Team news: Cornish Pirates vs Saracens Men
Jackson Wray will lead Saracens Men in their long-awaited Greene King IPA Championship season opener against Cornish Pirates on Saturday.
Mark McCall has made just two changes to the XV that started last Friday’s final pre-season fixture against Coventry as Duncan Taylor and Sean Maitland come in at outside centre and left wing respectively.
Dom Morris and Rotimi Segun, the players who had started in those spots on Friday night, are both named among the replacements, while the forward pack is unchanged from that 47-12 victory.
Richard Barrington, Kapeli Pifeleti and Vincent Koch make up an exciting front-row while Callum Hunter-Hill and Tim Swinson continue their all-Scottish second-row partnership.
Captain Wray is flanked by Mike Rhodes and Sean Reffell, while Manu Vunipola and Aled Davies will continue their half-back connection at Mennaye Field.
Joel Kpoku and Andy Christie provide some dynamic cover among the forwards on the bench, with Fijian Eroni Mawi and Alec Clarey likely to make their mark in what could be a physical encounter.
Saracens team to face Cornish Pirates:
15 Elliott Obatoyinbo
14 Alex Lewington
13 Duncan Taylor
12 Juan Pablo Socino
11 Sean Maitland
10 Manu Vunipola
9 Aled Davies
1 Richard Barrington
2 Kapeli Pifeleti
3 Vincent Koch
4 Callum Hunter-Hill
5 Tim Swinson
6 Mike Rhodes
7 Sean Reffell
8 Jackson Wray ©
Replacements
16 Sam Crean
17 Eroni Mawi
18 Alec Clarey
19 Joel Kpoku
20 Andy Christie
21 Tom Whiteley
22 Dom Morris
23 Rotimi Segun
