Saracens put through their paces

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  • Early start: Saracens go through their paces at Al Ghazal Golf Club.

    Abu Dhabi Saracens’ gruelling pre-season regime shows they are not just going to “make up the num­bers” next season, according to No8 Ali Thompson.

    The capital club began their preparations on Monday night, enlisting dedicated fitness profes­sionals for the first time.

    Approximately 20 players took part at Al Ghazal and were put through their paces by CrossFit Yas by Vogue Fitness trainers, more than three months before the Pre­miership kicks off in October.

    And for veteran forward Thomp­son, he believes this shows Sara­cens’ desire to improve on a break­through previous campaign which saw them make their bow in the elite Gulf Top Six competition.

    He said: “We are not in it to make up the numbers. It was nip and tuck for us to make it into the Gulf Top Six last season, and we certainly have to be firing to get back into it.

    “We have to be winning Premier­ship matches to get in. If we can come into those games as fit or fit­ter than the opposite team, that only increases our chances.

    “Historically in this division, the fitter team comes through and wins. If we can do that, we can hopefully make the Gulf Top Six again.

    “Starting pre-season this early is a way to generate some team bond­ing, which can only be good for us going forward.”

    Sarries finished bottom of the

    For president Dave Jackson, the recruitment of Vogue Fitness to oversee an hour of testing shuttle runs and body weight exercises at a humid Al Ghazal comes from analy­sis of his club’s progress since they were founded in 2011.

    He said: “For Saracens, we started the club just as a social thing, then we got into the Premiership and then we made it into the Gulf Top Six. Once you achieve those things, you look back and think where did we fall short?

    “We highlighted our fitness lev­els, and we are absolutely ecstatic that CrossFit Yas by Vogue Fitness have joined us to take our boys through the pre-season.

    “We had a pretty good turnout for the first session, which will escalate during the next few weeks. We hope to keep that enthusiasm up through the entire season – it creates a great camaraderie.”

    Meanwhile, Clendon Pene has chosen to leave Saracens and ret-urn to former club Abu Dhabi Harlequins to undertake a new forwards coaching position under player-coach Jeremy Manning.

    Pene, who featured at flanker or centre, joined Sarries at the start of last season after a lengthy spell with their Abu Dhabi rivals.

    The sessions, held on Mondays at Al Ghazal Golf Club and Wednes­days at Yas Marina from 19:00, are open to anyone who has an interest in playing rugby for the Saracens. For more information, contact 056 672 9415.

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