New Faces | Some key milestones across Saracens squads this weekend
The PREM Rugby Cup has long provided a platform for young, exciting prospects to announce themselves on the senior stage, and this season has proven no different. Across the last two weeks of Cup action alone, four players have been handed their Saracens debuts.
Supporters heading to StoneX Stadium this Saturday can expect to see three new faces in the matchday squad, with Vilikesa Nairau, Mathis Dehauteur and Seva Kava all in line to make their first senior appearances for the club.
Nairau will start from the off at tight head. The Fijian age grade international joined the Saracens squad in the summer but saw his early progress halted after suffering an Achilles injury during the previous campaign with CHAMP Rugby side Coventry. Since then, the 22 year old has worked tirelessly in the gym and on the training paddock to return to full fitness and is now set to make his debut in a London derby against Harlequins.
On the bench, there could be a first appearance for second row Mathis Dehauteur. The teenager joined the senior academy last year as part of the largest junior academy intake into a PREM side on record. Dehauteur has most recently been involved with France U20s training squads ahead of the U20 Six Nations Championship and has spent the majority of the season with Loughborough University, making his National League debut earlier in the campaign.
Also part of that recent junior academy graduate cohort, Seva Kava could make his Saracens debut should he be called upon from the bench. The winger, who is also comfortable in the centre, has been making a strong impression in the CHAMP with Ampthill, while also featuring for Bishop’s Stortford in National League One. Kava joined the Saracens academy after leaving Millfield School, following in the footsteps of fellow Old Millfieldians such as former Saracen Mako Vunipola and former Harlequin Chris Robshaw.
Saracens Women are also back in action this weekend as they travel to face bottom of the table Leicester Tigers. The trip to Mattioli Woods Welford Road presents an opportunity for Jodie Verghese to make her first start in the PWR league.
A former Loughborough University student, Verghese impressed throughout the PWR Cup at the start of the campaign, playing alongside Cup captain Louise McMillan, a partnership that will be renewed for her first league start this weekend. Having been named in recent England age grade squads, Verghese will look to build on her PWR debut, which came off the bench at Sandy Park against Exeter Chiefs towards the end of 2025.
