Saracens vs Exeter - Sat 3pm

[Puja]

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Noah Caluori, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Max Malins, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan van Zyl (c), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 21 Charlie Bracken, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Rotimi Segun

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ethan Roots, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Julian Heaven, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Lewis Pearson, 20 Kane James, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Will Rigg

Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Dan Jones, Calum Howard
TMO: David Rose

[twitchy]

Do we know what maro's injury is?

[Captainhaircut]

Knee I think. Targeting first week of January for comeback. Feels like a well earned Xmas break tbh.

[Danno]

Yeah it's his knee. Ruck tried to make a big deal of it, but he's only out for another two weeks and according to McCall it's precautionary

[FKAS]

Itoje getting a few weeks off should be good in the long run. Shame Sodeke still can't get a look in.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Itoje getting a few weeks off should be good in the long run. Shame Sodeke still can't get a look in.

He’s been travelling reserve. To be fair Harry Wilson has taken his chance.

[FKAS]

Itoje getting a few weeks off should be good in the long run. Shame Sodeke still can't get a look in.

He’s been travelling reserve. To be fair Harry Wilson has taken his chance.

He's a good squad man but he's soon to turn 30. At some point you need to drip feed game time to the potential next big thing. Unless he's not impressing in training of course.

[fivepointer]

Big win for Exe. Fair play to them. They've turned it around after a couple of poor seasons.

[Oakboy]

Big win for Exe. Fair play to them. They've turned it around after a couple of poor seasons.

Yes. Their second and back rows may not look top notch on paper but they rarely lose out to any opposition. Individually, all five are 8/10 week after week and as a unit they are 9/10.

Slade was far better than Farrell of the tee which helped.

[FKAS]

Big win for Exe. Fair play to them. They've turned it around after a couple of poor seasons.

Yes. Their second and back rows may not look top notch on paper but they rarely lose out to any opposition. Individually, all five are 8/10 week after week and as a unit they are 9/10.

Slade was far better than Farrell of the tee which helped.

Fisilau is the only player not capped in that Chiefs back five of the scrum. There's been some canny signings by Baxter. The two Wallabies have definitely given them an injection of class that they needed.

Ah Farrell not doing off the tee, the Iceman melts...

[twitchy]

Maybe this lad baxter does know what he is talking about after all.

[CunningPunter]

From the BBC report:

The Chiefs' start was made worse when Tom Hooper was sent to the sin-bin for a tackle where he made contact with Dan's knee. The fact the initial contact was with the thigh was what prevented referee Luke Pearce from producing a 20-minute red card.

Eh? I know they were talking about reducing the tackle height, but what is going on here? Is this perhaps entry to a ruck?

[Puja]

From the BBC report:

The Chiefs' start was made worse when Tom Hooper was sent to the sin-bin for a tackle where he made contact with Dan's knee. The fact the initial contact was with the thigh was what prevented referee Luke Pearce from producing a 20-minute red card.

Eh? I know they were talking about reducing the tackle height, but what is going on here? Is this perhaps entry to a ruck?

It was entry into a ruck - Hooper launched himself like a missile and both he and Dan were lucky he didn't make better contact. Wasn't deliberate, but definitely reckless - yellow was the right call.

Puja

[FKAS]

From the BBC report:

The Chiefs' start was made worse when Tom Hooper was sent to the sin-bin for a tackle where he made contact with Dan's knee. The fact the initial contact was with the thigh was what prevented referee Luke Pearce from producing a 20-minute red card.

Eh? I know they were talking about reducing the tackle height, but what is going on here? Is this perhaps entry to a ruck?

It was entry into a ruck - Hooper launched himself like a missile and both he and Dan were lucky he didn't make better contact. Wasn't deliberate, but definitely reckless - yellow was the right call.

Puja

Very much so, attempted a legal clean out shoulder to thigh but far too eager, lost his footing and ended sliding into the knee. Definitely reckless as you say.

Good refereeing.

[Captainhaircut]

Great to see the Iceman miss two tackles in a row in the lead to Fisilau’s second try. I hear he kicked poorly as well.

For all the chat about the elite impact of Farrell, they have won 3 lost 4 in the league. One of the 3 won being against Newcastle. Lost at Quins too who are a rabble. Very fortunate they have an injury depleted Gloucester this weekend.

Aside from that, I really like Fisilau. If we’re committed to a more mobile 8, he’s a great fit for that.

[Puja]

Aside from that, I really like Fisilau. If we’re committed to a more mobile 8, he’s a great fit for that.

I was just thinking that about Fisilau. His first two (full) seasons were a little bit flattering to deceive - you could see his talent and he would bring some great bits of performance, but it wasn't coming consistently enough and there were too many errors. Unsurprising for a 20/21 year old in a struggling team. This year looks like he's really moved up a level and started to come into some really good, consistent form. Really great to see him develop and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him in the 6N squad, even if only to learn and show him where he needs to get to.

A back row of Earl/Pollock/Fisilau probably wouldn't be balanced for a match in the slightest, but it'd be fun to watch go in training!

Puja

[TheNomad]

A back row of Earl/Pollock/Fisilau probably wouldn't be balanced for a match in the slightest, but it'd be fun to watch go in training!

He's definitely developing nicely - brings a little bit of many things to the back row. Certainly in terms of carrying and tackling, slightly less so at the breakdown (from what I can tell) and not so much as a line out option.

But he could absolutely be part of a functioning unit.

Pollock is likely to stay as a sub for now, I'd guess. You could see him working with a Pepper/CCS and Curry maybe?

Another good prospect in the back row!

[oldbackrow]

Great to see the Iceman miss two tackles in a row in the lead to Fisilau’s second try. I hear he kicked poorly as well.

For all the chat about the elite impact of Farrell, they have won 3 lost 4 in the league. One of the 3 won being against Newcastle. Lost at Quins too who are a rabble. Very fortunate they have an injury depleted Gloucester this weekend.

Aside from that, I really like Fisilau. If we’re committed to a more mobile 8, he’s a great fit for that.

Like Alex Goode I just dont get all this hate on Farrell. If you want to question the loss, have a look at Malins contributions or the lack of impact from both Tompkins and Hartley. There also seems to be little about Slade throwing the intercept for Calouri as well as falling off 2 relatively easy tackles.

[Puja]

Great to see the Iceman miss two tackles in a row in the lead to Fisilau’s second try. I hear he kicked poorly as well.

For all the chat about the elite impact of Farrell, they have won 3 lost 4 in the league. One of the 3 won being against Newcastle. Lost at Quins too who are a rabble. Very fortunate they have an injury depleted Gloucester this weekend.

Aside from that, I really like Fisilau. If we’re committed to a more mobile 8, he’s a great fit for that.

Like Alex Goode I just dont get all this hate on Farrell. If you want to question the loss, have a look at Malins contributions or the lack of impact from both Tompkins and Hartley. There also seems to be little about Slade throwing the intercept for Calouri as well as falling off 2 relatively easy tackles.

I think a large part of it is that he so often seems to be able to get parachuted in for England/the Lions based on absolutely no form whatsoever, because he's "a big game player" with "experience that no-one else has", and the media will laud and promote him for doing something as simple as making a basic pass for someone else to score. 2025!Farrell is so far off being an asset to this England team that we're desperate that it doesn't happen again, so we'll cheer anything which punctures the image of the ice man who doesn't ever miss the important ones and therefore must be picked over those flakes.

Puja

[Danno]

Slade can fuck off to the glue factory as well

[FKAS]

Agreed re Farrell, he should not be back with England. There's always a concern he'll be brought back in despite us having three better 10s in the squad and finally developing some quality inside centres. Not overly sure he should be starting for Sarries but I don't think they trust Burke's kicking at goal and with Lozowski injured they want Farrell in there and they have some good centres they are keen to play.

Slade seems to be playing pretty well for Exeter, not sure he should be England either. Feels like a hold over until we have enough squad experience to not need that experienced head. I gather he sets a good example in training which can be useful but only so far of Dingwall, Lawrence, Atkinson, Ojomoh and Freeman are all for the 6N then we are good to go.

[Oakboy]

Agreed re Farrell, he should not be back with England. There's always a concern he'll be brought back in despite us having three better 10s in the squad and finally developing some quality inside centres. Not overly sure he should be starting for Sarries but I don't think they trust Burke's kicking at goal and with Lozowski injured they want Farrell in there and they have some good centres they are keen to play.

Slade seems to be playing pretty well for Exeter, not sure he should be England either. Feels like a hold over until we have enough squad experience to not need that experienced head. I gather he sets a good example in training which can be useful but only so far of Dingwall, Lawrence, Atkinson, Ojomoh and Freeman are all for the 6N then we are good to go.

Slade's international days are over. IMO, he has been a good benchmark - overtake him if you are good enough. Now, for the first time since his debut, players have done just that.

For Exeter, he is still a force to be reckoned with. He has shown that he can comfortably take on the role of main place-kicker this late in his career. Out-performing Farrell was a statement. Amongst other criticisms, he has been accused of being slow. I always thought that was an ignorant misunderstanding of a flowing running style. His breakaway try suggested he still has a bit of pace. Nobody reeled him in even by a yard.

[p/d]

Slade can fuck off to the glue factory as well

Just trying to read between the lines here

[FKAS]

Agreed re Farrell, he should not be back with England. There's always a concern he'll be brought back in despite us having three better 10s in the squad and finally developing some quality inside centres. Not overly sure he should be starting for Sarries but I don't think they trust Burke's kicking at goal and with Lozowski injured they want Farrell in there and they have some good centres they are keen to play.

Slade seems to be playing pretty well for Exeter, not sure he should be England either. Feels like a hold over until we have enough squad experience to not need that experienced head. I gather he sets a good example in training which can be useful but only so far of Dingwall, Lawrence, Atkinson, Ojomoh and Freeman are all for the 6N then we are good to go.

Slade's international days are over. IMO, he has been a good benchmark - overtake him if you are good enough. Now, for the first time since his debut, players have done just that.

For Exeter, he is still a force to be reckoned with. He has shown that he can comfortably take on the role of main place-kicker this late in his career. Out-performing Farrell was a statement. Amongst other criticisms, he has been accused of being slow. I always thought that was an ignorant misunderstanding of a flowing running style. His breakaway try suggested he still has a bit of pace. Nobody reeled him in even by a yard.

I never thought of Slade as slow. Under powered in the carry, especially at international level, but not slow. He's just not rapid, doesn't help at international level what's quick for club level suddenly looks a bit on the average side.

[Danno]

Slade can fuck off to the glue factory as well

Just trying to read between the lines here