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Thank you for the write up. I found it very interesting just how strong a team Sale have named for their PRC game against Bath, very few up and coming youngsters in their 23! I do wonder given how little rugby there is before the Prem starts at the end of September whether Sarries might also surprise with a few big names.

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ComeOnSarries
Thank you for the write up. I found it very interesting just how strong a team Sale have named for their PRC game against Bath, very few up and coming youngsters in their 23! I do wonder given how little rugby there is before the Prem starts at the end of September whether Sarries might also surprise with a few big names.

I wouldn't be surprised if we did see a couple of bigger names. I do hope we stick with using the cup as a development comp however. Thats why I picked a team I would want to see, more than expect to see, as frankly I have no real idea who we will go with!

From what i can see Sale havent played any pre-season games and have another Prem Cup game next week. We still have another 2 friendly fixtures before the league kicks off to give players some minutes, so are in a slightly different place.

Will be very interesting to see how we go about this. Davidson played for Ampthill last week so presumably fit, Keylock might be injured given that he didn’t play at all.
Ve’anaku (?) and Hall would be an interesting centre pairing.
Not sure whether Theo’s apprentice is ahead of Kennedy Sylvester in the second row rankings?
Certainly hoping to see more of big Tayo who looked really promising last term.
Pater will be a massive threat if playing, he broke our hearts with two outstanding conversions in the away game last year when we had it in bag.

Good preview and welcome Nick.

I like the look of your selected squad a lot but even with a view to it being a development competition I think you need a bit of experience in there and realistically you definitely need a little more leadership.
I'm also not sure when the Internationals start to become available.

I'd be tempted to go with a mix of your team and the one that played the first friendly. Start both Brackens and the Hartley/Hall combo with Davidson if that's possible. If not put Farrell at 10 and see what he can get out of the young players.
Give Rawlings another go on the wing. Stick Daly at FullBack.

That front row would be good to see. I'm a little unsure what Beatons situation is currently.
I definitely wouldn't have Nairau on the bench though. He was blowing hard after about 20 starting and subbed not long after. Too big a risk as a bench player.
Stick one of Tizard/Isiekwe with Sodeke and give Barbeary another run at 8 as he's apparently a player a bit like Billy who doesn't like to train but needs playing time to keep him fit.

The one thing that Saints have had that we lack is a clear gameplan that all the players buy into and seem equally adept in performing whether that's senior squad, wider or Academy.
I suspect that will be the biggest difference. It should still be a good game and it's great to have them back.

Sarrov the Sale selection is interesting. They've gone really strong including Lozo at 10.
I expect it's a number of things not least wanting to get off with a bang at home after a poor last season. Also with a number of new players in important positions getting them actual game time will be important. Ofc if Bath kids do a number on them it will all look a bit different.

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PaulHerox
Good preview and welcome Nick.
I like the look of your selected squad a lot but even with a view to it being a development competition I think you need a bit of experience in there and realistically you definitely need a little more leadership.
I'm also not sure when the Internationals start to become available.

I'd be tempted to go with a mix of your team and the one that played the first friendly. Start both Brackens and the Hartley/Hall combo with Davidson if that's possible. If not put Farrell at 10 and see what he can get out of the young players.
Give Rawlings another go on the wing. Stick Daly at FullBack.

That front row would be good to see. I'm a little unsure what Beatons situation is currently.
I definitely wouldn't have Nairau on the bench though. He was blowing hard after about 20 starting and subbed not long after. Too big a risk as a bench player.
Stick one of Tizard/Isiekwe with Sodeke and give Barbeary another run at 8 as he's apparently a player a bit like Billy who doesn't like to train but needs playing time to keep him fit.

The one thing that Saints have had that we lack is a clear gameplan that all the players buy into and seem equally adept in performing whether that's senior squad, wider or Academy.
I suspect that will be the biggest difference. It should still be a good game and it's great to have them back.

I can get on board with adding some experience but I dont want any fully fit 1st teamers anywhere near the Prem Cup team personally.

For me that means certainly no Bracken, Hartley or Barbeary. We have seen how quickly injuries can mount and we need players generally playing less minutes. I also wouldn't risk Faz as we only have 2 senior 10s.

RE Nairau - I dont think he was subbed due to being blown out. We had 3 front rows to get through and they all played 25 to 30mins each.

We have 2 further friendly games to get minutes in legs and should be using this competition for player development imo

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PaulHerox
Sarrov the Sale selection is interesting. They've gone really strong including Lozo at 10.
I expect it's a number of things not least wanting to get off with a bang at home after a poor last season. Also with a number of new players in important positions getting them actual game time will be important. Ofc if Bath kids do a number on them it will all look a bit different.

Smacks a bit of panic from Sanderson to me. He knows he is under pressure and needs results. Apart from the internationals, who i dont think he can pick yet, that looks like a 1st XV to me.

As you say, a loss wouldn't look too clever

It looks like a lot of the main squad have gone out to Seville for Andy Christie’s wedding this weekend, so may be surprised to see many of them
The predicted team on the preview may be quite accurate

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Sarrov

Quote:

PaulHerox
Sarrov the Sale selection is interesting. They've gone really strong including Lozo at 10.
I expect it's a number of things not least wanting to get off with a bang at home after a poor last season. Also with a number of new players in important positions getting them actual game time will be important. Ofc if Bath kids do a number on them it will all look a bit different.

Smacks a bit of panic from Sanderson to me. He knows he is under pressure and needs results. Apart from the internationals, who i dont think he can pick yet, that looks like a 1st XV to me.

As you say, a loss wouldn't look too clever

Being lazy here - do we know why Sale have not had any pre-season games?

At a guess and looking at their team selection because they're going to use the next two PRC games as their pre-season ones.

Same thing we've done a few times in recent years, with mixed success...

Is the game really sold out as it suggests on the ticket website?

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Chris Hoddle
Is the game really sold out as it suggests on the ticket website?

No, tickets on the website are for unreserved seating

All tickets including season tickets are for unreserved seating - because of athletics there is no North or South stand at the moment …

SARACENS MEN TO PLAY NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

1 Phil Brantingham

2 Eoghan Clarke

3 Marcus Street

4 Olamide Sodeke

5 Hugh Tizard

6 Nick Isiekwe

7 Nathan Michelow

8 Alfie Barbeary*

9 Charlie Bracken

10 Max Malins (c)

11 Rotimi Segun

12 Olly Hartley

13 Angus Hall

14 Tobias Elliott

15 Jack Bracken

REPLACEMENTS

16 James Hadfield

17 Alex O'Driscoll

18 Corne Weilbach*

19 Totoa Auvaa*

20 Toby Knight

21 Tom James*

22 Finn Keylock

23 Sione Va'enuku*

Saints team

15 James Pater
14 Thomas Rowe
13 Will Catley* – Saint #2135
12 Toby Thame
11 James Martin
10 Hugh Shields – Saint #2134
9 Jonny Weimann

1 Oliver Scola
2 Robbie Smith
3 Ion Neculai – Saint #2132
4 Tom Lockett
5 Chunya Munga (c)
6 Archie Benson
7 Josh Taylor – Saint #2133
8 Charlie Ulcoq

Replacements:
16 Henry Walker
17 Lefty Zigiriadis – Saints debut
18 Sonny Tonga’uiha
19 James Bennett
20 Callum Chick
21 Fergus Mainey** – Saints debut
22 Sonny Goode – Saints debut
23 Freddie St John

Looks like we have put out just about the strongest side available.

Seems like they want Max to be a genuine option at 10 which I like as it opens up bench options.

Playing Street seems like madness to me. He is probably our most important player with the lack of depth in that position.

I'd never take any Saints team lightly but anything other than a confident win would be a terrible result given the difference in sides picked. I don't think Saints XV has a single player you'd normally see in their full strength 23 and only a 3 who make it to the bench or start in a rotated team.
We definitely need to be comfortably in the lead when the bench comes on as Saints and Pater showed last time how quickly they can reign the score in once space opens up and inexperienced players are on.

With that said I really like the continuity of selection.
Pretty close to the starting team v Pirates. That game was pretty scrappy and I wonder if Knight has paid the price for some poor discipline when it was given by Venter as one of the key things we're going after in the Pirates away video earlier in the week.
We didn't really see much of the centre axis which is one with great potential and as mentioned by others we kicked away quite a bit of ball but maybe weather influenced. Seeing more of the former and less of the later would be really good.
Will be interesting to see where Keylock comes on if he does.

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Sarrov
Playing Street seems like madness to me. He is probably our most important player with the lack of depth in that position.

Agree 100%. Absolutely bonkers. I feel a little similar though not as strongly about Segun. He's been able to stay uninjured for a while but he still feels like a player who we should maybe not be exposing to B games. Normal caveat that the coaches see and know more than us but yes, Street feels like a big risk.

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Sarrov
Seems like they want Max to be a genuine option at 10 which I like as it opens up bench options.

If this is the start of his transition to Goodey style starter FullBack and 10 cover then fantastic.
I suspect it is at best to make it easier justify his utility from the bench.

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PaulHerox
I'd never take any Saints team lightly but anything other than a confident win would be a terrible result given the difference in sides picked.

100% agree. It actually makes me more nervous for the game!

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PaulHerox
If this is the start of his transition to Goodey style starter FullBack and 10 cover then fantastic.
I suspect it is at best to make it easier justify his utility from the bench.

You may well be right, but I certainly hope not. The consistency in the backline selection gives me hope that they are trying to get some continuity ahead of the Tigers game. Drop in Burke (maybe also Tompkins) and push Malins to 15 and that looks pretty handy to me.

With Max as 10 cover we can then have Jack Bracken and Hall/Tompkins on the bench to provide some genuine menace against tiring legs. Would be good to see some dynamism coming on later in games and us starting to make use of our back 3 options.

I love the look of the entire team. It's strong enough to compete in the league and can only be improved by our star players.

I love Michelow at 7 rather than 8; and it’s great to see Nick at 6 too. There are other people who played really well last week who are not in the squad. It looks like we really are building strength in depth, hopefully at 3 as well 🤞

BV has a reason for starting Street, we just don't know what it is.