TEAM NEWS | Saracens Men v Leicester Tigers (GPR - Rd 6)
Tobias Elliott is looking to continue his outstanding start to the season as he starts his sixth consecutive Gallagher Premiership match when Leicester Tigers head to StoneX Stadium on Saturday evening.
The 21-year-old has already crossed for three tries this season and another successful outing would see the Men in Black remain top of the table ahead of the break for the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Director of Rugby Mark McCall has made a number of changes from the side that fought back at Ashton Gate last weekend to win in dramatic fashion, with the majority of those enforced due to the England call-ups being unavailable.
Kapeli Pifeleti comes in for his first start of the season at hooker with both Jamie George and Theo Dan called away on international duty, and he will pack down alongside Eroni Mawi and Marco Riccioni in the front-row. Rhys Carre has been ruled out through illness.
Theo McFarland shifts into the second row and is partnered with Hugh Tizard. After scoring against Bristol last Saturday, Toby Knight remains at openside flanker and is alongside Tom Willis and the returning Juan Martin Gonzalez in the back-row.
Ivan Van Zyl regains the captaincy and has Alex Goode as his half-back partner with Fergus Burke still recovering from a minor hamstring injury. A new centre partnership sees Nick Tompkins next to Lucio Cinti in the midfield.
Rotimi Segun and Tobias Elliott both start on the wing again, with Tom Parton coming in at full-back.
After impressing on loan at Ampthill, James Hadfield will be rewarded with a first Premiership appearance of the season off the bench, and Tim Swiel could make his Premiership debut for the club.
Elliott says he wants to ensure that Sarries end this block of Premiership matches on a high.
“Facing Leicester is always a massive occasion. They’re a strong team with a lot of history and we know we need to bring our best performance. All I want to do is help the team and put my best foot forward on the field.
It is all about the winning mentality. As soon as I’d got the Sale and Exeter games under my belt I felt much more settled in the side and can’t wait to go again on Saturday.”
Saracens Men team to play Leicester Tigers:
1 Eroni Mawi
2 Kapeli Pifeleti
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Theo McFarland
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Juan Martin Gonzalez
7 Toby Knight
8 Tom Willis
9 Ivan van Zyl (c)
10 Alex Goode
11 Rotimi Segun
12 Nick Tompkins
13 Lucio Cinti
14 Tobias Elliott
15 Tom Parton
Replacements:
16 James Hadfield
17 Phil Brantingham
18 Alec Clarey
19 Harry Wilson
20 Nathan Michelow
21 Gareth Simpson
22 Josh Hallett
23 Tim Swiel
