Match Preview: Champions Cup returnees face off as Saracens host Edinburgh
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Two sides returning to the Heineken Champions Cup this season go head-to-head at StoneX Stadium on Sunday as Saracens welcome Edinburgh Rugby in Pool A.
Saracens, who are three-time winners of EPCR’s elite competition, featured in the EPCR Challenge Cup last season, going out in the semi-finals, but are back in the Heineken Champions Cup this campaign after a two-year absence.
Edinburgh also competed in the EPCR Challenge Cup last season, bowing out at the quarter-final stage, with their most recent Heineken Champions Cup campaign coming in 2020/21, when they reached the Round of 16.
Saracens have been in scintillating form domestically this season, winning all nine of their Gallagher Premiership games so far as they sit top, while Edinburgh are sixth in the United Rugby Championship (URC), earning four wins from nine.
The match gets underway at 15:15 (UK & Irish time) and is available to watch on RTE, BT Sport, beIN SPORTS, France TV, SuperSport and FloRugby.
One of the best skills in the @ChallengeCup_ last season 😍
— Heineken Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 6, 2022
But how much was @NickIsiekwe paying attention?
We grilled him at the #HeinekenChampionsCup Season Launch, and all he could do was applaud @owen_faz 👏 pic.twitter.com/cUuCxD0JTc
Key quotes:
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens forward): “There was obviously disappointment [last season]. It wasn’t the situation that we wanted to have. From that you get a rejuvenated hunger to want to do better and to improve, and you want to make sure that you don’t have those feelings again, because they’re not very pleasant feelings to have. It is definitely a motivating factor.”
Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby lock): “I hope I can add [to the squad], but equally everybody understands what it takes to win games. There’s no magic dust that I can bring at all, but there’s a bit of experience, particularly when it gets to away games and the latter games.”
Saracens
- Saracens’ Billy Vunipola made more carries than any other player in the 2021/22 EPCR Challenge Cup (59). He also made a competition-high 16 dominant contacts in the carry.
- Maro Itoje was the most regular target in the lineout in the EPCR Challenge Cup last season, successfully winning 33 on Saracens’ throw.
- Elliot Daly kicked two 50/22s last season, as many as any player managed in both of EPCR’s tournaments.
- Saracens duo Alex Goode and Owen Farrell produced the most break assist passes in the EPCR Challenge Cup last season (eight and five). Farrell also threw the most miss passes in the competition (30).
Edinburgh Rugby
- Grant Gilchrist was the leading tackler in last season’s EPCR Challenge Cup, making a total of 57. He only missed one, making his rate of tackle success 98%.
- Ben Vellacott made eight kicks which were retained last season – the highest individual total in the 2021/22 EPCR Challenge Cup.
- Edinburgh scored the most tries in the 2021/22 EPCR Challenge Cup, crossing the whitewash for 25 in total.
