Saracens v Oyonnax: Champions Cup preview
By Keith Moore
Last Updated: 20/12/15 5:12pm
Saracens are expected to maintain their winning start to this season's Champions Cup campaign when they host Oyonnax on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
Mark McCall's men recorded victories over Toulouse, Ulster and Oyonnax in the opening three rounds and will be eager to build on the platform set by the wins.
Last Sunday's 45-10 demolition of Oyonnax sent the north Londoners top of Pool 1, with an away fixture against Toulouse and a home tie with Ulster to come.
Owen Farrell and Neil de Kock are the half-backs for Saturday's return fixture while Brad Barritt captains the side in the No 12 jersey.
Maro Itoje and Jim Hamilton pair up in the second row and in the front row Schalk Brits starts ahead of Jamie George.
Despite a six-try affair in France last week, McCall is looking for improvements from his side.
"The performance in France was a mixed one in truth," he said. "When we were good, we were very good, although we had a 25-minute period in the beginning of the match where we did not really leave our own half because of our own ill-discipline, but when we got in their half we were very clinical and scored some nice tries.
"However, we allowed things to drift a bit once we got the bonus point and it means there are things we will need to work on for the return game. We have competition for places that allows us to rotate and keep our squad fresh as the big games keep on coming."
Oyonnax are still seeking their first Champions Cup win in their debut season in the competition and director of rugby Olivier Azam believes his side will benefit from being exposed to the highest level of European rugby.
"For sure this is something new for us, we have not been in this competition before and we have faced a very good team in Saracens," said the former Gloucester hooker.
"Our players will have learnt a lot from playing against a side like that and helping us adapt to the demands of the tournament and we will look to show some improvement in the rematch."
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Michael Ellery, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Neil de Kock, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 4 Jim Hamilton, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Jackson Wray, 7 Kelly Brown, 8 Samu Vunisa.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Will Fraser, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Ben Ransom.
Oyonnax: 15 Florian Denos (c), 14 Daniel Ikpefan, 13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Uwa Tawalo, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Regis Lespinas, 9 Julien Blanc, 1 Laurent Delboulbès, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 3 Marc Clerc, 4 Leon Power, 5 Geoffrey Fabbri, 6 Valentin Ursache, 7 Pedrie Wannenburg, 8 Florian Faure.
Replacements: 16 Jody Jenneker, 17 Stan Wright, 18 Horace Pungea, 19 Viliami Maafu, 20 Thomas Bordes, 21 Arthur Aziza, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Vincent Martin.
Watch Saracens v Oyonnax live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Saturday from 12.30pm.Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.