2006–07 Saracens F.C. season

In the 2006–07 season Saracens F.C. competed in the Guinness Premiership, EDF Energy Cup and European Challenge Cup. Transfers With former coach Mike Ford being offered a role in the England set-up, former Leinster, Munster and Australia coach Alan Gaffney was appointed coach for the 2006 campaign. Amongst the new signings was South African, Neil de Kock, a player who was to be influential in what was to be the club's best season since 2000. This season also saw the long-awaited arrival of former Great Britain Rugby League captain, Andy Farrell, initially at flanker, but later at centre, the position at which he went on to take his England debut. Squad SAM PR Census Johnston ENG PR Aaron Liffchak SCO PR Nick Lloyd ENG PR Tom Mercey RSA PR Cobus Visagie ENG PR Kevin Yates IRE rugby HK Shane Byrne ENG HK Matt Cairns ENG HK Andi Kyriacou ITA HK Fabio Ongaro SCO LK Iain Fullarton SAM LK Pelu Pavihi FJI LK Simon Raiwalui ENG LK Tom Ryder ENG LK Hugh Vyvyan ENG FL Kris Chesney ENG FL Paul Gustard ENG FL Richard Hill ENG FL David Seymour ENG N8 Ben Russell ENG N8 Ben Skirving ENG SH Alan Dickens RSA SH Neil de Kock FJI SH Mosese Rauluni ENG FH Alex Goode NZL FH Glen Jackson ENG FH Ross Laidlaw ENG CE Andy Farrell ENG CE Dan Harris ENG CE Rodd Penney ENG CE Adam Powell FJI CE Kameli Ratuvou ENG CE Kevin Sorrell ENG WG Richard Haughton ENG WG Dan Scarbrough TGA WG Tevita Vaikona Guinness Premiership 2006–07 Guinness Premiership As in the previous season, Saracens were narrowly defeated by Wasps in the London double-header at Twickenham at the opening of the season. This was to be followed by what turned out to be a good away draw at Bristol in the context of the excellent season that Bristol would go on to have, before a bonus point win was secured against the Newcastle Falcons. A morale-boosting run of results followed, losing only three times between October and the following March. No individual result could quite produce the reaction that the return of England's Richard Hill to top flight action, with supporters of both clubs giving Hill a huge ovation on his return to the pitch after 18 months of knee reconstruction, capping off his comeback with a try. Results in the Premiership went Saracens' way, leaving them with the possibility of ending up anywhere from second to fifth as the final round of matches approached. After a day of games almost all of which had significant consequences in terms of positions at the top, and at the foot of the table, Saracens found themselves in the Premiership playoffs for the first time, squeezing Wasps in to a rare 5th-place position, out of play-off contention. The campaign ended with a heavy defeat away at Gloucester, but overall the season represented an improvement on those of recent years. After the end of the season there was to be personal success for Glen Jackson scored a league topping 400 points for the season and was awarded the PRA Player of the Year Award by his fellow professionals. On a sadder note the mercurial Thomas Castaignède also retired from professional rugby after playing for both Saracens and France. Guinness Premiership Semi-Final: Gloucester Rugby 50 - 9 Saracens European Challenge Cup European Challenge Cup Saracens progressed well in the European Challenge Cup. They qualified for the knockout stages as second seeds, with only an away 6–6 draw at Glasgow spoiling their group stage progression. A further win at the quarter-final stage against Glasgow saw Saracens host Bath for the semi-final, only to lose to ultimate runners up of the competition. main Rugby 2006–07 European Challenge Cup Pool 2 table n n SAR England Saracens GLA Scotland Glasgow Warriors NAR France Narbonne PAR Italy Parma 5 1 0 225 101 30 4 0 4 1 1 204 72 25 3 1 2 0 4 127 171 16 1 1 0 0 6 84 296 6 0 1 #d8ffeb C complete www.ercrugby.com: Updated 2007-10-29 --- European Rugby Cup European Challenge Cup Quarter-Final: Saracens 23 - 19 Glasgow European Challenge Cup Semi-Final: Saracens 30 - 31 Bath Rugby EDF Energy Cup 2006–07 EDF Energy Cup Saracens' EDF Energy Cup campaign ended quickly after back-to-back defeats in the opening two games of the group stages, losing away at London Irish and then at home entertaining Cardiff Blues. Some consolation was found in a 'dead rubber' game at Vicarage Road where Wasps were defeated in a game involving many of the younger squad members of both teams. main Rugby 2006–07 EDF Energy Cup Pool B table n CAR Wales Cardiff Blues LIR England London Irish SAR England Saracens LWA England London Wasps 3 0 0 107 56 11 5 1 0 1 0 2 56 78 7 7 1 0 1 0 2 79 91 6 12 0 0 1 0 2 58 75 6 6 0 0 #d8ffeb C www.edfenergycup.com: Updated 2007-10-29 --- 2006–07 EDF Energy Cup Sources History of Saracens https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055141/http://www.nobok.co.uk/page/RugbyTeamsDetail/0,,10301~791679,00.html 2011-07-16 'The Saracen', Matchday programmes 2006-07 External links Official site Fansite 2006-07 Category:2006–07 English Premiership (rugby union) Category:2006–07 European Challenge Cup de:Saracens fr:Saracens (rugby) it:Saracens F.C. ja:サラセンズ sv:Saracens F.C.