Preview: Saracens v Leicester

Saracens have made five changes ahead of their clash with reigning champions Leicester in the Aviva Premiership on Sunday.

Saracens have made five changes to their starting line-up for their clash with reigning champions Leicester in the Aviva Premiership on Sunday.

Director of Rugby Brendan Venter has called into the side Richard Wigglesworth, Schalk Brits, Hugh Vyvyan, Michael Tagicakibau and Petrus du Plessis after sitting out the past few rounds on a rotation basis. Meanwhile Nils Mordt switches to inside centre with Brad Barritt on the bench.

Also among the replacements are England U20s hooker Jamie George while Andy Saull is in line for his first appearance of the season after missing the opening weeks of the campaign with a broken hand.

“I was delighted with the effort and commitment of the players last weekend against Northampton Saints and we adapted so well to the difficult playing conditions. Now we face another tough match against Leicester who have set the benchmark to which we all must aim,” said Venter.

“It's only been a few months since we last met on the biggest of stages, but that is in the past. Leicester will give us nothing on Sunday and we must be at the top of our game and increase our levels of intensity once again to get the result we want.”

Meanwhile, Tom Croft will captain Leicester for the first time on Sunday. The 24-year-old international back-rower will lead out a team which includes Horacio Agulla and Rob Hawkins for their first start since joining Tigers in the summer.

Hawkins joins Boris Stankovich and Dan Cole in the front-row, while Agulla lines up on the wing.

George Chuter and Ben Youngs are rested in line with the England EPS agreement, and Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill makes a number of changes to the XV as Geordan Murphy, Alesana Tuilagi, Ben Woods and Thomas Waldrom sit out after starting the opening four games of the season.

“We were much better against Leeds last week in terms of ball control and decision-making,” said Cockerill.

“Saracens have started the season pretty well but we go there in good spirits. We've had a few injuries in the opening weeks of the season, but the guys who have been playing have taken their chance and they've been playing well. We've also been able to bring in some fresh legs this weekend and rotate some of the squad which is important too in a long season.”

International props Martin Castrogiovanni and Julian White are included among the replacements, together with fly-half George Ford, who made his first-team debut last season. Lee Robinson is included in the matchday 23 for the first time since his summer switch from Bristol.

Marcos Ayerza and Jeremy Staunton missed last week's win over Leeds Carnegie with injury and Manu Tuilagi is also ruled out this week. Anthony Allen, Toby Flood, Jordan Crane, Richard Blaze, Geoff Parling and Louis Deacon are also currently sidelined.

Form: Saracens ended Northampton's 100 per cent winning record in Aviva Premiership Rugby with their 24-17 victory at a rainy Vicarage Road on Sunday. Sarries have won their last four home games since Bath visited Vicarage Road on 28 February. Leicester Tigers have tallied try bonus points in their last three matches, but have slipped to successive defeats on the road. The two teams last met in last season's Premiership final at Twickenham, whilst the home side has not won in this encounter since Leicester were victorious 46-16 at Welford Road on 21 March 2009. Tigers have won on their last two visits to Vicarage Road, whilst their overall record at the venue is a very even won 7, drawn 1, lost 7.

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 David Strettle, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Nils Mordt, 11 Michael Tagicakibau, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Steve Borthwick (capt), 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Parr, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Brad Barritt, 23 Adam Powell.

Leicester: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 James Grindal, 8 Ben Pienaar, 7 Craig Newby, 6 Tom Croft (capt), 5 George Skivington, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Rob Hawkins, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 Joe Duffey, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Julian White, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Ben Woods, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 George Ford, 23 Lee Robinson.

Date: Sunday, October 3
Kick-off: 16:30 BST
Venue: Vicarage Road
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Peter Huckle
Television match official: Graham Hughes
Assessor: Steve Lander