Saracens V Connacht 18th January 13.35

ummm, wrote: Ze team:

15. Gavin Duffy
14. Fionn Carr
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Eoin Griffin
11. Matt Healy
10. Dan Parks
9. Kieran Marmion

1. Brett Wilkinson
2. Sean Henry
3. Nathan White
4. Michael Swift
5. Craig Clarke (captain)
6. Andrew Browne
7. Jake Heenan
8. John Muldoon

Replacements:

16. Jason Harris-Wright
17. Denis Buckley
18. Rodney Ah You
19. Mick Kearney
20. George Naoupu
21. Paul O’Donohoe
22. Darragh Leader
23. Tiernan O’Halloran

Unavailable/Injured: Eoin McKeon, Dave Nolan, Willie Faloon, Dave
McSharry, Danie Poolman, Miah Nikora, and Kyle Tonetti.

WTF?! No 10 cover, apart from Darragh Leader. Nuts. Apart from that I'd be happy enough.

10 man rugby from the looks of it. No fear of Parks getting injured cos he won't put his body on the line. Hasn't all season

Any chance this is mind games from Lam? Maybe I'm clutching at straws here, but one assumes Carty and/or Ronaldson have travelled. Could one be added to the bench in the event of a 'late injury'?

fatgav wrote: Any chance this is mind games from Lam? Maybe I'm clutching at straws here, but one assumes Carty and/or Ronaldson have travelled. Could one be added to the bench in the event of a 'late injury'?

We can only hope!

Hope So

Edit : sorry Ronan you were faster for few seconds

Saracens team to face Connacht;

15. Alex Goode; 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Duncan Taylor, 12. Brad Barritt, 11. David Strettle; 10. Charlie Hodgson, 9. Richard Wigglesworth;

1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Schalk Brits 3. Matt Stevens, 4. Steve Borthwick (capt), 5. George Kruis, 6. Billy Vunipola, 7. Kelly Brown, 8. Ernst Joubert.

Replacements

16. Jamie George, 17. Richard Barrington, 18. James Johnston, 19. Alistair Hargreaves, 20. Jackson Wray, 21. Neil de Kock, 22. Owen Farrell, 23. Chris Wyles

Gulp!!

The Sarries back row doesn't fill me with fear, to be honest. Their pack however, does, but I imagine with Hodgson, they'll be looking to move the ball around a bit more than they would with Farrell, who for my money is a poor man's ROG.

Billy V is a great ball carrier with real pace, Kruis and Borthwick solid lineout options and Brown is a good scavenger.

I think Sarries (or The Borg as they're also known, due to their style of play) will win, but we're in with a shout. Absolutely mystified by no back up 10.


Getting THE FEAR now. 'Hon Connacht!

there must be something sneaky planned here with no backup 10.

As for their team, the exclusion of Farrell really is mystifying, I always thought Hodgson was a poor distributor of the ball and an average kicker.

To be honest, I kinda expected Parks to start for a game plan that has a chance to beat Sarries, but no real back up to change things up if Parks isn't firing is bizarre.

The rest of the team looks good. Nice bulky pack to match them up there.

Still... getting a bit anxious now

I'm extremely jealous at the moment. I should be sipping on a pint in the airport. Damn you Christmas. You took all my money

ConnachtCows wrote: I'm extremely jealous at the moment. I should be sipping on a pint in the airport. Damn you Christmas. You took all my money

You had your chance - stay with me and get pissed up for cheap, but no you had to go and blow all your cash on sweets and chocolate over Christmas

fatgav wrote: Any chance this is mind games from Lam? Maybe I'm clutching at straws here, but one assumes Carty and/or Ronaldson have travelled. Could one be added to the bench in the event of a 'late injury'?

Thought the same but if so then it has to be Parks that gets pulled? Putting Carty or Ronaldson on the bench isn't going to be a game changer. Leader obviously filled in at 10 against Toulouse but I can't believe Lam fancies him ahead of either Carty or Ronaldson on that display.

Crazy crazy backs, both starting and bench

One thing we know about lam is he is full off game plans

Have to say I'm disappointed with the line up. I REALLY hope I'm proved wrong and the likes of Parks and Duffy have a huge game, but on form and looking at it so far this year that's unlikely. Having no cover for 10 is tantamount to insanity! I doubt there will be an 'injury' tomorrow, more than likely thats the squad we have tomorrow. Huge ask of young Daragh Leader to potentially play 10 in a game of this magnitude. Jack Carty does not deserve to be dropped either. After that the pack is ok, Swifty/Browne/Muldoon will wallop anything that moves. the backline is very MEH for me. Griff is out of position , but has performed admirably at 12 with McSharry out. Himself and Robbie will be used to playing well with each other at this stage.

Lam better have some tactical master plan up his sleeve, because that lineup does not inspire me with huge confidence. Looking at the Sarries line up, they are a good side and are rightly red hot favorites for this game. Having said that, i still wouldn't have fears for many of our guys tomorrow. Will be very interesting to see how the front row gets on, could be crucial in keeping us in the game and maybe even winning a penalty or two. Nathan White can hold his own against almost anyone Imo.

Looking forward to the game and i hope I'm wrong to be negative, but not having cover at 10 is lunacy.