Parma Hammered

Yes, OK, that was a terrible pun. I'm not proud.

Despite the cold and wet, just over 3,300 hardy supporters turned out to see Saracens thrash G.R.A.N. Parma in their Pool 2 match of the European Challenge Cup.

Sarrie the Camel was in festive mood, dolled up with tinsel and a Santa hat atop his fez [left].

And the team were having fun too - they ran in 11 tries, the final score being 71-16 to the home side. Great to see Richard Hill back on the park, fit again, and scoring. We missed him!

Next weekend sees the return fixture in the series. I would assume that Parma won't lay down quite as quickly on home turf, but hopefully we will see a few more scenes like this:

[Kameli Ratuvou shows the Parma defence a clean pair of heels as he heads for an intercept try, Sarries 11th of the game last Sunday.] See more of my photos from this game at the usual place.

The other great news from the last week is that Glen Jackson has signed an extenion with Sarries until the end of the 2009/10 season. The way he's scoring points at the minute, that's fabulous news!