TEAM NEWS | Saracens Men v Nottingham (PRC - Rd 3)
Manu Vunipola says the players are all focused on bouncing back this Saturday when they welcome Nottingham to StoneX Stadium for Round Three of the Premiership Rugby Cup.
The Men in Black have opened their cup campaign with defeats to Coventry and Gloucester, and are aware that they’ll need a win this weekend to reignite their hopes of qualifying for the last four.
The coaches have made four changes for the clash against The Archers, with two up front and two behind the scrum.
Tom West will make his home debut at loosehead, and he will have Tom Woolstencroft and Ollie Hoskins to keep him company in the front-row.
Hugh Tizard has recovered from injury to make his first start of the season, next to Callum Hunter-Hill in the second-row. Nick Isiekwe moves to blindside flanker, with Toby Knight and Tom Willis completing the back-row.
Ivan van Zyl starts for the first time in 23/24, and Vunipola will steer the ship in the number 10 shirt. Olly Hartley and captain Alex Lozowski maintain their midfield partnership, and Rotimi Segun comes in to start on the right wing with Alex Lewington and Tom Parton completing the back-three.
On the bench Sam Crean will be eyeing up another opportunity in the front-row, and Gareth Simpson could run out at StoneX for the first time since re-joining the club in the summer.
Vunipola insists the squad are working hard to get back to winning ways.
“We’re obviously disappointed with our last two performances. We’ve taken a hard look at ourselves and we want to get back to being the most physical team but also to start putting our words into action.
Fortunately we get another chance this weekend against Nottingham to bounce back. The whole squad is keen to start pulling together towards a performance we can build on.”
Saracens Men team to play Nottingham Rugby:
1 Tom West
2 Tom Woolstencroft
3 Ollie Hoskins
4 Callum Hunter-Hill
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Nick Isiekwe
7 Toby Knight
8 Tom Willis
9 Ivan Van Zyl
10 Manu Vunipola
11 Alex Lewington
12 Olly Hartley
13 Alex Lozowski (c)
14 Rotimi Segun
15 Tom Parton
Replacements:
16 Samson Adejimi
17 Sam Crean
18 Harvey Beaton
19 Nathan Michelow
20 Max Eke
21 Ollie Stonham
22 Gareth Simpson
23 Tobias Elliott
