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