TEAM NEWS | Saracens Men v Harlequins
Coach Kelly Brown is anticipating an intense London Derby as Saracens Men meet Harlequins for the second time in a fortnight on Saturday at StoneX Stadium.
The former Scotland skipper is coaching the side during the Premiership Rugby Cup alongside James Tirrell, and they have named a strong squad for the opener against Quins.
Richard Barrington, who has made over 200 appearances for the Men in Black starts at loosehead with Ethan Lewis and Alec Clarey also in the front-row, both of whom featured in the league against London Irish last week.
Cameron Boon and Callum Hunter-Hill start in an energetic second-row partnership, with a back-row of Theo McFarland, Sean Reffell and captain Andy Christie.
Ruben de Haas and Manu Vunipola will be looking to express themselves at nine and ten, with an experienced midfield of Duncan Taylor and Dom Morris.
Rotimi Segun starts on the left wing fresh from scoring twice last week, whilst Ben Harris returns to the right wing and Elliott Obatoyinbo continues at full-back.
On the bench there is a vast amount of academy talent, with the likes of Ollie Stonham, Toby Knight and Brandon Jackson all eyeing up opportunities to keep impressing after their recent appearances for Saracens Storm.
Brown says that this competition is a great chance for a number of players to demonstrate their quality.
“It’s a really exciting competition for these guys and it’s going to give them opportunities to put their hands up. Any time a player gets an opportunity to pull on the Saracens shirt it’s so exciting so that’s why the Premiership Cup is such an important tool for us as a club.”
He continued: “We played Quins a couple of weeks ago and we were very much second best for quite a large part of that game, but we managed to come back. I’m sure both clubs have a lot of things they are wanting to work on and it’ll be another very intense London derby.”
Saracens Men team to play Harlequins:
1 Richard Barrington
2 Ethan Lewis
3 Alec Clarey
4 Cameron Boon
5 Callum Hunter-Hill
6 Theo McFarland
7 Sean Reffell
8 Andy Christie (c)
9 Ruben de Haas
10 Manu Vunipola
11 Rotimi Segun
12 Duncan Taylor
13 Dom Morris
14 Ben Harris
15 Elliott Obatoyinbo
Replacements:
16 Theo Dan
17 Sam Crean
18 Sam Wainwright
19 Ollie Stonham
20 Toby Knight
21 Ivan van Zyl
22 Brandon Jackson
23 Tom Mills
