Saracens v Bristol Rugby Saturday 10^th May 3pm

Current Form

·        Saracens and Bristol play out their final match of the 2007/08 season with nothing at stake, but the match will be memorable for being the first Premiership game to be played at the MK Stadium, home of Milton Keynes Dons Football Club.

·        After putting up such a brave performance against Munster in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup the previous week, Saracens did not know what hit them in the first half at the Rec last Saturday and trailed Bath at the break 45-0. They shared the points  in the second half but still conceded a club record 66 points in the Premiership. Saracens will now finish 8^th in the Premiership this season.

·        They have played 10 matches at home this season, winning 6 and losing 4.

·        Bristol played their final match at the Memorial Stadium last Saturday before moving to Rodney Parade, Newport, for the next two seasons and were beaten 22-21 by Worcester. They held on to 9^th position in the league table, but would slip to 10^th if Newcastle win on Saturday and they lose.

·        Bristol have played 10 matches away from home this season, losing 8 and winning at Leeds and Newcastle.

History

·        Saracens and Bristol have met on 19 occasions in league rugby since 1995.

·        Saracens have won 12 to Bristol’s 6 with 1 match ending in a draw.

·        Saracens have won 5 from 9 at home.

·        Bristol completed a league double for the only time against Saracens the first season they met in 1995/96.

·        Saracens have since completed 4 league doubles against Bristol.

·        Bristol beat Saracens 18-3 at the Memorial Stadium in January this year.

Trends and Trivia

·        Saturday will also be memorable for the final appearance of Richard Hill for Saracens. It will be his 288^th appearance for the club. Hill made his debut for Sarries against Otley in October 1993, at that time they played at Bramley Road, before moving to Enfield and then to Vicarage Road where Richard Hill has served Saracens for the last 10 years. A quiz question in years to come will be ‘Where did Richard Hill make his final appearance for Sarries?’ Don’t forget the answer – MK Stadium.

·        Strange that in Richard Hill’s final game for Saracens the coach of the opposition will be Richard Hill! Both men have played in a World Cup final for England.

·        Hill wasn’t playing last Saturday when Saracens lost by a Premiership club record 66-21 at Bath. Their previous highest score conceded was 58 at Northampton in February 2006. The margin of defeat wasn’t their worst though, they were defeated by a 49 point margin, 52-3 at Sale in September 1993, the month before Richard Hill made his debut.

·        The 66 points Bath scored on Saturday equalled the highest score in the Premiership this season, Saracens’ 66-7 defeat of Leeds in March. This is now Sarries record score in the Premiership beating the 58-12 win at Sale in October 1999. It is also their best home win beating the 56-28 scoreline, also against Sale in March 2000. Incidentally, their previous best marginal home win was 49 points in the 55-6 win against Newcastle in October 1999. All three of these wins were in the same season.

·        Saracens have scored 55 tries this season. 2 more on Saturday will see them score their highest number of tries in a season since 2000/01 when they scored 63.

·        Saracens have scored 508 points this season. They need to score 40 on Saturday to beat last season’s total which again was the highest number of points they have scored in a season since 2000/01 when they scored 589.

·        However, Saracens are now the only club in the Premiership other than Leeds to have conceded over 500 points this season.

·        Glen Jackson has scored 179 points for Saracens this season and Adam Powell has scored most tries for them in the Premiership with 7.

·        Rodd Penney is the only Saracens player to have appeared in 20 of their 21 Premiership matches this season.

·        Bristol’s home defeat by Worcester was their 5^th consecutive loss in the Guinness Premiership. The last time they lost 5 matches in succession was between August and September 2000. The last time they lost more than 5 consecutive matches was in 1997/98 when they lost their last 13 matches before being relegated.

·        Bristol leave the Memorial Stadium having lost their last 4 matches at home. Their last win at the Memorial Stadium was the 29-26 defeat of Gloucester in February.

·        Bristol have won 7 and drawn 1 this season, the same statistics they returned from the 2002/03 season. The only worse season was in 1997/98 when they won only 2 matches.

·        Bristol have only scored 14 penalties away from home this season, the fewest by any team in the Premiership. It is also the least Bristol have ever scored, previously 17 in 1999/2000.

·        Jason Strange scored 7 penalties against Worcester last Saturday. This is the most by any player in the Premiership this season beating the 6 by Ryan Lamb for Gloucester against London Wasps. It also equalled the Bristol record of Mark Tainton against Leicester in 1994, Felipe Contepomi against Wasps in 2002 and Strange against Penzance in 2004.

·        Jason Strange has now scored 95 points for Bristol this season. This will be the 4^th year in succession he has been their leading points scorer.

·        Tom Arscott has scored 7 tries for Bristol this season and David Lemi 5. Lemi has been the top try scorer for Bristol the last 2 seasons with 11 and 8 respectively. Last season he was the top try scorer in the Premiership, the first Bristol player to achieve this feat.

·        Darren Crompton has played in 20 of Bristol’s 21 Premiership matches this season. He also played the most games for them in 2006 and 2007.