Saracens F.C. 2007–08

Saracens F.C., in the 2007-08 season, competed in the Guinness Premiership, the EDF Energy Cup and the Heineken Cup.

Transfers

Preparation for the 2007/08 seasons saw somewhat less activity in comings and goings from the squad, reflecting the relatively solid 2006/07 season. Among signings to date, specialist cover for Glen Jackson came in the form of Scotland fly half Gordon Ross, while South African utility back Brent Russell is highly regarded by many Springbok fans.

All Black second row Chris Jack joined Saracens after the 2007 World Cup.

In addition to external signings, a number of players going through Saracens' academy system made first team debuts, including a number during the time of the 2007 Rugby World Cup when injury problems left a number of senior players unavailable for selection.

Players in

Players out

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Matt Cairns Hooker England England
Andy Kyriacou Hooker England England
Fabio Ongaro Hooker Italy Italy
Alex Walker Hooker Australia Australia
Matias Aguero Prop Italy Italy
Census Johnston Prop Samoa Samoa
Aaron Liffchak Prop England England
Nick Lloyd Prop Scotland Scotland
Tom Mercey Prop England England
Cobus Visagie Prop South Africa South Africa
Kevin Yates Prop England England
Iain Fullarton Lock Scotland Scotland
Chris Jack Lock New Zealand New Zealand
Tom Ryder Lock England England
Hugh Vyvyan Lock England England
Tom Audley Flanker England England
Kris Chesney Flanker England England
Paul Gustard Flanker England England
Richard Hill Flanker England England
Sakiusa Matadigo Flanker Fiji Fiji
Andy Saull Flanker England England
David Seymour Flanker England England
Player Position Union
Donald Barrell Number 8 England England
Guthrie Hall Number 8 South Africa South Africa
Ben Skirving Number 8 England England
Alan Dickens Scrum-half England England
Neil de Kock Scrum-half South Africa South Africa
Mosese Rauluni Scrum-half Fiji Fiji
Alex Goode Fly-half England England
Glen Jackson Fly-half New Zealand New Zealand
Gordon Ross Fly-half Scotland Scotland
Andy Farrell Centre England England
Rodd Penney Centre England England
Adam Powell Centre England England
Kameli Ratuvou Centre Fiji Fiji
Kevin Sorrell Centre England England
Noah Cato Wing England England
Richard Haughton Wing England England
Dan Scarbrough Wing England England
Edd Thrower Wing England England
Francisco Leonelli Fullback Argentina Argentina
Brent Russell Fullback South Africa South Africa

Guinness Premiership

The loss of Glen Jackson and Brent Russell for the opening of the season due to pre-season injuries represented a significant blow to the club, but nonetheless the season began well with a return to winning ways against Wasps in the opening day London double-header. Defeat at the first home game by early pace setters Gloucester brought the team down to earth, before a solid away win at struggling Leeds, revenge for the previous season's home and away defeats away at Worcester, and a win back at Vicarage Road over Leicester. Defensive frailties saw Saracens go into the Autumn Premiership break for cup matches third in the table, but also with the third worst defensive record, after a defeat away at Sale.

The brief return of the Premiership action at the end of November nestled between two phases of EDF Energy and Heineken Cup action saw Saracens come away with a hard fought win against London Irish in a game where the lead changed hands several times, with never more than a score between the teams.

The return to Premiership action over Christmas and the New Year began well for Saracens with a win away at London rivals Harlequins in chilly conditions at the Stoop. Saracens, once again though, were not able to put their regular Christmas period malaise behind them against a talented but under-performing Newcastle side back at Vicarage Road, as defensive weaknesses and coming out of the blocks slowly saw Saracens take only a losing bonus point from their final fixture of 2007 in the Premiership, though it was enough to see them go into the New Year in third place in the domestic league.

The buildup to the first game of 2008 was dominated by talk away from the field of play, with the news that former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones was to succeed Alan Gaffney at the top of the coaching subject with Gaffney adopting the same consulting role Jones had been providing, whilst rumours of substantial cash investment from South African rugby interests abounded.

When the focus returned to on-field matters, Saracens suffered a second successive defeat in the Premiership, this time away at Bristol, failing to take even a losing bonus point for the first time in any competition in the season and raising fears of the all too familiar Saracens' winter slump. Only the outcome of other games allowed Saracens to slip only one place to fourth place.

2007-08 Guinness Premiership Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Difference Try Bonus Points Losing Bonus Points Points
Gloucester Rugby 22 15 0 7 551 377 174 7 7 74
London Wasps (C) 22 14 2 6 599 459 140 7 3 70
Bath Rugby 22 15 0 7 526 387 139 6 3 69
Leicester Tigers 22 13 0 9 539 428 111 6 6 64
Sale Sharks 22 14 0 8 481 374 107 4 3 63
Harlequins 22 12 0 10 480 440 40 7 8 63
London Irish 22 13 0 9 433 382 51 2 5 59
Saracens 22 11 0 11 533 525 8 3 5 52
Bristol Rugby 22 7 1 14 393 473 -80 3 5 37*
Worcester Warriors 22 6 2 14 387 472 -85 1 7 36
Newcastle Falcons 22 7 0 15 333 542 -209 1 5 34
Leeds Carnegie 22 2 1 19 336 732 -396 0 2 12

* Bristol Rugby deducted one point for fielding an ineligible player in the match against London Wasps on 22 December 2007

Green background are play off places.Pink background is the relegation place
Reference www.guinnesspremiership.com: Updated 2008-05-04 --- Current English Leagues

Heineken Cup

Saracens' return to Heineken Cup action also saw the return of Glasgow Warriors to Vicarge Road for the opening game of their European Campaign, a team they met both in group action and at the quarter-final stage in the European Challenge Cup of the previous season. As in the two home games against the same team in the previous season, Saracens ran out bonus point winners but with defensive frailties causing anxious moments going into the final minutes of the game.

Saracens' luck did not hold the following week when they travelled to face Biarritz Olympique. Having been ahead several times during the game, they finally went down to a single point defeat when Biarritz scored a penalty from near the half-way line in the dying moments of the game and despite outscoring their opponents by three tries to one had to settle for a losing bonus point.

The visit of Viadana the following month saw Saracens notch up a comfortable win in a game that saw the first team debut of both Chris Jack and Brent Russell. Russell was to win the man of the match for award in a game that saw Saracens outclass their opponents by ten tries to one despite very bad weather conditions.

With Glasgow edging out Biarritz in tight game the following day, Saracens record of taking a bonus point of some description from every game saw them top the pool table at the half way point ahead of their French and Scottish rivals, all three on a record of two wins and a defeat.

Viadana looked to avenge their 71-7 defeat at Vicarage Road the following week in the return fixture in Italy, making ten changes to their starting line-up. These changes appeared to deliver results for Viadana with the home side going into the half-time break with the four-try bonus point already secured and a single penalty from Glen Jackson the only score for Saracens to leave a 23-point deficit. Saracens though were to show composure in a second half, in which they played to their strengths and scored 31 unanswered points, more than half from the boot of Glen Jackson, to take the game and keep them at the top of the table at the end of the weekend.

2007–08 Heineken Cup Pool 4 table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Tries for Tries against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
England Saracens 6 5 0 1 225 119 27 11 3 1 24
France Biarritz 6 4 0 2 109 116 9 10 1 1 18
Scotland Glasgow Warriors 6 3 0 3 130 127 12 14 1 3 16
Italy Viadana 6 0 0 6 106 208 12 25 2 1 3
Reference www.ercrugby.com: Updated 19 January 2008 --- 2007–08 Heineken Cup pools

Saracens qualified for the quarter-finals for the first time in their history and were drawn at home to Ospreys. Despite being underdogs, Saracens' won 19-10 with a try from Francisco Leonelli and 14 points from the boot of fly-half Glen Jackson. In the semi-final, Saracens were narrowly beaten by eventual winners Munster at the Ricoh Arena.

EDF Energy Cup

The first round of cup competition saw Saracens win comfortably away at Leeds in the EDF Energy Cup, despite conceding four tries. Another bonus point win over Bristol back at Vicarage Road positioned Saracens well with maximum points ahead of a difficult away trip to Llanelli.

After the break for Heineken Cup action and a single round of Premiership action, Saracens failed once again to win away in Wales, but taking a losing bonus point and a try bonus too was enough to see them qualify for the semi-final stage for the first time in their Anglo-Welsh cup history, ahead of their opponents Llanelli Scarlets.

2007-08 EDF Energy Cup Pool D Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Tries for Tries against Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
England Saracens 3 2 0 1 123 79 15 10 3 1 12
Wales Llanelli Scarlets 3 2 0 1 106 69 13 9 2 1 11
England Bristol 3 1 1 1 46 69 5 7 0 0 6
England Leeds Carnegie 3 0 1 2 60 118 8 15 1 0 3
Reference www.edfenergycup.com: Updated 2007-12-03 --- 2007-08 EDF Energy Cup

In the semi-final at the Millennium Stadium, Saracens were beaten 30-3 by Ospreys. Glen Jackson scored the team's only points with a penalty in the second half.

Results

Date Fixture Home Team Score Away Team Saracens Result Venue
Competition Round/Stage Home Away
15-Sep-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 1 London Wasps 19 29 Saracens Won Twickenham
23-Sep-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 2 Saracens 31 38 Gloucester Rugby Lost Vicarage Road
30-Sep-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 3 Leeds Carnegie 7 31 Saracens Won Headingley
06-Oct-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 4 Worcester Warriors 16 21 Saracens Won Sixways Stadium
14-Oct-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 5 Saracens 36 19 Leicester Tigers Won Vicarage Road
19-Oct-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 6 Sale Sharks 34 30 Saracens Lost Edgeley Park
26-Oct-2007 EDF Energy Cup Pool D, Round 1 Leeds Carnegie 28 46 Saracens Won Headingley
04-Nov-2007 EDF Energy Cup Pool D, Round 2 Saracens 45 15 Bristol Rugby Won Vicarage Road
11-Nov-2007 Heineken Cup Pool 4, Round 1 Saracens 33 31 Glasgow Warriors Won Vicarage Road
17-Nov-2007 Heineken Cup Pool 4, Round 2 Biarritz Olympique 22 21 Saracens Lost Parc des Sports Aquilera
04-Nov-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 7 Saracens 24 20 London Irish Won Vicarage Road
01-Dec-2007 EDF Energy Cup Pool D, Round 3 Llanelli Scarlets 36 32 Saracens Lost Stradey Park
08-Dec-2007 Heineken Cup Pool 4, Round 3 Saracens 71 7 Rugby Viadana Won Vicarage Road
15-Dec-2007 Heineken Cup Pool 4, Round 4 Viadana 26 34 Saracens Won Stadio Luigi Zaffanella
22-Dec-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 8 Harlequins 20 27 Saracens Won Twickenham Stoop
30-Dec-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 9 Saracens 19 22 Newcastle Falcons Lost Vicarage Road
19-Oct-2007 Guinness Premiership Round 6 Bristol Rugby 18 3 Saracens Lost Memorial Stadium

Sources

External links

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