PREVIEW | Sorrell relishing Bordeaux clash
Backs and Attack Coach Kevin Sorrell has said the group are relishing the opportunity of returning to the Stade Chaban-Delmas this Saturday.
Sarries travel back to Bordeaux for the Investec Champions Cup Last 16, and Sorrell knows that the North Londoners will need to be at their best after a tough day at the office back in January.
“It was thunderbolt after thunderbolt in that game there in January, they capitalised massively on transitions and errors we made and cashed in on all of them. They punished a lot or our errors which was a big lesson.
It was almost a bit of an opportunity to come together and go back to the basics of us and what made us strong. We had a good chat after that game and had a couple of good results off the back of it.
We coughed the ball up cheaply and their back three are incredible and with Jalibert pulling the strings you ended up in your half a lot and chasing them. You have to understand how that happened. We probably had three attacks in the first half because of what we did with our possession of the ball. It is trying to build a plan to put pressure on them and not let them have it their own way.”
Sorrell has been at the club for all of the European successes in 2016, 2017 and 2019 and says they will draw on those memories ahead of this weekend.
“We have spoken about that previously about games like the one way back when we beat Toulouse over there and then we beat Toulon in 2016 when no one had beaten them there, the Leinster game in 2020, the quarter final there. We are relishing the prospect of going back there and challenging ourselves in that atmosphere.”
When asked about fitness of the squad, he also gave an update on Maro Itoje who may well return to action.
“He should be around and fine for selection. He has been training this week and we have got a few extra bodies from last time we went down there.
“It is his experience in those big games. He has played in finals, semi-finals and World Cups and he has experience of games in hostile environments when the crowd are whipped up and it is a frenzy. It is how you deal with that and try to keep your composure there, it is always good having a senior player back in there who has got those experiences.
That is what is good about the lads here. When they are not involved they still work, he would have done work with Ian Peel the last two weeks in terms of the lineout and they still contribute off the pitch even if they are not involved on the pitch.”
He also paid tribute to Andy Christie’s contribution this season after the news that he will be out for around 12 weeks with a broken arm.
“It is the same arm. I don’t know the ins and outs of it but it is same arm and is a massive blow for Andy because his game has progressed massively in the last 12 months in terms of consistency in his actions. To lose him is a massive blow.”
