Saracens v Bristol Bears Preview

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Excellent and thoughtful preview
I'll be on the Scilly Isles but hoping for good news on the BBC app!

Good preview and let's hope for a performance we can all get behind in a positive way this weekend.

Excellent preview.

Had a good chuckle at this:

“ Saracens managed to perform a miracle last Sunday, they got everyone on this message board to agree!”

Let’s hope we all never agree again!

Agree with you highlighting Oghre and Harding, both have been excellent over the ball so our rucking will need to seriously improve.

Bears Beyond the Gate podcast feeling confident and with some interesting little interviews with players and Pat Lam.

Can't call this weekend at all. Hopefully we see a reaction from the players and a game plan with a vague hope of success from the coaches.

I’m hoping a it will light a rocket up their @#$%& but after recent seasons we are the cliche of never knowing what Sarries will turn up. Bristol really efficiently blunted Saints attack so it’s hard to see ours winning the match. I hope I’m wrong but I could see us starting to take any easy 3 points when on offer- if we’d scored 12 points off pens from the constant Sale infringing in the first half we may well have pinched it.

Anyway, I’d like to see something like the below but accepting there’s a lot of players with not many minutes so very unlikely:

Mawi
George
Street
Itoje
Martin
JMG
Earl
Barbeary
Williams
Burke
Jacken
Va’enuku/Tompkins
Hall
Caluori
Malins

Clarke (Hadfield injured?)
Clarey
Brantingham
Sodeke
Michelow
Bracken
Tompkins/Va’enuku
Segun

Hopefully George and Martin starting would get our attacking maul working. Segun done nothing majorly wrong but our high ball game wasn’t great, Bracken at least got a few off box kicks. 5/3 seems unlikely as always but Bristol are a better team to do against than most. JMG and Earl provide a bit more speed over the ground to try and negate Harding and Oghre getting over the ball. Hall to take over kicking duties.

It’s early doors but we can’t really afford to slip up at home again. Quins away next in the prem and we all know they’ll suddenly decide to turn up.

Quote:

PaulHerox
Bears Beyond the Gate podcast feeling confident and with some interesting little interviews with players and Pat Lam.
Can't call this weekend at all. Hopefully we see a reaction from the players and a game plan with a vague hope of success from the coaches.

They should be confident to be fair. They have had two good performances and we looked clueless on Sunday.

If we get the attitude right i think we have the opportunity to bully them upfront and through the centre.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:06:19:43:17 by Sarrov.

Quote:

TommyKentish
I’m hoping a it will light a rocket up their @#$%& but after recent seasons we are the cliche of never knowing what Sarries will turn up. Bristol really efficiently blunted Saints attack so it’s hard to see ours winning the match. I hope I’m wrong but I could see us starting to take any easy 3 points when on offer- if we’d scored 12 points off pens from the constant Sale infringing in the first half we may well have pinched it.
Anyway, I’d like to see something like the below but accepting there’s a lot of players with not many minutes so very unlikely:

Mawi
George
Street
Itoje
Martin
JMG
Earl
Barbeary
Williams
Burke
Jacken
Va’enuku/Tompkins
Hall
Caluori
Malins

Clarke (Hadfield injured?)
Clarey
Brantingham
Sodeke
Michelow
Bracken
Tompkins/Va’enuku
Segun

Hopefully George and Martin starting would get our attacking maul working. Segun done nothing majorly wrong but our high ball game wasn’t great, Bracken at least got a few off box kicks. 5/3 seems unlikely as always but Bristol are a better team to do against than most. JMG and Earl provide a bit more speed over the ground to try and negate Harding and Oghre getting over the ball. Hall to take over kicking duties.

It’s early doors but we can’t really afford to slip up at home again. Quins away next in the prem and we all know they’ll suddenly decide to turn up.

That would be pretty much my side except i would keep Sione and Nick with Hall on the bench.

As I may have mentioned before, not a huge fan of Nick at 12 and I think Charlie's try was an indication of what Sione can offer if we use him properly

Quote:

TommyKentish
I’m hoping a it will light a rocket up their @#$%& but after recent seasons we are the cliche of never knowing what Sarries will turn up. Bristol really efficiently blunted Saints attack so it’s hard to see ours winning the match. I hope I’m wrong but I could see us starting to take any easy 3 points when on offer- if we’d scored 12 points off pens from the constant Sale infringing in the first half we may well have pinched it.
Anyway, I’d like to see something like the below but accepting there’s a lot of players with not many minutes so very unlikely:

Mawi
George
Street
Itoje
Martin
JMG
Earl
Barbeary
Williams
Burke
Jacken
Va’enuku/Tompkins
Hall
Caluori
Malins

Clarke (Hadfield injured?)
Clarey
Brantingham
Sodeke
Michelow
Bracken
Tompkins/Va’enuku
Segun

Hopefully George and Martin starting would get our attacking maul working. Segun done nothing majorly wrong but our high ball game wasn’t great, Bracken at least got a few off box kicks. 5/3 seems unlikely as always but Bristol are a better team to do against than most. JMG and Earl provide a bit more speed over the ground to try and negate Harding and Oghre getting over the ball. Hall to take over kicking duties.

It’s early doors but we can’t really afford to slip up at home again. Quins away next in the prem and we all know they’ll suddenly decide to turn up.

This team makes a ton of sense. Might consider starting Sodeke, just to bully them upfront in the first half, then unleash JMG in the second, but apart from that this is spot on.

Could put Bracken at FB, so Noah and Roti could stay on the wings?

@Sarrov Yeah that’s fair, Tompkins has been one of our best players over the first two games so it be absurdly harsh to drop him. Also agree 13 is his position and on Va’enuku. The issue is Burke’s kicking and while I’m massively rooting for him to come good, it really has cost us. With Malins at 15 we also need someone who can kick for touch. Hall also has a huge ceiling so excited to see him at some point.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:06:19:52:33 by TommyKentish.

Quote:

jimfitz12

Quote:

TommyKentish
I’m hoping a it will light a rocket up their @#$%& but after recent seasons we are the cliche of never knowing what Sarries will turn up. Bristol really efficiently blunted Saints attack so it’s hard to see ours winning the match. I hope I’m wrong but I could see us starting to take any easy 3 points when on offer- if we’d scored 12 points off pens from the constant Sale infringing in the first half we may well have pinched it.
Anyway, I’d like to see something like the below but accepting there’s a lot of players with not many minutes so very unlikely:

Mawi
George
Street
Itoje
Martin
JMG
Earl
Barbeary
Williams
Burke
Jacken
Va’enuku/Tompkins
Hall
Caluori
Malins

Clarke (Hadfield injured?)
Clarey
Brantingham
Sodeke
Michelow
Bracken
Tompkins/Va’enuku
Segun

Hopefully George and Martin starting would get our attacking maul working. Segun done nothing majorly wrong but our high ball game wasn’t great, Bracken at least got a few off box kicks. 5/3 seems unlikely as always but Bristol are a better team to do against than most. JMG and Earl provide a bit more speed over the ground to try and negate Harding and Oghre getting over the ball. Hall to take over kicking duties.

It’s early doors but we can’t really afford to slip up at home again. Quins away next in the prem and we all know they’ll suddenly decide to turn up.

This team makes a ton of sense. Might consider starting Sodeke, just to bully them upfront in the first half, then unleash JMG in the second, but apart from that this is spot on.

Could put Bracken at FB, so Noah and Roti could stay on the wings?

Yeah good shout on Bracken, if we’re not going to use a playmaking 15 may as well go all out gas.

I like Sodeke off the bench personally, really good impact v Tigers but would be very happy if he started too.

This is the normally the bit of the week I am most excited about but honestly if the game plan is as rubbish as last week will it matter who we pick? If fit fully expecting Farrell at 10.

I’d love to know what extent it was@#$%&gameplan vs@#$%&execution. Or if it was the old adage of everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

I'm looking for more leadership. That leads me to looking at George and Farrell. Supposing either is fit it could work for a game or two, but it is hardly the future. Same with Daly, but I think it could be a while before we see him again.

While I don’t disagree, these guys are not the future, there needs to be leadership coming from elsewhere in the squad.

Quote:

TommyKentish
While I don’t disagree, these guys are not the future, there needs to be leadership coming from elsewhere in the squad.

Agreed.

Earl, Williams, Tompkins, Malins etc are all experienced international players. They need to be stepping up more imo

Saracens managed to perform a miracle last Sunday, they got everyone on this message board to agree!

What a brilliant first line!

Anthony Woodthorpe the ref for Saturday
Did both of our games against Saints last year, although we lost both I thought he had decent games

Jesus a penny for Paul Herox thoughts right now.

Wow 12 changes, there’s the rotation
Meltdown on here incoming…

Seems Bristol have also rested a few

Bristol Bears

15. Tom Jordan (22 apps), 14. Louis Rees-Zammit (17 apps), 13. Max Clark (1 app), 12. James Williams (79 apps), 11. Aidan Boshoff (16 apps), 10. Sam Worsley (38 apps), 9. Harry Randall (c) (169 apps); 1. Jake Woolmore (190 apps), 2. Gabriel Oghre (65 apps), 3. George Kloska (87 apps), 4. Harry Wells (1 app), 5. Joe Batley (99 apps), 6. George Taylor (23 apps), 7. Luka Ivanishvili (15 apps), 8. Benjamin Grondona (40 apps).

System players: 16. Tomas Gwilliam (21 apps), 17. Lovejoy Chawatama (28 apps), 18. Jimmy Halliwell (28 apps), 19. Joe Owen (68 apps), 20. Fitz Harding (125 apps), 21. Kieran Marmion (78 apps), 22. Jack Bates (64 apps), 23. Gabriel Ibitoye (76 apps).

It would be interesting to know how much was planned rotation and how much is players "dropped" for form or a different game plan.

Pleased to see Soedeke and Knight get starts.

Cinti is a bit of a forgotten man, let's hope he can show his international class.

Possibly both teams making sure there is a balance between rest and readiness before Europe next week. Don’t dislike our team at all. Defence could be interesting! Not expected 9-6 here!

Quote:

jimfitz12
Jesus a penny for Paul Herox thoughts right now.

I am sure i heard the screams of anguish from here!

Bristol Unavailable: Ellis Genge, Max Lahiff, Harry Thacker, Josh Caulfield, Ethan Staddon, Viliame Mata, Khalik Kareem, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Matias Moroni, Kalaveti Ravouvou, Noah Heward, Josh Carrington.

So looks like Rubiolo & AJ rested.
Edit: Bristol forum suggesting maybe pitch related given their injuries last season.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:09:12:30:38 by tigersimon.

I also like that team (although would like it much more with Tomos and Fergus starting).
That is a very hefty scrummaging 8 and surely that’s the quickest backline (number 10 aside) we’ve ever put out.

It’s pretty difficult to see a strategy across the season imo. Are we trying to win the league? Are we building for next season and the season after (my preference)? Are we rotating so we can be competitive on multiple fronts (hint: we can’t)? Are we rotating for the sake of it despite there only being 18 league games in a season? Do we even know?

No unavailable list from Saracens!?

Carre, Dan, Hartley believe known to be injured.

So Mawi, Street, Tizard, Barbeary, Tomkins, Segun & Daly rotated out, dropped or injured?

Can't help but feel if the bulk of this was planned rotations then we've got this week & last week's game around the wrong way!

In my view this side would have comfortably dealt with Sale & the team from last Sunday would have put the squeeze on Bristol.

I know it's hypothetical but last week we tried to play Sale at their own game & lost... this side would have given them a major headache & maybe a more physical side would blunt the flair of Bristol, but we appear like we have tried to match them.

What do I know!

14 of the 23 are academy graduates which is a real positive

The bench is interesting. Back to a more traditional 5-3. A big ask for many of that pack who haven't started or had much game time recently. Martin, Knight, Sodeke, George. The backs similar. Plenty with limited 80 minute exposure. Fingers crossed we have a fast and physical start to get a nice lead.

More changes than I was expecting but I like putting Maro at 6 to give us a heavyweight 2nd row combo. Also pleased that we have backed youth in the back division with Owen to provide the experience and then have some great backs to come off the bench . Very pleased to see a 5 vs 3 split this week as I can see the need for Angus when Fergus comes on for Owen as we need someone with good touch finders from hand - not a Fergus speciality.
Like us Bristol are resting a few as well as suffering some injuries , so the teams look well matched, although I will be very disappointed if we cannot edge the majority of forward collisions with that team.

Quote:

#wolfpack1
It’s pretty difficult to see a strategy across the season imo. Are we trying to win the league? Are we building for next season and the season after (my preference)? Are we rotating so we can be competitive on multiple fronts (hint: we can’t)? Are we rotating for the sake of it despite there only being 18 league games in a season? Do we even know?

I think you just have to rotate a reasonable amount these days. Especially with a number of internationals in the squad. We might not see the full "gun" side until later in the season.

What i do like with this team is giving starts to the likes of Soedeke, Knight, Noah and the Brackens in a game which feels like there is some pressure on. The easy option would have been to fill the side with experienced heads and keep using them off the bench.

Quote:

Sarrov
Bristol Bears
15. Tom Jordan (22 apps), 14. Louis Rees-Zammit (17 apps), 13. Max Clark (1 app), 12. James Williams (79 apps), 11. Aidan Boshoff (16 apps), 10. Sam Worsley (38 apps), 9. Harry Randall (c) (169 apps); 1. Jake Woolmore (190 apps), 2. Gabriel Oghre (65 apps), 3. George Kloska (87 apps), 4. Harry Wells (1 app), 5. Joe Batley (99 apps), 6. George Taylor (23 apps), 7. Luka Ivanishvili (15 apps), 8. Benjamin Grondona (40 apps).

System players: 16. Tomas Gwilliam (21 apps), 17. Lovejoy Chawatama (28 apps), 18. Jimmy Halliwell (28 apps), 19. Joe Owen (68 apps), 20. Fitz Harding (125 apps), 21. Kieran Marmion (78 apps), 22. Jack Bates (64 apps), 23. Gabriel Ibitoye (76 apps).

Our changes are mainly down to players that will not be selected on 4G pitches - specifically Rubiolo, AJ & Luatua. They will not be selected at Newcastle or Glos either.

Genge, Mata, Ravouvou & BJVR injured.

Quote:

Sit_Down

Quote:

Sarrov
Bristol Bears
15. Tom Jordan (22 apps), 14. Louis Rees-Zammit (17 apps), 13. Max Clark (1 app), 12. James Williams (79 apps), 11. Aidan Boshoff (16 apps), 10. Sam Worsley (38 apps), 9. Harry Randall (c) (169 apps); 1. Jake Woolmore (190 apps), 2. Gabriel Oghre (65 apps), 3. George Kloska (87 apps), 4. Harry Wells (1 app), 5. Joe Batley (99 apps), 6. George Taylor (23 apps), 7. Luka Ivanishvili (15 apps), 8. Benjamin Grondona (40 apps).

System players: 16. Tomas Gwilliam (21 apps), 17. Lovejoy Chawatama (28 apps), 18. Jimmy Halliwell (28 apps), 19. Joe Owen (68 apps), 20. Fitz Harding (125 apps), 21. Kieran Marmion (78 apps), 22. Jack Bates (64 apps), 23. Gabriel Ibitoye (76 apps).

Our changes are mainly down to players that will not be selected on 4G pitches - specifically Rubiolo, AJ & Luatua. They will not be selected at Newcastle or Glos either.

Genge, Mata, Ravouvou & BJVR injured.

Hmm.

Rubiolo played on a plastic pitch for Newcastle. Moved to Bristol and needed ACL surgery.

MacGinty has had two bad inuries in the last couple of seasons, both on grass pitches

Last season MacGinty, Randall and Ibitoye all badly injured in the same home game.

I would be looking at your S&C team, rather than avoiding 4G.

Quote:

Sarrov

Quote:

Sit_Down

Quote:

Sarrov
Bristol Bears
15. Tom Jordan (22 apps), 14. Louis Rees-Zammit (17 apps), 13. Max Clark (1 app), 12. James Williams (79 apps), 11. Aidan Boshoff (16 apps), 10. Sam Worsley (38 apps), 9. Harry Randall (c) (169 apps); 1. Jake Woolmore (190 apps), 2. Gabriel Oghre (65 apps), 3. George Kloska (87 apps), 4. Harry Wells (1 app), 5. Joe Batley (99 apps), 6. George Taylor (23 apps), 7. Luka Ivanishvili (15 apps), 8. Benjamin Grondona (40 apps).

System players: 16. Tomas Gwilliam (21 apps), 17. Lovejoy Chawatama (28 apps), 18. Jimmy Halliwell (28 apps), 19. Joe Owen (68 apps), 20. Fitz Harding (125 apps), 21. Kieran Marmion (78 apps), 22. Jack Bates (64 apps), 23. Gabriel Ibitoye (76 apps).

Our changes are mainly down to players that will not be selected on 4G pitches - specifically Rubiolo, AJ & Luatua. They will not be selected at Newcastle or Glos either.

Genge, Mata, Ravouvou & BJVR injured.

Hmm.

Rubiolo played on a plastic pitch for Newcastle. Moved to Bristol and needed ACL surgery.

MacGinty has had two bad inuries in the last couple of seasons, both on grass pitches

Last season MacGinty, Randall and Ibitoye all badly injured in the same home game.

I would be looking at your S&C team, rather than avoiding 4G.

(Mildly) Interestingly enough, our head of medical has just resigned, to go the States.

Good luck for the weekend.

Quote:

robtheh

Quote:

Sarrov

Quote:

Sit_Down

Quote:

Sarrov
Bristol Bears
15. Tom Jordan (22 apps), 14. Louis Rees-Zammit (17 apps), 13. Max Clark (1 app), 12. James Williams (79 apps), 11. Aidan Boshoff (16 apps), 10. Sam Worsley (38 apps), 9. Harry Randall (c) (169 apps); 1. Jake Woolmore (190 apps), 2. Gabriel Oghre (65 apps), 3. George Kloska (87 apps), 4. Harry Wells (1 app), 5. Joe Batley (99 apps), 6. George Taylor (23 apps), 7. Luka Ivanishvili (15 apps), 8. Benjamin Grondona (40 apps).

System players: 16. Tomas Gwilliam (21 apps), 17. Lovejoy Chawatama (28 apps), 18. Jimmy Halliwell (28 apps), 19. Joe Owen (68 apps), 20. Fitz Harding (125 apps), 21. Kieran Marmion (78 apps), 22. Jack Bates (64 apps), 23. Gabriel Ibitoye (76 apps).

Our changes are mainly down to players that will not be selected on 4G pitches - specifically Rubiolo, AJ & Luatua. They will not be selected at Newcastle or Glos either.

Genge, Mata, Ravouvou & BJVR injured.

Hmm.

Rubiolo played on a plastic pitch for Newcastle. Moved to Bristol and needed ACL surgery.

MacGinty has had two bad inuries in the last couple of seasons, both on grass pitches

Last season MacGinty, Randall and Ibitoye all badly injured in the same home game.

I would be looking at your S&C team, rather than avoiding 4G.

(Mildly) Interestingly enough, our head of medical has just resigned, to go the States.

Good luck for the weekend.

Same to you. Should be a good one

Quote:

jimfitz12
Jesus a penny for Paul Herox thoughts right now.

Saw the team and came here for that 😂

Not what I would have picked that’s for sure and I wonder how much Faz has been picked to spam high balls for Caluori but hopefully there is at least better gameplan/execution than last week. Also interested to see if we revert to taking the 3s….

Quote:

Sarrov
I am sure i heard the screams of anguish from here!

Why would you. I told you all over a week ago it looked like it would be 2 on 2 off rotation and yesterday that Farrell would start. None of that was unexpected.
This selection is like when a referee makes a call that I don't agree with but he explains it such that I understand why he made it.

For me the lesson of last season was we found a spine of a team and a style that worked in the last 6 of 7 weeks. I'd have expected us to build on that this season looking to add more quality on the bench and depth in areas like centre and back three where rotating in our younger players would allow us to do that.

The Venter/McCall approach seems to be to blank-sheet it.
Use the first 8 games to have a really good look at the whole group of players in actual games rather than just training and in combinations so one can try and build relationships. There's a lot to commend that as an approach even if I think it puts us a step back in terms of immediate development maybe it will pay dividends in the longer term.

In that regard there's a lot to like about the team selected.

If you're going to pick Farrell then you play to his strengths and his kicking game is still undoubtedly one, in-field as much as at posts, pair him with Caluori and J Bracken and you have what should be a strong aerial game although it's worth noting that was probably no unexpected to Lam who has dropped Ibitoye his weakest back three player under the highball.

Farrell has had a whole pre-season plus to get his body in as good shape as its likely to be. We'll see if he plays flat to the line or if like last season he doesn't and is rotated to the backfield in defence.
I'd expect us to play a lot off 9 with Farrell wider out in the 12 position looking to kick or distribute either to the wings or for field position.

I really like Brantingham and Clarey starting. Realistically they are probably our third choices in those positions and maybe they'll have a tough day at the office but we're giving them an experienced hooker, monsters in the engine room and a quality backrow to give them the biggest help we can. That beats normally coming off the bench when the whole pack is slightly depowered and gives us a better chance to see how they do in a tough game but in a good pack. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't but I like that we're looking at it like that.

The bench looks good. It will be a test of the front row depth to a degree but all the rest including it being 5/3 seems a positive. I hope Farrell and Burke continue to work on his kicking and he rounds out his excellent game by making that good too but in the mean time being able to bring of Hall who kicked so beautifully is a good option as is keeping the Williams/Burke axis. My only slight reservation there is do we play Va'eneku/Hall together that feels very raw and I hope doesn't mean we'll see Farrell at 12 at that stage that would be a massive backwards step.

Well done to Malins on his 100th cap. I really hope we see him at the club for 100 more.
I'd still pair Burke/Malins and Farrell/Daly as a preference and hope he gets the ball if he sees chances to attack rather than has to watch Farrell kick it away.

Main concerns. The starting lineout is obviously a bit short on athletic jumping options. That having picked a side that looks designed to pay in one way for some inexplicable reason we play in a way that doesn't suit the players but is ideal for the opposition. See below.

Quote:

SarriesSon
Can't help but feel if the bulk of this was planned rotations then we've got this week & last week's game around the wrong way round ... What do I know!

Quite a lot in my view and BINGO!

Lots of wind about today

Please can we see a foot race between Jack Bracken and Louis Rees Zammit. Place your bets.

Owen looks a little rusty but excellent team management of the yellow card period and the driving maul looks good.
Noah is looking like a potentially world class winger and Jack is sharp as well. With Maro at 6 we have possibly the best line out in the Prem. Keeping Bristol to nil at half time, enough said…

Supporting Saracens for over 55 years.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:10:18:23:37 by Supporting Saracens for over 55 years. .

Better desire than last week
Need to start clearing rucks out though, slow ball and they’ve got multiple turnovers

Jack Bracken has made LRZ look rather ordinary. Plus our defensive intensity has gone up a notch. A bonus point win; just what Dr Venter ordered!

So much more intensity from the players that meant we won the majority of collisions and thus had the lions share of possession. I was pleasantly surprised by just how good our line out. I want to give a shout out to Knight who never stopped working hard and I thought Cinti had one of his best games for Sarries. As others have said we have some class wingers. My favourite moment was Maro’s joy when he had forced a knock on!
There are no unbeaten teams now and we will finish the week in 3rd just one point behind Gloucester. Oh what a difference a week makes!
Hope that Fergus wasn’t genuinely concussed as we didn’t hear the outcome of the HIA as it was so late in the game.

Big performances from Itoje and Earl today, replacement props also impressed
Really hope we try Bracken at 15 at some point as Malins is not the answer there
Interesting comment from Joe Shaw in the post match interview that rotation is done on a 2 week basis
So would expect to see a similar team next week (if Europe is included in the rotation system)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:10:20:33:50 by MarkCol7.

I think the most pressing question is obviously whether the WurstWagen was back given it was our Oktoberfest game.

Second only to that it was exactly the result required and a very solid performance with some standouts from Itoje, Earl and J Bracken.
Agree with COYS about Knight in particular who I thought really came into the game in the second half in particular with his carrying.
That trio of locks looks something special and I thought Isiekwe was really good when he came on.
Williams really kicked the game up a gear after the first half.
I liked Itoje's joy at being a real nuisance but I think my moment was J Bracken's intercept of what would have been a walk-in for LRZ. Combined with clearing up when we fluffed the recovery in the backfield and he made two massive interventions that could easily have been game turning points.
I had also been worried about the lineout but it went very well. All the "fringe" front rowers plus Old Father George did very well. The maul remains a bit of a work in progress but was a definite step forward.
A mixed game for Malins but I'm glad he had a win for his 100th.

Also good to see the signing zone for the supporters. It's encouraging when the club listens.

Overall the game certainly had a back to the future feel and was how we played earlier last season.
If it's a string to our bow I don't mind it but it's not a style I see as getting the best out of our team or troubling Top4 as the main way to play.

Hopefully we will see the best elements combined with our best attack and then we will really start to challenge.
I'm still a bit unsure about these massive scores in some games but it looks like it will be a doozy of a season.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:10:20:53:53 by PaulHerox.

Superb result after last week's disappointment.

Those who have favoured players, or a preferred team, are in for a frustrating season. BV's philosophy, clearly, is that he has a squad, not a team, and if you are good enough to be in the squad you are good enough to be in the team.

Expect everyone to rotate in and out regularly. Will it work? Who knows, but BV is nothing if not bold?

A bit of a mixed bag for me.

Defence was impressive throughout, but attack was very clunky. It improved significantly with the introduction of Tomos who buzzes around and makes things happen in a way Charlie is struggling to at the moment.

Agree on Knight and the replacement props (especially Alex O’Driscoll who looks like a very good prospect - a lot of Ralph Adams Hale about him). I also thought Sione had a very good game.

Excellent finishes from Jack and Noah - we just must find ways of involving them much more beyond just chasing high balls.

Also agree with Mark above.
The offensive breakdown needs considerable work.

Some real positives today and a completely different intensity compared to last week. I thought Ben was PoM, Maro was excellent, so were Toby, George Martin and Sione had a much better game. As said big shout out for replacement front row. Still stuff to work on, Bears snaffled a few turnovers when we were in the danger zone, runners had become isolated. I like having 2 big locks, Maro at 6 and quicker 7 and 8.

A decent result against a 2nd string Bristol.

Attacking breakdown was an issue in the first half but seemed to get sorted out at half time.

Felt we were lucky that Bristol were inaccurate with the last pass on a number of occasions, otherwise would have been a lot tighter.

When we move the ball, have fast ruck speed and show some confidence in attack we look great. Unfortunately far too often we resort to one dimensional play and one out runners.

Good games for Maro (of course), Soedeke, Knight, Earl, Isiekwe, Sione, Noah and Jack i felt. Tomos did okay when he came on but still has too many ropey kicks for such a quality operator.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:10:22:03:33 by Sarrov.

Quote:

Sarrov
A decent result against a 2nd string Bristol.

It's always a 2nd string Brizzle. Evidently they don't have a 1st string.

But what do you make of Sarries' selection? 1st string? What even IS our 1st string under BV?

Our squad was better that theirs today. There it is.

Big shout out for Sodeke, who really put himself about even after his yellow card. He is very good in the lineout even if he can’t catch kick offs. Would love to see him carry a bit more but he looks a serious prospect!
Jack Bracken had a wonderful game too, and Calouri looks like someone heading for superstardom, scoring a great try with his first touch of the season again!

With the breakdown issues and I'm thinking of the backs primarily but with physical players like Va'eneku and Caluori they are often looking primarily at route one and on several occasions their support runners Bracken and Malins in those instances are running support lines looking for a pass or offload. When the players die with the ball in contact instead their support tends to over-run and they get left isolated.

Agree with Strangelove about the balance with (the right) 3 locks and then lighter 7 and 8 although tbf Knight is quite a unit.
He was also on a relatively short time but it was good to see Onyeama-Christie back and he snagged a nice turnover.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:10:22:28:36 by PaulHerox.

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Sarsen

Quote:

Sarrov
A decent result against a 2nd string Bristol.

It's always a 2nd string Brizzle. Evidently they don't have a 1st string.

But what do you make of Sarries' selection? 1st string? What even IS our 1st string under BV?

Our squad was better that theirs today. There it is.

They left out their starting 10. Their best back row was on the bench. Their focal point centre was injured. Their B&I lion prop was injured. Their 15 pulled out late on. Their 1st choice wing was on the bench.

We were at home and selected to a game plan/rotation policy.

It was a decent win

Fitz Harding has been exceptional this season. I honestly wasn't even aware he'd come on the field with 20 to go.

Quote:

Sarrov
They left out their starting 10. Their best back row was on the bench. Their focal point centre was injured. Their B&I lion prop was injured. Their 15 pulled out late on. Their 1st choice wing was on the bench.

Oh come on. We left out our starting 10 and started a pensioner. We had a 2nd row in the back row. Our big centre has a broken arm and we started with our skinny Argentinian. Our superstar Welsh prop is still broken and didn't make the bench. Our Lions FB/winger didn't make the bench either. We had rookies all over.

We have a squad. They have a squad. Ours was better.

Quote:

Sarsen

Quote:

Sarrov
They left out their starting 10. Their best back row was on the bench. Their focal point centre was injured. Their B&I lion prop was injured. Their 15 pulled out late on. Their 1st choice wing was on the bench.

Oh come on. We left out our starting 10 and started a pensioner. We had a 2nd row in the back row. Our big centre has a broken arm and we started with our skinny Argentinian. Our superstar Welsh prop is still broken and didn't make the bench. Our Lions FB/winger didn't make the bench either. We had rookies all over.

We have a squad. They have a squad. Ours was better.

Personally I don't think beating a rotated Bristol side at home is that impressive. They have a notoriously thin squad which is why they struggle to compete at the top table.

We should be looking to win the title with the squad we have.

This was a decent win. Nothing more, nothing less imo. If you think it is more impressive than that, then that is fine also

Yeah, whatevs, goodnight. I'm back off to the Tigers forum, they know about rugby over there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:10:23:12:06 by Sarsen.

Do we know why Jamie George got niggled?

I’m with the above.

A considerable improvement on last weeks disaster with some really impressive individual performances mentioned. It’s going to be a really interesting first champions cup selection next week.

Similarly to above, I found the attack yesterday very clunky again. We still seem to go through long periods of games without any idea how to fashion space or a gap.

I didn’t leave SX yesterday jumping for joy but, against a side that beat saints last weeks, it’s a pleasing 5 points.

One positive comment on the 5.30pm start is that I think it leads to a considerably younger age crowd and there was definitely a better atmosphere than for Sale, although part of that will be due to the better performance on the pitch. I imagine the food franchises do far better as well, as 5pm to 7pm is a peak eating time!. I also quite like the floodlights.
I do recognise that for those with a long journey home the later start time can be a negative but a 7.20pm finish is ok for most people, even those reliant on public transport.
I certainly left the StoneX with a smile on my face reflecting on a decent performance (not great) and a comprehensive win against Bristol, who had won their first 2 games of the season.
One other small positive is that I noticed they must have removed the old metal fence around the running track during the summer which makes accessing the north piazza much easier.

Prem Rugby saying attendance 10,500???

Appreciate that includes non attending STH but didn’t look like that many on TV?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:10:11:09:59:01 by tigersimon.

Typo? Felt more like 1050

Probably about 8000?
We do seem to get better atmosphere at 5.30. Looks like the club have cut the number of shuttle busses which is a shame. We ended up on the 221 again to get back to MHB.

And The queue for the shuttle going towards Mill Hill East was longer than the Edgware queue 10 minutes after full time. Luckily a 221 passed so I could jump on that

Quote:

tigersimon
Prem Rugby saying attendance 10,500???
Appreciate that includes non attending STH but didn’t look like that many on TV?

I thought 10,500 is a sell out.

I would say about 8,000. I barely saw a Bristol supporter though - even rarer than a Sale one the week before. It is a bit of a concern generally. Crowd at Welford Road looked pretty threadbare on Friday (appreciate they have a much higher capacity but it was a long way from being full) and not much atmosphere at Sandy Park this afternoon either. The Gardens looked pretty packed though and I can understand why.

I really don't like this insistence on denegrating victories by suggesting the opposition is a second string side. As pointed out, all clubs have squads and there will always be rotation and injuries. I had a brief glance at the Bears forum and the level of discourse there was pretty pathetic to be honest - seeking to dismiss the game as meaningless as a result of "plastic" pitches and squad rotation is very dull. Focussing on our own performance - I do agree with much of what has been said - better in defence but a couple of excellent tries by our wingers aside, the attack is still not really clicking. On the plus side, I fully expect us to improve - Martin will get better, our set piece looks decent and I think we have a fantastic looking squad with cover across the park. Looking forward to the next home game against Newcastle who don't look as though they will be a pushover on today's evidence.

Quote:

JimG
I really don't like this insistence on denegrating victories by suggesting the opposition is a second string side. As pointed out, all clubs have squads and there will always be rotation and injuries.

Personally I dont think pointing out the relative strength of an opponent is denigrating a win. It is easier to win against a weaker side, so it is less impressive than beating a fully stacked opponent. I think that is just common sense.

If we want to win things again we will need to bear the best. Yesterday was a good stepping stone but also highlighted there is a lot of work to do. At this stage of the season that is to be expected.

I just clocked that the attendance at Sandy Park was only just 7071 this afternoon and that is a ground with 15k capacity. Shows that cost of living is also having an impact on crowd size!

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Sarrov
If we want to win things again we will need to beat the best. Yesterday was a good stepping stone but also highlighted there is a lot of work to do. At this stage of the season that is to be expected.

Agree. In some ways the only thing that would really disappoint me from yesterdays game is if the coaches have been telling the team how well we did. 5 points and lots to work on is the perfect chance for a pretty savage review of the poor elements of that game.

See Pat Lam has said he rested players because of the plastic pitch, and Sanderson said LCD also didn’t play. Exeter always rest players because of it. Cue complaints and criticism re injuries etc.

Genuinely though, Sarries have and have had a bunch of very long serving players who clock up hundreds of Premiership appearances (Goode, Wigglesworth, Farrell, Vunipola x2, J George, Itoje, etc) all of whom had very good injury records and played the vast majority (or all) of their careers on the SX pitch.

Sarries do not have injury crisises each season (Tighthead aside) in the way Bristol or Quins or Sale always seem to.

So I’m not sure the picture is quite as clear cut as all that.

Quote:

ComeOnSarries
I do recognise that for those with a long journey home the later start time can be a negative but a 7.20pm finish is ok for most people, even those reliant on public transport.

I got in at 10 past 11. Just grateful that it wasn’t last week’s performance and we saw a half decent game

Certainly not a clear cut picture. But there is an awful lot of scientific journal/academic paper study on sports injury on grass vs artificial.

What seems to be the consistent message is that although the overall frequency of injury is no different between the two, the severity on artificial pitches is higher - statistically significant. Even more exacerbated when you look specifically at foot/achilles and knee injuries.

While the headline of Pat Lam's resting of specific players sounds like sour grapes, there is actually some genuine truth to the increased risk for some players which I think it's worth us as Saracens fans at least knowing about.

What we very rarely see in the media are the cases where the reverse is true. There's a big meta study from 7-8 years ago (from memory) that will show a similar statistical significance that the rate of concussions on an artificial pitch is HALF that of games on a grass pitch.

Pros and cons.

Thanks Barty. Its an interesting part of the meta for sure. Maybe Bristol can pay less for some players because they know theyve got bad knees and can say that they'll rest them for these games? Sadly we can't know that part of the salary cap maths.

I was quite taken with Christian Wade's long white leggings though, looking very NFL and on a grass pitch too!

Quote:

ICantBelieveItsNotBartyII
Certainly not a clear cut picture. But there is an awful lot of scientific journal/academic paper study on sports injury on grass vs artificial ... There's a big meta study from 7-8 years ago (from memory) that will show a similar statistical significance that the rate of concussions on an artificial pitch is HALF that of games on a grass pitch.
Pros and cons.

Good post Barty.

Agree that as supporters whose players play on "plastic" we probably have more of an interest in knowing the impact of the surface our players play half a season on.
I doubt anyone at Sarries would say we'd prefer to play on plastic because of its "competitive advantage" if playing on grass or desso was a possibility at the StoneX. I hope one day it will be.

I mentioned on the Bears site the reality is the players they are talking about are all ones with previous injury issues already, extensive in some cases and would need to be managed regardless. If it wasn't for the Saracens game it would likely just be another fixture. They're not getting 20 games a season out of McGinty and Luatua so it seems a bit crass to make it all about this one fixture even if there weren't other grounds where they'd pressumably have the same issues.

One thing I didn't really clock which is actually referenced on a BBC article is that of the other clubs with an artifical pitch, Newcastle's was relaid this summer and Gloucester's about 5 years ago. Ours is by far the oldest. Could also be a factor (I have no idea) and maybe it is due a refresh?

Quote:

ICantBelieveItsNotBartyII
One thing I didn't really clock which is actually referenced on a BBC article is that of the other clubs with an artifical pitch, Newcastle's was relaid this summer and Gloucester's about 5 years ago. Ours is by far the oldest. Could also be a factor (I have no idea) and maybe it is due a refresh?

It was referred to on one (maybe two) podcasts last week as the worst of the artificial pitches currently in use in the Prem.

I remember Tom Willis specifically mentioning the pitch in his leaving speech, something about the concrete underneath. I could be wrong but I don’t remember it being replaced since I’ve been supporting so over 10 years. I imagine it’s very expensive but surely worth it.

It has definitely been relaid once as I rember rolls of the original pitch sitting in the area where the team buses park . Could n’t say how long ago that was though.

They asked this on Tigers site. I believe it was completely relaid once since it was first put down but am not sure about since.

Maybe the Council can do us a favour an let us have a grass pitch and move the community one to somewhere else on that massive Barnet Copthall site.

The original one ended up in Cardiff, and it was well before the pandemic so this one must be even older than that one was.

Im sure its due up in the next 1-2 years but also tech may have also moved on a bit so not just age

article that folk are referencing

link

Ninjafez - supporting Sarries and cleaning their signs since 2006!

Thanks for the link Ninjafez. A very interesting read.

Quote:

ComeOnSarries
I just clocked that the attendance at Sandy Park was only just 7071 this afternoon and that is a ground with 15k capacity. Shows that cost of living is also having an impact on crowd size!

Apparently they shut a whole stand for the first time ever in the Premiership.