WHILE SARACENS, UNDER other circumstances, could have boasted at having three players back from World Cup final duty this weekend, the messaging in their team selection was clear.
They are reigning European champions, but this title defence comes with certain holds barred.
Mark McCall warned as much last week after shunning the Heineken Champions Cup launch day in Cardiff. The looming threat of a 35-point deduction turns a two-pronged trophy chase into the single outright priority of Premiership survival.
And yet, even without the headline acts, Saracens’ rule-flouting work to build an incredibly strong squad means they have named a quality side to take on Racing 92 tomorrow.
Ben Spencer and Jack Singleton are the two men who do return from England duty, while Springbok prop Vincent Koch is among the replacements. And beyond the exciting prospect of 19-year-old Manu Vunipola deputising for Owen Farrell, there is a fairly familiar look to the back-line with Alex Lozowski and Sean Maitland.
Of course, it’s the pack that is hardest hit with Billy and Mako Vunipola, Maro Itoje, Jamie George, and George Kruis given at least an extra week’s rest.
Against many sides, they would still be hotly-fancied to succeed in claiming an away victory led by Rhys Carre, Will Skelton and Nick Isiekwe. But against a side as richly resourced as Racing 92, the ever-belligerent English champions have dangled an asterisk over this Champions Cup – they will certainly be eager to pass some on with a few now adorning their Premiership titles.
However, even a pointless return from Paris tomorrow will not kill off this Saracens outfit. To stay alive they likely won’t even need to slot seven big names back in next weekend when they host Ospreys.
How they approach the December back-to-back with Munster will be most telling.
“I think they could still go and win the game,” Johnny Sexton said of Saracens’ under-strength opening line-up en route to Paris.
“They have such a strong squad that even if they leave those seven internationals out…
“I remember last year they played a game without Owen Farrell – and that would be a loss to any team – but Alex Goode played 10 and they played unbelievable.
“So I think they’ve got such an incredible team that I actually think they still fancy them to go and win in Paris.”
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, who has not let any questions linger over the validity of Saracens’ Champions Cup final win over his side, took a player welfare perspective on McCall’s line-up.
After all, England’s World Cup involvement lasted two weeks longer than Ireland’s. And with the RFU taking a leaf out of Ireland’s player management books in recent years, it would certainly seem prudent to leave a similar window for return to action post-Japan.
“We’ve had our guys back two weeks prior to them,” said Cullen, “so if you think about winding the clock back two weeks for us, what did we do with our group of players, and none of them were included two weeks ago.
“So that’s probably were they’re at. We didn’t have any of our World Cup players playing two weeks ago and that’s probably where they’re at.
“But we’ve enough to bloody worry about ourselves.”
Last year’s runners-up get underway at 3.15pm today; the reigning champs kick-off 24 hours later. Whatever other head start they give rivals is up to them.
Racing 92
15. Brice Dulin
14. Teddy Thomas
13. Virimi Vakatawa
12. Henry Chavancy (Capt)
11. Juan Imhoff
10. Finn Russell
9. Maxime Machenaud
1. Eddy Ben Arous
2. Camille Chat
3. Cedate Gomes Sa
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Boris Palu
6. Wenceslas Lauret
7. Baptiste Chouzenoux
8. Antonie Claassen
Replacements:
16. Teddy Baubigny
17. Hassane Kolingar
18. Ali Oz
19. Dominic Bird
20. Yoan Tanga
21. Teddy Iribaren
22. Ben Volavola
23. Simon Zebo
Saracens
15. Matt Gallagher
14. Sean Maitland
13. Alex Lozowski
12. Nick Tompkins
11. Roti Segun
10. Manu Vunipola
9. Ben Spencer
1. Rhys Carre
2. Jack Singleton
3. Titi Lamositele
4. Will Skelton
5. Callum Hunter-Hill
6. Nick Isiekwe
7. Ben Earl
8. Jackson Wray (Capt)
Replacements:
16. Joe Gray
17. Sam Crean
18. Vincent Koch
19. Joel Kpoku
20. Sean Reffell
21. Tom Whiteley
22. Damian Willemse
23. Duncan Taylor
