for the hosts, as Hugh Tizard, who reassembled something of a circus act as he juggled the ball over the whitewash, was ambushed by a mop of blonde hair. Saints endured further misfortune when Trevor Davidson, who was on as a replacement, limped off injured, but their heads refused to dip. They mounted a head of steam and JJ Van der Mescht was somehow held up deep in the corner and, even after Farrell’s penalty, they had enough nous to get over the finish line after Litchfield – the man who started the show – broke through to set up McParland at the death, and spark Pollock’s celebrations. Match details Scoring sequence 0-5 Litchfield try, 0-7 Smith con, 0-12 McParland try, 0-14 Smith con, 5-14 Elliot try, 7-14 Farrell con, 12-14 Dan try, 14-14 Farrell con, 17-14 Farrell pen, 17-19 McParland try, 17-21 Hutchinson con. …

Saracens director of rugby McCall to leave at end of season

Saracens director of rugby McCall to leave at end of season

Published by Sam Flores

Jan 23 : Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall will stand down at the end of the season and bring an end to a fruitful 15-year spell in charge, the Premiership club said on Friday. McCall took on the role during the 2010-11 season and led Saracens to six Premiership titles and three European Champions Cups during his tenure. “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved at Saracens and grateful for the opportunity to have led the rugby programme for so long,” McCall said in a statement. “I feel the time is right for change, while still remaining deeply involved in the club I care so much about. I’m really looking forward to supporting Brendan and contributing in a way that helps Saracens continue to move forward.” Saracens added that McCall will be replaced by former Springbok centre Brendan Venter. Venter was the north London club’s Director of Rugby before McCall and played a role in recruiting him. “My association with Saracens has been continuous for more than seventeen years,” said Venter, who has worked …

Beware Scotland in the Six Nations after Glasgow Warriors hammer Saracens

Beware Scotland in the Six Nations after Glasgow Warriors hammer Saracens

Published by Sam Flores

And although Saracens were able to secure more possession and territory in the second half, their attack lacked the precision necessary to convert pressure into points, with Segun Rotimi one of the few to cause Glasgow problems in defence. The hosts, with dominance in the maul, breakdown and scrum, were able to soak it all up – even when they lost Kyle Rowe to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Segun – before landing the killer blow with the final play. Saracens were not lacking effort or spirit – Maro Itoje led the charge, so too Ben Earl – but their attacking ambitions were not connected and their discipline was poor. “We obviously started the game slowly,” said Mark McCall, Saracens’ director of rugby. “It was 7-3 after 24 minutes, but it didn’t feel that way. I felt that they were the team on the front foot, we were the team on the back foot. We had a hill to climb in the second half and I thought our effort and our fight in …

Leicester’s all-English back line smash sorry Saracens

Leicester’s all-English back line smash sorry Saracens

Published by Sam Flores

The visitors improved in the second half, crossing three times, but Radwan’s interception took the game away from Saracens. Searle’s penalty, before his late sin-binning, put the result beyond doubt before a final Saracens flourish. Match details Scoring sequence: 5-0 Steward try, 7-0 Searle con, 12-0 Cracknell try, 14-0 Searle con, 14-5 McFarland try, 14-7 Burke con, 19-7 Radwan try, 24-7 Heyes try, 26-7 Searle con, 26-12 Carre try, 26-14 Burke con, 29-14 Searle pen, 34-14 Radwan try, 36-14 Searle con, 36-19 Gonzalez try, 36-21 Burke con, 36-26 Bracken try, 36-28 Burke con.  Leicester Tigers: Steward (Pearson 68); Radwan, Wand (Hamer-Webb 60), Bailey, Hassell-Collins; Searle, Van Poortvliet (Allan 75); Smith (Haffar 62), Blamire (Clare 62), Heyes (Hurd 66), Henderson, Chessum, Thompson (Moro 66), Williams, Cracknell (Ilione 41).  Sin-bin: Searle.  Saracens: Daly; Segun, Cinti Luna (Lozowski 66), Tompkins, Malins; Burke, Van Zyl (C Bracken 64); Carre (Mawi 52), George (Dan 30), Riccioni (Street 52), Isiekwe (Itoje 30), Tizard (Gonzalez 52), McFarland, Earl (Christie 60), Willis.  Sin-bin: Daly. Referee: Matthew Carley. Source link