TEAM NEWS | Bristol Bears v Saracens Men (GPR - Rd 17)
Director of Rugby Mark McCall says Saracens Men will have to be at their best on Saturday as they head to face Bristol Bears in a match which will have huge implications in the race for the Gallagher Premiership top four.
Sarries, who currently sit second, in possession of one of the crucial home semi-final spots will travel to Ashton Gate where they take on the most in-form team in the league, who have six consecutive wins under their belt.
The coaches have made four changes to the starting line-up from the side that beat Bath in dramatic fashion a fortnight ago which saw them take a giant stride towards the play-offs.
Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Marco Riccioni start in the front-row, with Maro Itoje and Hugh Tizard operating in a heavyweight second-row.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, Ben Earl and Tom Willis get the nod in an unchanged back-row which functioned impressively at The Recreation Ground.
Ivan van Zyl comes in to start at scrum-half, alongside captain Owen Farrell in the number 10 shirt.
Nick Tompkins and Lucio Cinti continue their well-balanced midfield partnership, with an in-form back-three of Tom Parton, Rotimi Segun and Elliot Daly.
On the bench Theo Dan will be looking for similar impact after a huge influence against Bath, and Theo McFarland will make his 50th appearance for the club when called upon.
McCall knows the Men in Black face a huge challenge in the West Country this weekend.
“We know we’re playing against a team who have got a pile of momentum.
They are really clear about how they want to play, and they’re running a lot of ball but they do it in a really well-organised, well-coached way.
They don’t mind making the odd mistake, and they’ll keep going on it so we’re going to have be at our very best defensively on Saturday.
Quietly we’ve been gathering a bit of momentum. We’ve won four out of our last five Premiership matches, we’ve got 20 points out of the last 25, which is really timely for us.
Within those matches we’ve had a couple of really good performances, very different performances really, the Quins game at Tottenham where we showed a different side of ourselves, and the Bath game a really gritty win down there.
So those two important wins for us, and just performances that remind you what you’re capable of, which is really important.”
Saracens Men team to play Bristol Bears:
1 Mako Vunipola
2 Jamie George
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Maro Itoje
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Juan Martin Gonzalez
7 Ben Earl
8 Tom Willis
9 Ivan van Zyl
10 Owen Farrell (c)
11 Tom Parton
12 Nick Tompkins
13 Lucio Cinti
14 Rotimi Segun
15 Elliot Daly
Replacements:
16 Theo Dan
17 Eroni Mawi
18 Ollie Hoskins
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Theo McFarland
21 Billy Vunipola
22 Aled Davies
23 Alex Goode
