Post by Jamie Crawford on Jan 19, 2021 13:35:21 GMT
Knights v Saracens in Trailfinders Challenge Cup
Sponsored by 24 IT Services (who have organised the live streaming from Castle Park.)
“Doncaster Knights, Ealing Trailfinders and Saracens are pleased to announce they will take part in an exciting pre-season tournament ahead of the 2020/21 Greene King IPA Championship.
Doncaster Knights Director of Rugby, Steve Boden, said: “We are really excited to be playing rugby again and especially looking forward to the chance to test ourselves against such high-quality opposition.
After just seven weeks of training, this competition will be a huge challenge for us, but one that will provide plenty of learning opportunities for our young group and showcase the quality and talent within the Greene King IPA Championship”
Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall said: “We’re delighted to be playing in the Trailfinders Challenge Cup ahead of the new season and thankful to those who have made it possible.”” (DRFC website)
We are very fortunate to be included in the pre-season tournament against what will surely be the top two teams in the Championship this season. I feel that we’ve got to thank our fantastic organisation, ground, group of players plus Robin (Bomber) Hislop who played for Sarries on loan. It offers the greatest test that Bodes could ask for, for his new team of Knights.
“Saracens on their way to tackle Doncaster Knights…
(The Cup starts on January 16th, then...)
…Doncaster host Saracens – who boast England captain Owen Farrell and British Lion Maro Itoje – a week later and Ealing on Saturday, January 30. It is a huge boost, especially for Knights and Ealing who have not seen any action since March due to Covid-19. Knights director of rugby Steve Boden, whose squad have been training for seven weeks, said: “We are really excited to be playing rugby again and especially looking forward to testing ourselves against such high-quality opposition...”” (Yorkshire Post 07/01/21)
We don’t know what strength team Sarries will field but on 16th January Trailfinders hosted Saracens at Vallis Way and Ealing won a very close game 27 – 26. Both sides played very well and defended excellently. Perhaps Ealing had a few more missed chances to score but Sarries missed two conversions, which would have meant they’d have won 27 – 30. A Commentator said that he was about to say that he had never seen Will Hooley (Sarries Fly Half) miss but then he missed two! Hooley kicked seven from seven last time out! It can be argued that Sarries didn’t seem to want to win as much as Trailfinders but I feel that an Ealing win in a close result was a fair outcome on the day. We can only hope that Sarries don’t play more of their International big guns against us on Saturday. To be fair Trailfinders defence made Billy Vunipola look average and we’ve seen him demolish International teams!
Trailfinders scored first but just before half time the Sarrie Forwards steam-rollered through the Trailfinder defence which led to an infringement. A solid five-metre scrum saw Vunipola pop a pass to Aled Davies (Scrum Half) and the speed of the play outwitted Ealing as Full-Back Elliot Obatoyinbo dived over.
Trailfinders scored early in the second half but then replacement Front Row Kapeli Pifeleti finished a line-out maul.
Trailfinder’s Walker scored his second before Sarries’ Hooker Tom Woolstencroft finished a forward assault from a short-range free-kick to secure a losing bonus point for the visitors,
The Saracens that played Trailfinders last time out were:
15 Elliott Obatoyinbo
14 Ben Harris
13 Dom Morris
12 Duncan Taylor (Scotland)
11 Rotimi Segun
10 Will Hooley (USA)
9 Aled Davies (Wales)
1 Eroni Mawi (Fiji)
2 Tom Woolstencroft ©
3 Vincent Koch (Springbok)
4 Jon Kpoku
5 Ollie Stonham
6 Janco Venter (Namibia)
7 Andy Christie
8 Billy Vunipola (England)
Replacements
16 Kapeli Pifeleti
17 Sam Crean
18 Josh Ibuanokpe
19 Llewelyn Jones
20 Callum Hunter-Hill
21 Tom Whiteley
22 Harry Sloan
23 Charlie Watson
(7 Internationals)
“...and there was a private agreement between both sides to ease their way in when it came to team selection.” (theguardian.com) I wonder if Bodes and McCall have a similar agreement?
Saracens are the five-time Premiership champions and three-time European champions, so a wealth of experience to draw from. In addition they have a large squad of talent such as the enviable situation to be in to have the English (Farrell) and US Eagles (Hooley) Fly-Halves to select from.
Hopefully the remainder of their England contingent won’t play because they are on bespoke training schedules akin to pre-season, with the aim of ensuring they are ready for the Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 6.
“Both England head coach Eddie Jones and Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall have stated that the 28-year-old No 8 (Billy Vunipola) gains more benefit from time spent on the pitch (as opposed to training) having endured long spells of inactivity while recovering from four broken arms.” (skysports.com)
Saracens team selection was a weakened team that played Trailfinders, not only due to the absence of their England players but also “…eight personnel banned for their involvement in the Barbarians' breach of coronavirus protocols in October suffered a setback in their first match since being relegated from the Gallagher Premiership, but amends can be made at Doncaster Knights on Saturday." (skysports.com)
According to the Evening Standard, “All players (13 in total) accepted the charges and in total the RFU have dished out 85 weeks worth of match bans across those involved, with 44 of those suspended subject to certain conditions and 41 weeks of bans also to be taken concurrently.” (www.standard.co.uk)
41 weeks of concurrent ban between 13 Barbarians equals just over three weeks each, so perhaps they will not be available when they play us in the Cup.
An exciting game for Bodes’ team to play and for supporters to watch via the live stream.
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
Sponsored by 24 IT Services (who have organised the live streaming from Castle Park.)
“Doncaster Knights, Ealing Trailfinders and Saracens are pleased to announce they will take part in an exciting pre-season tournament ahead of the 2020/21 Greene King IPA Championship.
Doncaster Knights Director of Rugby, Steve Boden, said: “We are really excited to be playing rugby again and especially looking forward to the chance to test ourselves against such high-quality opposition.
After just seven weeks of training, this competition will be a huge challenge for us, but one that will provide plenty of learning opportunities for our young group and showcase the quality and talent within the Greene King IPA Championship”
Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall said: “We’re delighted to be playing in the Trailfinders Challenge Cup ahead of the new season and thankful to those who have made it possible.”” (DRFC website)
We are very fortunate to be included in the pre-season tournament against what will surely be the top two teams in the Championship this season. I feel that we’ve got to thank our fantastic organisation, ground, group of players plus Robin (Bomber) Hislop who played for Sarries on loan. It offers the greatest test that Bodes could ask for, for his new team of Knights.
“Saracens on their way to tackle Doncaster Knights…
(The Cup starts on January 16th, then...)
…Doncaster host Saracens – who boast England captain Owen Farrell and British Lion Maro Itoje – a week later and Ealing on Saturday, January 30. It is a huge boost, especially for Knights and Ealing who have not seen any action since March due to Covid-19. Knights director of rugby Steve Boden, whose squad have been training for seven weeks, said: “We are really excited to be playing rugby again and especially looking forward to testing ourselves against such high-quality opposition...”” (Yorkshire Post 07/01/21)
We don’t know what strength team Sarries will field but on 16th January Trailfinders hosted Saracens at Vallis Way and Ealing won a very close game 27 – 26. Both sides played very well and defended excellently. Perhaps Ealing had a few more missed chances to score but Sarries missed two conversions, which would have meant they’d have won 27 – 30. A Commentator said that he was about to say that he had never seen Will Hooley (Sarries Fly Half) miss but then he missed two! Hooley kicked seven from seven last time out! It can be argued that Sarries didn’t seem to want to win as much as Trailfinders but I feel that an Ealing win in a close result was a fair outcome on the day. We can only hope that Sarries don’t play more of their International big guns against us on Saturday. To be fair Trailfinders defence made Billy Vunipola look average and we’ve seen him demolish International teams!
Trailfinders scored first but just before half time the Sarrie Forwards steam-rollered through the Trailfinder defence which led to an infringement. A solid five-metre scrum saw Vunipola pop a pass to Aled Davies (Scrum Half) and the speed of the play outwitted Ealing as Full-Back Elliot Obatoyinbo dived over.
Trailfinders scored early in the second half but then replacement Front Row Kapeli Pifeleti finished a line-out maul.
Trailfinder’s Walker scored his second before Sarries’ Hooker Tom Woolstencroft finished a forward assault from a short-range free-kick to secure a losing bonus point for the visitors,
The Saracens that played Trailfinders last time out were:
15 Elliott Obatoyinbo
14 Ben Harris
13 Dom Morris
12 Duncan Taylor (Scotland)
11 Rotimi Segun
10 Will Hooley (USA)
9 Aled Davies (Wales)
1 Eroni Mawi (Fiji)
2 Tom Woolstencroft ©
3 Vincent Koch (Springbok)
4 Jon Kpoku
5 Ollie Stonham
6 Janco Venter (Namibia)
7 Andy Christie
8 Billy Vunipola (England)
Replacements
16 Kapeli Pifeleti
17 Sam Crean
18 Josh Ibuanokpe
19 Llewelyn Jones
20 Callum Hunter-Hill
21 Tom Whiteley
22 Harry Sloan
23 Charlie Watson
(7 Internationals)
“...and there was a private agreement between both sides to ease their way in when it came to team selection.” (theguardian.com) I wonder if Bodes and McCall have a similar agreement?
Saracens are the five-time Premiership champions and three-time European champions, so a wealth of experience to draw from. In addition they have a large squad of talent such as the enviable situation to be in to have the English (Farrell) and US Eagles (Hooley) Fly-Halves to select from.
Hopefully the remainder of their England contingent won’t play because they are on bespoke training schedules akin to pre-season, with the aim of ensuring they are ready for the Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 6.
“Both England head coach Eddie Jones and Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall have stated that the 28-year-old No 8 (Billy Vunipola) gains more benefit from time spent on the pitch (as opposed to training) having endured long spells of inactivity while recovering from four broken arms.” (skysports.com)
Saracens team selection was a weakened team that played Trailfinders, not only due to the absence of their England players but also “…eight personnel banned for their involvement in the Barbarians' breach of coronavirus protocols in October suffered a setback in their first match since being relegated from the Gallagher Premiership, but amends can be made at Doncaster Knights on Saturday." (skysports.com)
According to the Evening Standard, “All players (13 in total) accepted the charges and in total the RFU have dished out 85 weeks worth of match bans across those involved, with 44 of those suspended subject to certain conditions and 41 weeks of bans also to be taken concurrently.” (www.standard.co.uk)
41 weeks of concurrent ban between 13 Barbarians equals just over three weeks each, so perhaps they will not be available when they play us in the Cup.
An exciting game for Bodes’ team to play and for supporters to watch via the live stream.
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
