#360Rugby: Pressure on Sonny Bill, AD Saracens bounce back

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  • Saracens, Jared Payne and Sonny Williams are this week's high flyers.

    English clubs can finally end wait for European glory


    After the final round of European Champions Cup matches this weekend it was confirmed that English clubs will occupy five out of eight berths in the knock-out stages, and their best chance of producing a winner for years.

    The most romantic route to the playoffs was that of Exeter Chiefs, who started the day third in Pool 2 but scored a four-try bonus point (and crucially denied their opposition a losing bonus point) which took Ospreys from top of the group to third.

    English-qualified duo James Short and No.8 Thomas Waldrom have been pivotal for the west-countrymen and their form in the tournament will not have gone unnoticed by Eddie Jones.

    England’s best hopes though remain with Saracens, who have now added a razor-shape attack to their watertight defence.

    Leicester Tigers, Wasps and Northampton Saints make up the quintet and will all be quietly confident, given that an all-French powerhouse quarter will see one of Racing or Toulon eliminated.

    All the pressure on Sonny Bill to perform

    A debut in his fourth professional sport, for the most successful rugby sevens team ever, in front of an expectant home crowd.

    Sonny Bill Williams could not have more pressure on him after being announced as the only new cap in Sir Gordon Tietjens’ 12-strong squad for the Wellington Sevens this weekend.

    But if there is one man that thrives under these situations, it’s Sonny Bill. With one NRL title, two World Cup winner’s medals in union and unbeaten heavyweight boxing record from six bouts, there is no reason to believe that SBW won’t be able to add a sevens gold medal to his cabinet this time next week.

    It is notoriously hard break into Teitjens’s  coveted sevens teams due to the talent at his disposal, but with a strong squad selected including Ardie Savea, this could be one of their most exciting yet.

    As well as helping NZ to break into the top three of this year’s competition, the opportunity to be selected for New Zealand’s Olympic sevens team in Rio will be at the forefront of Williams’s mind when he takes to the field.

    Oyonnax feel the Payne train

    While Ulster ultimately came up short in their bid to make the last eight of the European Champions Cup, full-back Jared Payne gave the home fans plenty to cheer this weekend with a superb performance.

    The New Zealand-born, Irish international combined dazzling footwork with mature game management to keep turning the French defence around and capped his afternoon’s work with a well-deserved try.

    In this form Joe Schmidt must be seriously considering the Ulsterman for the full-back jersey in the Six Nations, having originally played at 12 for the national side.

    With incumbent full-back Rob Kearney suffering from some indifferent form in a Leinster side that has been on the wrong side of some bad losses this season, Payne may just be the man to spark Ireland into life against Wales.

    Abu Dhabi hit form in time for monster UAE clash

    There would appear to be a bit of a hangover from last season’s West Asia Championship victory for Abu Dhabi Saracens, but the men from the capital have finally got their season up and running.

    Sarries recorded a resounding 53-17 win against newcomers Al Ain Amblers, but will need other results to go their way if they are to progress, following back-to-back defeats to a much-improved Bahrain and old foes Doha in the opening two rounds.

    For neutral fans the Al Ghaza’s team’s improved form is a welcome sign as they prepare for a daunting away trip to one of this year’s form teams, Dubai Exiles.

    “I hope the win will give the boys bit more motivation to keep training and keep going,” said Sarries skipper Jaen Botes. “There are some areas we can still improve on and we just need to keep working hard the results will start to come.”

    Next generation of Dubai Exiles have what it takes

    While the Exiles’ senior men’s team are reaping the rewards of significant investment into their team over the past few seasons, the Dubai team are have taken strides towards building a legacy for the future.

    After seeing Exiles beat Abu Dhabi Harlequins in the final of the Under-16’s A competition at the HSBC Rugby Festival Dubai on Saturday, head coach Jaques Benade believes the kids are more than a little alright.

    In his playing days Benade was only prevented from gaining full Springbok honours by the likes of Joel Stransky, Jannie de Beer and Henry Honiball, but it’s easy to forget that the South African’s role at the UAE’s most famous domestic club is far more diverse.

    “These U-16’s are a very talented group and the coaches are working very hard with them so it’s nice to come in and help if they need it,” Benade said following Exiles comprehensive 19-0 triumph.

    “That’s the future for the club. Some of those boys will go away to university but hopefully they’ll come back and play, that’s the main idea.”

    Extra time

    This week’s video highlight comes from Ulster against Oyonnax in the European Champions Cup. We have gone old-school here and this bone-shuddering hit is not for the faint-hearted. The perpetrator of this totally legal hit is rugby league convert Maurie Fa’asavalu, who uses his arms in the tackle well to make the tackle as safe as possible, while ending Ian Humphries’s participation in the match. We would have got out of there quickly as well.

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