WELCOME BACK
By Behind the Bench
November 2 2016
The road to the Stoop starts here. With no title sponsor, the LV= Cup which Saracens held aloft at Franklin Gardens in March 2015 has another identity, as the Anglo Welsh Cup is its latest disguise. For all of its decline in importance, eclipsed by the growing profile of Europe and the introduction of the Premiership Grand Final, seeing it lose the Twickenham final, there are few at Saracens who would disagree with its value as a development tournament, which has been emphasised further this season by the "new heroes" tag attached to it.
Looking back to that Spring Sunday, Saracens had dovetailed the competition superbly with an equally successful A League campaign, in which Maro Itoje really came to prominence as captain of the side and began his meteoric rise to club and international honours, meeting the aims of the tournament perfectly. Admittedly, looking at the matchday 23, not everyone kicked on, but, although he is still not a regular starter, the nerveless late penalty to win the game by Ben Spencer showed he was ready for the Premiership and Europe when called on. Ben Ransom was at full back that day, with Mike Ellery on the right wing (another player who used the competition to create a strong foundation) and David Strettle on the left, outside a centre pairing of Marcelo Bosch and Tim Streather. Nils Mordt was at fly half alongside Spencer, and the front row featured Richard Barrington, Jared Saunders (who has impressed on his Premiership appearances) and Juan Figallo with Itoje and Hayden Smith as the lock combination. The back row comprised of Nick de Jager, Matt Hankin and Ernst Joubert, the first of whom left for the Blue Bulls at the end of the season, the second whose progress has been hampered by injury and the last retired. On the bench were Scott Spurling, Titi Lamositele, Biyi Alo (now with Worcester), George Kruis, Kelly Brown, Tom Whiteley, Alex Goode and Catalin Fercu, now back in Romania with Timisoara Saracens.
However, if you look at it in terms of the club's development afterwards, it meant much more too. At that stage, Saracens had reached both finals at the end of the previous season, but lost both of them, most notoriously in the dying seconds to Northampton in the Premiership. Despite being tipped consistently for honours, the trophy cabinet stubbornly stayed with no company for the 2011 Premiership title but Spencer changed that, as the side held on in the face of an Exeter comeback and being reduced to 14 men, providing another example of how strong the spirit through the extended squad actually was. Equally, it showed a growing sense that someone would always step up, as Marcelo Bosch's long distance kick to win the European Quarter Final at Racing Metro would enter Saracens folklore just a few weeks later, and though European glory would have to wait for another season, the Premiership was duly taken that season. Although rotation of the squad has not been as prevalent lately, the big match experience meant that last season, with the exception of the Wasps game, there was no loss of cohesion when changes were made.
That was then, this is now. Gloucester have a decent record in the competition, winning it on 2011 at Northampton after losing the previous two finals. Notably, the Storm suffered a rare loss in A League, 22-19, in their opener at Kingsholm in September but beat Exeter's second string 27-17 in their second game at Allianz Park. Gloucester will perhaps have more options given the relative number of international call ups. Fittingly, they will be wearing a customised design of their home shirt, with poppies, for both this game, designated as Forces Day, and the match at Northampton Saints on the following Saturday. They could start with Mat Protheroe at full back, with David Halaifonua on the right wing and Tom Seabrook on the left outside a centre partnership of Henry Purdy and Mark Atkinson. Billy Burns could fill the fly half role with Willi Heinz at scrum half. Forwards-wise, a possible pack includes a front row of Cameron Orr, Motu Matu'u and Nicky Thomas, with Joe Latta and Tom Denton at lock and a back row of Lewis Ludlow, Matt Kvesic and Gareth Evans. For Saracens, squad changes will be a necessity rather than a luxury as international call ups combine with a larger number of injuries. Chris Wyles may start at full back, with Mike Ellery and George Perkins on the wings outside a centre partnership of Tim Streather and Nick Tompkins. Tom Whiteley could feature alongside Neil de Kock. In the pack, Richard Barrington, Jared Saunders and Titi Lamositele should start in the front row, with a lock duo of Mark Flanagan and Nick Isiekwe, and the back row comprised of Jack Nay, Kelly Brown and Samu Vunisa. (Long odds on me having called these line ups correctly)