Preview: Saracens v Wasps
The Premiership rivals clash at Reading's Madjeski Stadium on Saturday for a place in the Champions Cup Final at the Grand Stade de Lyon – an all-English battle on St George's Day!.
Dai Young's men are in the last four for the first time since 2007, when they went onto claim European Cup glory. But Saracens, who have reached this stage in each of the last four seasons, stand in their way. Mark McCall's men finished runners-up to Jonny Wilkinson's RC Toulon in 2014, before another French side, ASM Clermont Auvergne, edged them out 13-9 at this stage last year.
Both sides came from behind against English opposition to book their spot in the semis. Jimmy Gopperth sent Wasps through in dramatic style with a last minute conversion to claim a 25-24 home win over Exeter Chiefs, while Sarries came from behind to beat Northampton Saints 29-20.
Wasps dealt a psychological blow earlier this season by thumping their rivals 64-23 at Allianz Park, but Director of Rugby Young is not expecting a repeat.
"It's a big game against Saracens this weekend, but one we won't have to talk up too much," said Young. "There will be no lack of motivation, everyone's excited and the boys have worked their socks off to get to the semifinals. It's our first one for a long time, and we're determined to enjoy it and we will enjoy it most if we get the win. We have a big obstacle to climb against Sarries, we know how good they are and we know we have to be at our best.
"Our league victory was a one-off, I can't see us cutting Sarries apart again like we did on that day. Everything went our way. I hope it doesn't go to penalties again! It was a painful experience for me and the players, but it's all about the players. If we play to the best of our abilities and play to our levels, I think we will win."
Both sides are likely to field full-strength starting XV's. Saracens will have this year's top European points scorer Owen Farrell pulling the strings. The England playmaker has racked up 92 points for the pool stage top seeds.
Wasps will be looking to red-hot finisher Christian Wade to supply the sting. The flying wing became only the second man to score six tries in a Premiership match at Worcester Warriors last weekend.
Brad Barritt has been a part of Saracens' recent close-shaves, but he reckons they have learned their lessons.
He said: "There has been a huge evolution in our European fixtures. It has gone from qualifying to getting through the pool stages to quarter-finals to semifinals to a Final and, again, to a semi last year.
"We have definitely spoken about this season being our time. We have paid our dues, we have learnt our lessons. By no means is it going to win you the game but we feel those experiences over the past four seasons are going to stand us in great stead in these big fixtures.
"There's that sense and an understanding that we know what we are about. We know we can dig ourselves out of tight situations. The big learning curve throughout our European campaign is that you need to find ways to win. Often it is a different way to what you expect."
Recent results:
These two teams have never met in the Champions Cup.
Predictions:
This will be the first time the clubs have met in European competition. Saracens have won just one of four previous Champions Cup semifinals, beating ASM Clermont Auvergne 46-6 in 2014, the biggest margin of victory in a tournament semifinal. This will be Wasps' third Champions Cup semifinal appearance; they won both previous matches at this stage and went on to lift the trophy on both occasions in 2004 and '07. Saracens remain undefeated in the Champions Cup this season; no side has ever won the competition after winning all their pool games. Wasps have lost just once in their last 22 Champions Cup fixtures when they've scored 25+ points, a total they've achieved five times already this season. Saracens have scored a competition high 11 tries in the 20 minutes immediately after half time this season, however, no side has conceded fewer than Wasps (one) in this same period. 16 of Saracens' tries this season (57 percent) have come originated from line-outs, the most of any side and twice as many as Wasps have managed. As well as winning the joint most turnovers (10), George Smith has also made the most tackles in the Champions Cup this season (94/107), whilst no player has attempted more without missing at least one than Matt Mullan (66/66). Charles Piutau tops the charts for defenders beaten (31), metres made (714) and clean breaks (15) in the Champions Cup this season. Saracens have forced the lowest line-out success rate from their opposition (73 percent) of any side in the competition this season, while Wasps can boast the same statistic but at scrum time (73 percent). This will be a really close one – however, Wasps will have too much firepower with their stars in tha backline and should win by five or less.
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barrit (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Will Faser, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Maku Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamasitele, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Niel de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Marcelo Bosch.
Wasps: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Sam Jones, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Rob Miller.
Date: Saturday, April 23
Venue: Madjeski Stadium, Reading
Kick-off: 15.00 (14.00 GMT)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Jerome Garces (France), Pascal Gauzere (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
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