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Saracens name strong XV to take on Bristol

14 Aug 2020

(Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Juan Pablo Socino will make his Saracens debut when Mark McCall’s side take on Bristol Bears this Saturday in their first Premiership rugby outing since March.

The Argentinian joined the automatically relegated Londoners this summer and forms a midfield with Dom Morris who scored last time out against Leicester Tigers.

Wing Alex Lewington crossed the whitewash twice in that game and is joined in the back three by Rotimi Segun and Sean Maitland. Club stalwarts Richard Wigglesworth and Alex Goode line-up at nine and 10 with near 550 Sarries appearances between them.

Former Scotland international Alex Grove guests in the latest episode of The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

Mike Rhodes is set for his first run out in starting jersey this season after making his sole outing as a replacement before lockdown.

Billy Vunipola and Jackson Wray take the other spots in the back row. ??Jamie George will captain the side from hooker alongside props Mako Vunipola and Vincent Koch, and Maro Itoje partners Callum Hunter-Hill in the second row.

Team's up! ?
? @J_George2 captains the side
? @MamutSocino set for his Sarries debut
? Five World Cup final starters
Full team news for Sarries trip to Bristol Bears ?? https://t.co/p8apEQ1MKc #TogetherSaracens pic.twitter.com/7aV3985AAJ
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) August 14, 2020

On the Premiership bench for Saracens are front row duo Eroni Mawi and Alec Clarey could make their club debuts as could scrum-half Aled Davies and centre Harry Sloan.

SARACENS (vs Bristol, Saturday)

15 Sean Maitland (73)

14 Alex Lewington (47)

13 Dom Morris (18)

12 Juan Pablo Socino (0)

11 Rotimi Segun (30)

10 Alex Goode (297)

9 Richard Wigglesworth (246)

1 Mako Vunipola (168)

2 Jamie George (226)

3 Vincent Koch (81)

4 Maro Itoje (119)

5 Callum Hunter-Hill (15)

6 Mike Rhodes (93)

7 Jackson Wray (245)

8 Billy Vunipola (110)

Replacements ??

16 Tom Woolstencroft (34)

17 Eroni Mawi (0)

18 Alec Clarey (0)

19 Joel Kpoku (30)

20 Sean Reffell (19)

21 Aled Davies (0)

22 Harry Sloan (0)

23 Elliott Obatoyinbo (10)

Rugby's back in England this weekend and it's going to be strange with no crowds… here's what former @Harlequins wing @timbovisser told RugbyPass earlier this summer about the experience of playing behind closed doors with no fans #rugby https://t.co/eJSbZsRx8u
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 14, 2020

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Comments on RugbyPass

YeowNotEven 26 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Would have been awesome to have a Bledisloe ANZAC game.

It would suck if they had it in Perth every year though. Gotta get it to Eden park.

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David Gomiez 28 minutes ago

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Spew_81 30 minutes ago

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Love should get some time at 10. He’s clearly got the ability to be a second playmaker, but primarily at 15. Some time at 10, even just standing at first receiver, will only help his playmaking skills. He set up two tries with good distribution.

He kicks goals well. He could be a second B Barrett. But keep his main position at 15.

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SG 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

England have absolutely no need for him. Tom Willis and Ben Earl are better with a much higher work rate.

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Thomas Walsh 1 hour ago

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0 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

No full games on the IRU YT channel unfortunately, all on subscription? Looks a fairly good level (1A).

Yes I mean I wouldn’t really know the local ratio of origin here, but certainly as a province with less resources mine has a ratio that veers heavily towards club rep. The club stories are often the best so get probably an imbalanced proportion of coverage to where most players actually come from though.

Those were a couple of Ulster (regional) clubs too, good good. Those clubs/size towns are very much where you find most talent coming from (compared to the big city), so your productivity depends very much on your systems in place for scouting talent. With the more wealthy and popular sport of NRL (hence more info out there) I’ve seen some interesting studies on player origins in this respect, which I think would be a very balanced base of data to draw conclusions from.

Yes I’m wondering how those names as examples compare to the likes of Bryne getting squeezed out for a lack of places. I’m only thinking of effects far down the line as a result of Irelands #1 ranking and increased publicity/interest and how Irelands system will take advantage of them.

47 Go to comments

GP 1 hour ago

James O'Connor earns first Crusaders start against Moana Pasifika

Regarding the Crusaders side . Great to see promising young lock Jamie Hannah back in the starting team. He has certainly been through the mill since debuting for the Crusaders, even before playing for Canterbury. All his hard work has paid off. Antonio Shalfoon , who has been rested for this match has been amazing locking with AB captain Scott Barrett. I really rate Jamie Hannah as one of the best young locks of which there are a few coming through. Including his Canterbury and Crusaders team mate Liam Jack. Father is Graham Jack ,he played for Canterbury and the Crusaders in the 1990’s. Older brother of Chris, who of course was an All Black.

4 Go to comments

Andrew Nichols 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Gloucester are in the market for a top-class replacement ..Well why would they then be talking to HS?

7 Go to comments

Utiku Old Boy 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

I include Cunningham-South. He was born in England but moved to NZ at 4 yrs and learnt his rugby there. His dad was a schoolboy coach. In recent years, Teimana Harrison was - as was Brad Shields.

7 Go to comments

GB 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Cunningham-South was born in the UK but raised in NZ.

Makes a good point, wouldn't walk into the English set up.

Better to roll his sleeves up and play himself into the ABs

7 Go to comments

Spew_81 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Not sure what the ethical issue is. If it’s going for the money, it’s either do that or NZ rugby slowly dies as all the better players leave. So it’s the more lesser of two evils. Sell out a bit more as a Union, or the players sell out one by one.

42 Go to comments

Spew_81 1 hour ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes, the team was similar. But the two locks made a huge difference. Kaino wasn’t a lock and Tuipolutu has only very recently started playing close to his potential (his work rate was terrible until recently).

The Irish lineout maul wouldn’t have been the weapon it was on that day if Hansen started Whitelock and Retallick (or even two proper locks). Though they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

Doing the new haka when the Irish were mourning a great of theirs didn’t help. The action at the end of that haka has been interpreted negatively and some see it as a but disrespectful.

Still if the All Blacks did their normal haka they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

42 Go to comments

Koro Teeps 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Absolutely no certainty he would make the current English squad. He’s not in the All Black conversation either. Physical, explosive player with ball in hand but sometimes struggles to impose himself fully on all aspects of the game.

7 Go to comments

DC 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Who are the Kiwis (plural)? The only one I can think of is Ethan Root.

7 Go to comments

Gradier Walter 3 hours ago

Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders