Saracens

18 Sep 2009 - 09:50

Saracens will look to make it three wins from three in the Guinness Premiership when they travel to Harlequins on Saturday, and Director of Rugby Brendan Venter has named his side for the clash.

He has made three changes to his side, bringing in Tom Ryder, Michael Owen and Derick Hougaard to the starting line-up for the game at the Stoop.

Welsh international Owen replaces Wikus van Heerden who has returned to South Africa for a family commitment while Ryder comes in for Hugh Vyvyan. Hougaard is given a full debut ahead of Glen Jackson. Vyvyan and Jackson both take a place on the bench.

Venter said: “It was always our intention to make changes for this game and utilise the full depth of the squad. It’s not a reflection of individual performances, far from it.

“We just need to make sure we fully use our resources and keep everyone as fresh as possible for the season ahead. It does show that we have a very strong squad when we can bring in the likes of Michael and Derick to the side and as I have said many times before, we don’t have a first team and a second team at this club, we have a squad.

“Harlequins are a very good side who are very well coached by John Kingston and their performances in the opening two games don’t reflect the results. It’s going to be a very tough game.”

Watch Sarries TV for an in-depth interview with Brendan Venter ahead of the game.

Saracens team vs Harlequins

15 Alex Goode
14 Noah Cato
13 Kameli Ratuvou
12 Brad Barritt
11 Chris Wyles
10 Derick Hougaard
9 Neil de Kock
1 Rhys Gill
2 Schalk Brits
3 Carlos Nieto
4 Steve Borthwick (c)
5 Tom Ryder
6 Michael Owen
7 Andy Saull
8 Ernst Joubert

16 Fabio Ongaro
17 Tom Mercey
18 Richard Skuse
19 Hugh Vyvyan
20 Justin Melck
21 Justin Marshall
22 Glen Jackson
23 Richard Haughton