Nick Tompkins hits the 200-mark for Saracens

By Paul Rees

Match Preview – Saracens v Northampton

Today. Kick-off 3pm, StoneX Stadium

Mark McCall has hailed Nick Tompkins, who makes his 200th appearance today for Saracens against champions Northampton at StoneX Stadium, as the epitome of a player the club aims to produce.

The 29-year-old Wales centre made his Sarries debut 12 years ago having come through the club’s academy system and for the last six seasons has been the first choice in the midfield.

“Nick came here when he was 14,” said McCall, Sarries’ director of rugby.

“He was playing in the back row then and in his 16 years with us he has developed gradually on and off the pitch.

Constantly Learning

“He had to fight for his place to begin with behind Brad Barritt and Marcelo Bosch. He was prepared to be patient and learn from the people who were above him. Now he is passing that education down.

“I think he must be the least mature 29-year-old there has ever been, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. He has that joy of life you want when you come into the building every day.

“He cannot wait to train and be with his friends. We love his energy and he typifies what we want our players to be like.”

Saracens started the round fourth in the table after successive defeats at home to Leicester and at Newcastle punctured a strong start to the season, but they got back on track in the Champions Cup with victories over the Bulls and away to Stade Francais.

“I was proud of the players against Leicester,” said McCall. “We lost Alex Goode to injury in the warm-up and Tim Swiel had not played for us before and came in at outside-half.

“We showed fight and spirit and I was pleased with how we played, which was not the case at Newcastle.

“We reacted well to that defeat in the Champions Cup and a relatively new group is having to deal with the ups and the downs.”

Today’s Game

The match is a meeting of the last two sides to win the Premiership, Northampton taking Saracens’ crown last season after beating McCall’s men in the semi-final at Franklin’s Gardens having recorded a season’s double over them for the first time in nine years.

”It will be a great game,” said McCall.

“Northampton are the benchmark at the moment. Their win last weekend in Pretoria was very special and they are a bit ahead of us.

“They have come a long way in the last four years with Phil Dowson and Sam Vesty building on the foundation laid by Chris Boyd.

“They are a very good team in all aspects. They will not be affected by flying home from South Africa at the start of the week and it would be foolish for us to expect a 75 per cent Northampton.

“They will be 100 per cent and for us it is about how we want to be on and off the field, nothing more complicated than that.”

George Furbank

Northampton are without skipper George Furbank who suffered an arm fracture against the Bulls last weekend with medics still weighing up whether the full-back needs surgery.

“George is a fantastic rugby player and he will be a big loss,” said Sam Vesty, Northampton’s head coach.

“He is the club captain and has grown into that leadership role in the last couple of years. He has the ability to make others look good and is the number one full-back in the country.

“We want to carry the momentum we generated in the Champions Cup into the Premiership and get some consistency.

“It has been difficult this season with so many players away, but we have had a few weeks training together.

“Saracens are a very good side and wins at their ground are tough to come by and always have been. We have been disappointed with parts of our performances in the Premiership which is why it is important to have everyone back in training.”

Alex Mitchell came off the bench to inspire Northampton to victory at Saracens last season, a match which ignited their league campaign, and the England scrum-half is back in the side after missing the first three months of the campaign with a neck injury.

“Alex is the heartbeat of the side,” said Vesty. “A lot of our attack comes through him together with the speed we want to play at and he has shown what he can do in the last couple of weeks.”

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