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| Borthwick to make Saracens debut |
| 8 August 2008, 2:45 pm |
| By Roland Mercer |
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| Steve Borthwick will make his first appearance in a Saracens shirt tonight as the North London club travels to Bayonne for a pre-season friendly match. |
The 28-year-old second row takes a place in the starting line-up for the clash at the Stade Jean Dauger where he is joined in the forward pack by the likes of Kris Chesney, David Seymour and Cobus Visagie and Chris Jack who has been selected in the back row.
England captain Borthwick, who was named co-captain of the club along with Andy Farrell earlier this week, pulls on a Saracens shirt for the first time following his move from Bath.
In the backline, Glen Jackson, Moses Rauluni, Brent Russell and Richard Haughton all get a run out against the French side with the replacements bench including Cencus Johnston, Don Barrell, Adam Powell and Noah Cato.
Those players not involved tonight – including the likes of Neil de Kock, Kevin Sorrell, Nick Lloyd and Michael Owen – will be involved in Saracens home clash against Western Force on Friday 15th August at Old Albanians RFC, kick off 7.30pm, as Director of Rugby Eddie Jones looks to give every player at least two opportunities out of the four pre-season friendlies.
Jones said: “The only thing to read into this team is that this is the 22 we have picked to play tonight. Those who are ready to play and not involved against Bayonne will get a chance next week. There are a few guys who we felt would benefit from another full week of training so they have stayed at home but we expect them to be ready to face Western Force.
“Of course, the day following the Western Force clash we are in action at the Middlesex 7s and tonight’s team includes a number of those guys who will be part of the squad for Twickenham, so we felt it was important to give them a run out this weekend.
“Bayonne have been very active in their recruitment over the summer and this game will be a good test and indication for us in terms of how far we have come over the past two months.”
Saracens team vs Bayonne
15 Richard Haughton
14 Francisco Leonelli
13 Rodd Penney
12 Andy Farrell
11 Brent Russell
10 Glen Jackson
9 Moses Rauluni
1 Tom Mercey
2 Matt Cairns
3 Cobus Visagie
4 Steve Borthwick
5 Kris Chesney
6 Chris Jack
7 David Seymour
8 Ben Skirving
16 Alex Walker
17 Cencus Johnston
18 Don Barrell
19 Andy Saull
20 Mickey Wilson
21 Adam Powell
22 Noah Cato |
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