TEAM NEWS | Saracens Men v Harlequins (The Showdown 5)
Maro Itoje is excited to be back with Saracens in time for Showdown 5 in Association with StoneX at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
The England and Saracens skipper will lead out the Men in Black in front of a bumper crowd in North London against near neighbours Harlequins.
Director of Rugby Mark McCall has named a squad packed with returning internationals following the conclusion of the Six Nations as Sarries look to hit the ground running for the resumption of the Gallagher Premiership.
The coaches able to name a full international front row, with Fijian Eroni Mawi starting at loosehead. After picking up his 100th cap for England over the Six Nations campaign, Jamie George returns to the Saracens side at hooker, with Italian tighthead Marco Riccioni rounding off the front row.
In the engine room, Itoje skippers the side alongside former Harlequin Hugh Tizard who comes up against his previous employers for the third time this campaign.
The back-row sees the return of Theo McFarland at blindside as well as Argentinian Juan Martin Gonzalez at openside. After an impressive Six Nations tournament with England, Tom Willis starts at eight.
In the backs, Ivan Van Zyl continues at scrum half after the Springbok signed a new deal with the club this month, and he’s alongside Fergus Burke as the duo look to reestablish their partnership.
In the midfield, Nick Tompkins returns from international duty alongside Alex Lozowski who wears 13. Rotimi Segun makes his first competitive start since his 100th appearance for the club back in January. After scoring a hat-trick up in Scotland against Edinburgh last Friday night, Tobias Elliott starts his first Showdown on the right wing, with Elliot Daly returning at full-back.
Theo Dan returns to the bench after spending time in England camp, whilst Nick Isiekwe also returns to the fold. After sustaining an ankle injury in the reverse fixture against Harlequins back in October, Andy Onyeama-Christie is in line for his first competitive game of 2025.
Ahead of the game against Harlequins, Itoje is anticipating an almighty clash in one of Europe’s best sporting venues.
“When the fixtures come out at the start of the season this is always one that you circle straight away. To run out at this amazing stadium in front of so many fans is a memory that stays with us for a long time and there is enormous excitement amongst the squad about the occasion.
Coming back into the club earlier this week was great and it is always special to have everyone reunited for what is a massive run of games coming up.
Our matches against Harlequins are always huge and with so much riding on this game in terms of the league I’m sure Saturday will be no exception. They showed their quality when we played them earlier in the season so we know we’ll need to be at our best in Tottenham.”
Saracens Men team to play Harlequins:
1 Eroni Mawi
2 Jamie George
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Maro Itoje (c)
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Theo McFarland
7 Juan Martin Gonzalez
8 Tom Willis
9 Ivan van Zyl
10 Fergus Burke
11 Rotimi Segun
12 Nick Tompkins
13 Alex Lozowski
14 Tobias Elliott
15 Elliot Daly
Replacements:
16 Theo Dan
17 Phil Brantingham
18 Alec Clarey
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Andy Onyeama-Christie
21 Nathan Michelow
22 Gareth Simpson
23 Alex Goode
