TEAM NEWS | Saracens Men v Sale Sharks (GPR - Rd 2)
Hugh Tizard is looking to mark his 50th appearance for the club with another strong performance as Saracens Men aim to continue their encouraging start to the season on Saturday afternoon.
The second-rower will bring up his half century as the Men in Black return to StoneX Stadium for the first time in 133 days, with Sale Sharks the visitors for Round Two of the Gallagher Premiership.
Director of Rugby Mark McCall has made just one change from the side that started the season with a bonus-point win over Gloucester last weekend, with Ben Earl coming back in to the starting line-up.
Sarries marked the beginning of a new era with a new-look squad by leaving Kingsholm with all five points, and a second consecutive victory would see them maintain their perfect start to the new campaign.
Rhys Carre, Theo Dan and Marco Riccioni continue in an all-international front-row, with captain Maro Itoje alongside Tizard again in the second-row.
Earl comes in to the back-row alongside Andy Onyeama-Christie who was Player of the Match against Gloucester, and Tom Willis keeps his spot at the base of the scrum.
Ivan van Zyl and Fergus Burke continue their highly encouraging half-back partnership, and the midfield of Nick Tompkins and Alex Lozowski also stays the same.
Wingers Rotimi Segun and Tobias Elliott will be looking to get on the scoresheet again after impressing last week, with Elliot Daly continuing at full-back.
On the bench there is a huge boost as Theo McFarland returns from Pacific Nations Cup duty, and Jamie George will be looking to have a similar impact after a 30 minute spell in Gloucester which included an audacious no-look pass.
Tizard is excited to be back at StoneX on a landmark day.
“Making 50 appearances for this club is something I am very proud of and I hope to make many more over the coming years.
This group is incredibly exciting and with the start we made last week we can’t wait to build on that and put in a strong performance in front of our home fans.”
Saracens Men team to play Sale Sharks:
1 Rhys Carre
2 Theo Dan
3 Marco Riccioni
4 Maro Itoje (c)
5 Hugh Tizard
6 Andy Onyeama-Christie
7 Ben Earl
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 Jamie George
17 Sam Crean
18 Alec Clarey
19 Nick Isiekwe
20 Theo McFarland
21 Toby Knight
22 Charlie Bracken
23 Alex Goode
