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Saracens v Sale Sharks Premiership Report

The feel-good factor from that excellent 5-pointer win at Welford Road lasted precisely one week and today brought us crashing back down to reality. Today’s game was flat and error-ridden that Sale Sharks exploited with ruthless efficiency. Sale are definitely bottom 3 (if not 2nd worst) team in the league and SOMEHOW the team once again delivered a horribly underwhelming show at home to secure 1 losing bonus point and nothing more. This report is naturally a short one as I somewhat lost interest about 60 minutes in and started cooking dinner instead! I should note I was not in attendance at StoneX today, couldn’t get out of plans made months ago and was forced to watch from the tv. Saracens ticketing office have made it impossible to try and transfer tickets over to anybody with their ridiculous and dysfunctional App (why do we even need an app anyway?) so, I couldn’t even give my own ticket to a mate who wanted to go. Grr grumble over.
SARRIES v SALE SHARKS: post match-related comments here

Sunday sees our first home game in the Gallagher Premiership and after last week’s unexpected win at Welford Road (we’d have lost that last year) I have to say I’m excited! Our opponents are Sale Sharks who didn’t have the best start to their campaign, losing at home to Bristol Bears. And after last years maulings (principally ta the hands of Noah Caluori) they can’t be relishing a trip to London.
Leicester Tigers v Saracens Premiership Report

Sunday was one of the most cat and mouse games of rugby I have ever watched. On arrival at Welford Road, drink in hand (alas only a Pepsi Max I’m afraid, I was driving to and from Leicester that day). We ended up watching the Tigers players walk over to the main stand from the adjacent hotel, and I feel one could be forgiven that this occasion held a bit more meaning for the supporters. I was attending the match with a good pal of mine who is a neutral/slight Saracens fan, and he seemed fascinated on the matchup between the backrows with the experience of Reffell, Cracknell and Wainwright against the bulk and power of Isiekwe, Barbeary and JMG. Mako v Marcus was also going to be interesting.What was clear was that there was genuine passion out there from both teams and sets of fans alike. Welford Road holds a special place in my heart, having visited numerous times years ago before the North stand (Pharmacy 2U, Holland and Barrett stand or whoever sponsors it) was built. I have been to Welford Road since 2009 but only in 2013 and then more recently 2023. All the same, the Welford road atmosphere is just as intimidating and noisy as it ever was, some things never change. That and the Crumbie terrace always being packed to the rafters. If the 2026-27 Gallagher Premiership was looking for a statement opening weekend, it got one. Somehow after a red card, TMO’s, numerous players unfortunately injured and Ben Earl in the centres, Saracens somehow coming out the right side of it all. I think we can believe the rebuild is going roughly to plan.
LEICESTER TIGERS V SARACENS: post match-related comment here

It’s nearly here – no matter what happened in the pre-season friendlies or the Premiership Cup games, the season starts this weekend. On Sunday we will find out whether all that promise and all that talk of scoring “a ton” was just that – talk. We come up against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road for our first Premiership encounter of the season and they don’t come much tougher! Welford Road is never an easy place to go and play.
2026/7 SEASON PREVIEW

Thanks once again to Tommy Kentish for an excellent and detailed preview of the up-coming season
Scarlets v Saracens Pre-Season Friendly Report

Scarlets did indeed pose rather a larger challenge than the previous pre season friendlies with played these past few weeks. To conclude our pre-season preparations, we got a scruffy but reasonable 14-26 win over Scarlets in Llaneli It certainly wasn’t the prettiest game of rugby and the conditions were squally blustery (see attached photos, the rain is sweeping in at an angle!) but with 4 different try-scorers, another impressive contribution from Sione Va’enuku and valuable minutes across the squad this was a useful test before the premiership season begins. Having taken up the very generous offer of hospitality in the Carwyn james lounge, a stay overnight at the Diplomat and coach travel to/fro the ground (my thanks to SSAaway and Scarlets for this), we made our way over to Llaneli on Friday afternoon. After a trip to the swimming pool and sauna, we put on our sarries jerseys and awaited departure to the stadium. On arrival, I must admit the staff were excellent and did indeed make us feel welcome, plus the food and drink was pretty tasty too! After many pints of Guinness and a few of the Double Dragon ale (a niche Scarlets one, I believe…) I filled in the score prediction form for 17-25 to us. I was very close as well, if only Scarlets had kicked a penalty at some point! The prize was a bottle of wine and to make things even more frustrating, the guy who did win it had the same forename as me, so I thought I did win until I heard the surname… Oh well maybe next time.We then moved to sit down 5 minutes before KO and observed Scarlets mascot high fiving various fans including our own Nige Eaton. Nice touch indeed from the Scarlets matchday team.
Scarlets v Saracens Pre-Season Friendly Preview

Right then. Down the M4 we go. It’s a Friday night under the Parc y Scarlets lights and I cannot wait. I viewed the Scarlets ticket/hotel packaged offered from the SSA and decided that it could be quite good fun to do. An unbeatable offer indeed, what with a hotel stay included and full welsh breakfast on the Saturday. Just the ticket after an evening of plenty of good rugby (hopefully) and beer (definitely). I should note that this is only the 4th time in 10 years we've encountered Scarlets in all fixtures (competitive or friendly) with the last time being 2 years ago, as pictured in the head image when we defeated Scarlets 40-21 at the StoneX in a pre season friendly. My thanks to David Loxham for the wonderful image of that outing. The precious time it was another mid season friendly at the StoneX in 2023 (another win) and then the time before was the last competitive fixture, a 22-22 draw in the European Cup when the likes of Chris Ashton was still a saracen (you can see Aled Davies who was quite a handy 9 for us if you look closely at the next picture).
FUN IN THE SUN

What a delightful afternoon. This was my first visit to Dillingham Park in Ampthill and hopefully not my last. Little DG and I took the shortish drive along the A507. Car parking was close by and free (as long as you minded the rabbit holes) and we met Mark McCall ! (Would have thought he was entitled to priority parking but there you go). A 5 minute walk through the park past the cricket pitch (with a vertiginous drop just feet from the boundary – wouldn’t want to be trying to stop a pull to square leg) and over the road led us through some beautiful sandy heathland (looked like excellent adder habitat although no self-respecting snake would have been within 100 yards of all those people). Entry was simple (and tickets just £10) and we found ourselves at one of the loveliest grounds I have ever been to. The pitch is cut into a hillside making it look like a natural amphitheatre with gently rising sandy banks on 2 sides allowing spectators to sit or stand and watch the game. Even more of a surprise was the dogs! You could bring your dog to the game and lots of people did: Dalmations, Labradors, Spaniels, Cockerpoos, Jack Russells – they were all there (what a shame I’d have brought my own if I have known!) The sun shone as we watched the last of the warm up. The PA was inaudible unless you were standing underneath it, which was how we picked up a change to the line up (more shortly) that Carre was being replaced by O’Driscoll.
Ampthill v Saracens Pre-Season Friendly Preview

If our first pre-season game against Cornish Pirates was about forging new friendships, this weekend is all about renewing old ones. The link between the two clubs has been extremely beneficial to both parties over the last few years. Sarries get game time for their up and coming prospects and “The Mob” get to fill out their squad with some Premiership quality.
Saracens v Northampton Saints Prem Cup Match Report

Sometimes the cliche is just too apt to avoid, so in the words of the late great Jimmy Greaves “it’s a game of two halves”. The final score of Saracens 96 - Northampton 42 might not seem too surprising looking at the two teamsheets, but I don’t think I have ever seen a game quite like it. With a total of 20 tries, 2 (I think) yellow cards and a move to uncontested scrums there was a heck of a lot going on. I have tried my best to detail what happened across the game but other recollections may vary!