Sarries Go Shopping?

As previously mentioned, I'm a bit mobility-challenged at the moment, and so wasn't able to attend Saracens' fantastic win over Leicester Tigers at the weekend. Looks like I missed a cracker, which was 11-all at half time, but Saracens piled on the pressure in the second half, and finished 26-19 winners. Old boy Kris Chesney [left] and new blood Adam Powell [right] scored one try apiece after the break.

After five games, the win takes Sarries up to the heady heights of second in the Guinness Premiership table [see below]. Even after their success last season, they never got that high! Let's hope the guys can keep up the momentum.

I notice that Bath are doing rather well too, considering their woeful form at the back end of last season. And from the table above, Leicester and Wasps are obviously struggling to retain some form with a large contingent of their players away on World Cup duty.

Talking of that, it looks like Eddie Jones might have persuaded young Takudzwa Ngwenya to come to Sarries for a month's trial, hot on the heels of his World Cup performance. I can't believe the way he outstripped Bryan Habana for a fantastic try when the USA played the Springboks.

[Ngwenya lines up Simon Shaw for a tackle in the England vs USA match]

The lad's obviously not scared of putting in big hits in defence, either, as the photo above shows - the next frame showed Simon Shaw in a heep with Ngwenya buried underneath!

I've not kept tabs on Saracens transfer list very well this season - there have been a few changes, but nothing link the revolving door of a few seasons ago. Here's a roundup:

Out: Simon Raiwalui (Racing Metro), Ben Russell (Racing Metro), Ben Broster (Llanelli Scarlets), Thomas Castaignede [right] (retired), Shane Byrne (released), Tevita Vaikona (released), Ben Johnston (Brive), Tomas de Vedia (London Irish).

In: Chris Jack [left] (Canterbury Crusaders), Matias Aguero (Viadana), Gordon Ross (Castres), Edd Thrower (Wasps)

I'm particularly going to miss the mercurial M. Castaignede, who was always a joy to watch when he was fit and in form. I've enjoyed his commentary stints for ITV's World Cup coverage too, so perhaps we'll see Thomas the pundit more in the future. But I'm also looking forward to seeing the new signings in action, particularly the towering 6'8" of Chris Jack in the lineout!

I'm hoping to be at the Bristol game on 4th November, when all the World Cup matches will be done and dusted, and we shall have been put out of our misery, knowing whether or not England pulled off the seemingly impossible! Still pinching myself that we're in the final, frankly!

Wasps Get Stung

Richard Hill scored on his first Saracens game back from injury, in last night's EDF Cup match against Wasps. It was apparently very wet, but Saracens won 26-15. And althought neither team could progress out of their group, it was still quite a good game, by all accounts. Thomas Castaignede was at Fly Half and got 16 poinst with the boot.

I didn't attend that match, but here's a photo [left] from the equivalent fixture last season, at Adams Park. On that occasion, Wasps ran out winners with 42-8. Now Saracens have to keep up their momentum for the next European Cup match, against GRAN Parma, on 10th December. I shall be attending that one, so will post some photos when I can.

Meanwhile, the debate over Robbo and his successor still rages. Johnno says he's not keen on coaching right now. Mike Catt suggests Dean Richards would be a great choice. Calls have come for RFU Chief Exec Francis Baron's head, but he's having none of it. And the dirty laundry is beginning to be aired - former England defence coach Phil Larder tells us what he thinks of Andy Robinson's decicion making.

Finally, tomorrow sees the last game of the Sprinboks' autumn tour, against a World XV at Welford Road. Saracens provide four international players for the World XV - Cobus Visagie (South Africa), Fabio Ongaro (Italy), Thomas Castaignede (France) and Andy Farrell (Great Britain RL). Their captain is Lawrence Dallaglio. Let's see how Faz performs in such esteemed company!

Falling On His Sword

If England's Saturday defeat by the 'Boks wasn't bad enough, Saracens went and "did an England" on me on Sunday too - they threw away a perfectly good 17-3 half-time lead, and lost to Worcester 20-17!

Admittedly, it was rather difficult going on a very soggy Watford pitch [see left, Glen Jackson kicks up a puddle as he takes a penalty]. But they really should have held their composure and not rolled over and capitulated in the manner that they did. All credit to Worcester, who finally notched up a win in their 9th game of the season. You can see more pictures from the game at rubypix.com

And so finally this week, Andy Robinson has done the decent thing and resigned. I'm sure he's a very nice bloke, but he seemed to be out of his depth as coach, and I'm afraid England's results under his tenure do nothing to dispel this observation. Corry's captaincy looks unlikely to run into the Six Nations, either. And we're in trouble with regards quality Centres and Fly Halves.

Interestingly, Saracens' French back Thomas Castaignede thinks Farrell could be the next Will Greenwood. It was good to see Thomas playing for Sarries again [see right] on Sunday, after his spell out with injury and Interntational duty. Another welcome comeback will be that of Richard Hill, who is now fully fit and selected for Saracens team against Wasps tomorrow, after his 2005 Lions injury nightmare.

Fijians Get Feisty

Five Fijian Internationals are in hot water for getting bladdered after a game and fighting with each other. Tut tut.


Thankfully, Sarries' two Fijian boys, Simon Raiwalui and Mosese Rauluni, were not involved. Here you can see Simon warming up with the other Saracens players before their game against Worcester Warriors in May 2005 (he's the big bloke in the front row with Kevin Yates, Thomas Castaignede, and Matt Cairns.

That End Of Term Feeling

Sarries had a good first half hour of their game against London Irish, but then seem to go into meltdown mode - Irish scored several easy interception tries, but Sarries should have been awareded a Penalty Try by the ref after Thomas Castaignède was brought down off the ball chasing his own chip-ahead kick to the line. In the end, Irish finished up 30-18 and are now heading to the Guinness Premiership semifinal playoff against the Tigers.

Several noteable milestones at this game - Bob Casey captained the team on his 101st appearance; Kieron Dawson lead them out of the tunnel for his 200th and last game. And Saracens' Kyran Bracken played his last competitive game for the club he's served for so long. When he finally came off the field, substituted in the second half, he got a well-deserved standing ovation from all the crowd - a lovely gesture on the part of the Irish supporters, who probably rue the fact that the Dublin-born Bracken won his 51 International caps for England, not Ireland!

I decided to let the SSA bus take the strain, and caught it from Sarries' old ground at Bramley Road, to Reading. This meant quite a lengthy drive, first in the car then on the bus. So I took May's Rugby World and my iPod with me for entertainment.

What did I listen to on the journey? Quite a varied playlist, including the hauntingly beautiful Takk by Sigur Rós; the ever-brilliant Paul Mounsey's second album, Nahoo Too; In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson; Hopes & Fears by Keane (really looking forward to their new album in June) plus a bit of a blast from the past in the form of a playlist mix by ELO. An eclectic bunch really.

Sassenachs Surrender

Not a proud day to be English, I'm sad to say.

I watched the England vs Scotland game on the telly, with some trepidation, and my worst fears were confirmed - the Scots desereved to win, and well done to them for such a great defensive performance. No tries, but enough penalties and a drop goal to win the day.

England just couldn't seem to finish off when it mattered. I thought we were in big trouble when Danny Grewcock got himself sent to the bin for 10 minutes, but was mildly surprised that we didn't conceed any points during that spell.

Hey ho, at least that means the rest of the 6 Nations is now wide open. France put in a typically erratic performance in their game against Italy, the only highlight of which was Thomas Castaignede, who seemed to be back at his best after injury. Just hope he can play that well when he next pulls on the Saracens jersey!

I'm off to see the Men in Black against Bristol tomorrow, and I think we will be missing the likes of TC a great deal. I just hope we can pull oursevles up by the bootstraps and win the match. Watch this space...