TEAM NEWS | Northampton Saints v Saracens Men
Ben Harris says Saracens Men are looking to get their Premiership Rugby Cup campaign back on track when they head to Franklin’s Gardens to face Northampton Saints tomorrow evening.
The Men in Black fell just short at The Stoop last week in their opener despite a valiant effort, and once again a youthful side will take to the field safe in the knowledge that a victory will put them back in contention for a semi-final spot.
Eduardo Bello will make his debut for the club after recently finishing The Rugby Championship with Argentina, and he will be in the front-row alongside James Flynn and Ethan Lewis.
Alex Wardell and Kaden Pearce-Paul will run the lineout in the second-row, with an exciting back-row of Obinna Nkwocha, Toby Knight and Ollie Stonham.
Sam Bryan is at scrum-half to partner captain Manu Vunipola, and an unchanged midfield pairing of Josh Hallett and Brandon Jackson will be looking to unlock the defence once again.
Francis Moore will be on the left wing, with Harris on the right and Tobias Elliott continuing at full-back.
On the bench there is a potential debut for Max Eke up front, and Charlie Reynolds-West will be looking to inject pace in to the game in the same fashion as in West London last Wednesday.
Harris says the squad are all looking forward to another big challenge in the Cup.
“We’re all really excited to get another shot at it this week against Northampton. After the result against Harlequins that didn’t quite go our way we’re keen to bounce back this week by taking the positives of last week, like our fight and physicality, into the game this week.
We’re still a young group on the whole but it’s all about using the learnings from Quins and putting a good foot forward!”
Saracens Men team to play Northampton Saints:
1 James Flynn
2 Ethan Lewis
3 Eduardo Bello
4 Alex Wardell
5 Kaden Pearce-Paul
6 Obinna Nkwocha
7 Toby Knight
8 Ollie Stonham
9 Sam Bryan
10 Manu Vunipola (c)
11 Francis Moore
12 Josh Hallett
13 Brandon Jackson
14 Ben Harris
15 Tobias Elliott
Replacements:
16 Samson Adejimi
17 Jevaughn Warren
18 Christian Judge
19 Max Eke
20 Nathan Michelow
21 Charlie Bracken
22 Jenson McInulty
23 Charlie Reynolds-West