Preview: Saracens v Newcastle

An out-of-form Saracens return to Guinness Premiership action on Sunday when they welcome Newcastle to Vicarage Road.

A slightly out-of-form Saracens return to Guinness Premiership action on Sunday when they welcome Newcastle to Vicarage Road.

In team news ahead of the game, Sarries welcome back second-row Hugh Vyvyan after nearly two months out with a knee injury while internationals Matias Aguero, Fabio Ongaro and Rhys Gill also return to the matchday squad. New signing Petrus du Plessis is also given a debut in the front row.

Glen Jackson starts at fly half in a back-line that also sees Noah Cato and Adam Powell come into the side.

Steve Borthwick misses the game through injury as does Kameli Ratuvou and Chris Wyles – added to the long-term absentees in Carlos Nieto, Michael Owen, Kevin Barrett and Tom Mercey.

“We're really at the business end of the season and we're looking forward to the visit of Newcastle for what will be a very hard game. They have quality players across the pitch and in Carl Hayman they have one of the best players in the world in his position,” said Director of Rugby, Brendan Venter.

“But we have been working hard in the past few weeks that included a training camp to Brighton. It's been excellent to be together as a squad both on and off the pitch and we're looking forward to seeing the benefits of that on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Newcastle welcome back England Saxons scrum-half Micky Young to their starting XV, as they make the trip south.

The 21-year-old is one of three changes from the Falcons side which took a bonus point from Bath in their last league outing, with Gcobani Bobo replacing Rob Vickerman in the centres and Filipo Levi coming into the back-row for Will Welch.

The fit-again Samoan slots in at blindside flanker, meaning a move back to the openside for Brent Wilson who makes his 100th competitive appearance in Falcons colours.

Hailing Wilson's contribution to the club during his four seasons at Kingston Park, boss Steve Bates said: “To make a century of appearances is an outstanding achievement for any player, especially someone coming here from overseas.

“I think that Brent has been a very underestimated player during his time at Newcastle, not from people at the club, but perhaps those on the outside. He gives absolutely everything in every single game he plays, and it will be a great honour for him to rack up the century when he takes the field on Sunday.”

With his side set to play three Guinness Premiership games in the space of just six days, Bates said: “We are picking from a virtually full-strength squad with very few injuries, but with three games in quick succession we know we will need plenty of bodies over the course of the next week.

“Playing three matches in such a short period of time means that most of the players can probably be expected to be involved at some stage or other, purely due to the lack of recovery time between games and the possibility of injury or wear and tear. It's going to push our resources to the absolute limit, but that's just the way it is and we have to get on with it. Hopefully we've got just about enough to get us through the week, but it certainly won't be a case of prioritising one game at the expense of another.

“We have to go to Saracens with our strongest side, travelling with an expectation of winning. It's then a case of assessing the damage after the full-time whistle in terms of bodies, then going again at full tilt against Gloucester on Wednesday. It will then be a bit of a head count to see who's left standing for the trip to Harlequins on Saturday, but we'll again go into that one with our strongest available team.”

Looking forward to making the most of the Vicarage Road turf, Bates said: “Our game is definitely quicker when we play on the firmer pitches, so hopefully that will be the case in Watford and we'll get the chance to score some tries.

“We're certainly working towards that, but if points are on offer in other ways then we will also look to keep the scoreboard ticking over with penalties and drop goals.

“The most important thing for us is to win matches, but we also aim to score tries by exposing weaknesses in the opposition. If they try to cover those weaknesses by conceding penalties then we have to take that opportunity to get points on the board, and I think fundamentally that's why we didn't beat Bath in our last outing. We had the chances, and we just didn't take them.”

Form: Saracens have won three of their last four matches against Newcastle in all competitions. Saracens have lost their last four matches in all competitions and have picked up just eight league points from their last six Guinness Premiership matches. Newcastle are winless in their last six games since beating Petrarca Padova 20-3 at Kingston Park in the European Challenge Cup on 22 January. Falcons have not won on the road in the Guinness Premiership since a 12-6 victory at London Wasps on 3 January. The Falcons have won just twice in 15 previous visits to Vicarage Road.

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Rodd Penney, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Noah Cato, 10 Glen Jackson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert (capt), 7 Andy Saull, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Hugh Vyvyan, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 Tom Ryder, 20 Justin Melck, 21 Moses Rauluni, 22 Derick Hougaard, 23 Richard Haughton.

Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Danny Williams, 13 Gcobani Bobo, 12 Tane Tu'ipulotu, 11 Charlie Amesbury, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Micky Young, 8 Peter Browne, 7 Brent Wilson, 6 Filipo Levi, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 James Hudson, 3 Carl Hayman (capt), 2 Rob Vickers, 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements: 16 Alex Walker, 17 Micky Ward, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Josh Afu, 21 Hall Charlton, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Rob Vickerman.

Date: Sunday, March 28
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Vicarage Road