Guinness Premiership
Saracens recall three to play Sale
Scrum.com
February 27, 2009
Saracens' Noah Cato charges upfield during his side's Guinness Premiership match against Bristol at Vicarage Road in Watford, England on January 11, 2009.
Noach Cato returns for Saracens against Sale on Sunday © Getty Images
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Players/Officials: Noah Cato | Chris Jack
Tournaments/Tours: Guinness Premiership

Noah Cato, Kameli Ratuvou and Chris Jack return for Saracens who come up against Sale at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

England Saxons wing Cato returns after being rested and will be looking to add to his tally of eight tries this season while Fijian international Ratuvou starts the game at outside centre after briefly returning home. All Black lock Jack returns to the side after attending the birth of his second child in New Zealand.

In other team news for Saracens, Andy Farrell misses out with an ankle knock while on the bench, Kris Chesney and David Seymour both come into the matchday 22.

"It's good to have Kameli Ratuvou and Chris Jack available to us once again and Noah Cato comes into the side after a rest last week which we felt he needed. All of those returning will add to the experience, pace and creativity in the team," said boss Eddie Jones.

"It's been a tough week for everyone at the club but as a group we've sat down and talked about the fact that we set out a number of objectives at the start of the season and they haven't changed.

"We want to finish in the top four of the Guinness Premiership and also maintain a strong challenge in Europe and our current position in both of those competitions means we can still do that.

"There is no doubt that we have some work to do in terms of our league challenge. In the past two games against Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons, we have played well in the first half of the games but didn't take our chances and as a result, paid the price when our second half displays were not as good. That is something we have to address on Sunday.

"We've got an exciting finish to the Guinness Premiership season with games against Bath, Leicester and Wasps at Vicarage Road and of course, Sunday's game against Sale. Having been top of the table last weekend, albeit for a few hours, we know the quality of the opposition we are facing.

"Even without their internationals on Six Nations duty, Sale still have an impressive squad so we are expecting a hard-fought game, but it's a game we believe we can win."

Director of Rugby at Sale, Kingsley Jones, is looking forward to the game but highlighted that his team would be weary of a Saracens side who announced a raft of changes in their playing staff next season.

"We are well aware of events that have happened at Saracens this week but we are going to Vicarage Road to try and win the game," he said.

"Its not been a happy hunting ground for us in the past and I am sure they will make it tough for us on Sunday."

Saracens: Alex Goode; Richard Haughton, Kameli Ratuvou, Adam Powell, Noah Cato, Glen Jackson, Justin Marshall; Nick Lloyd, Matt Cairns, Cencus Johnston, Chris Jack, Hugh Vyvyan, Wikus van Heerden (captain), Andy Saul, Ben Skirving.

Replacements: Andy Kyriacou, Cobus Visagie, Kris Chesney, David Seymour, Mickey Wilson, Brad Barritt, Rodd Penney

Sale: Nick Macleod; Chris Bell, Rudi Keil, Lee Thomas, David Doherty, Charlie Hodgson, Richard Wigglesworth; Lionel Faure, Neil Briggs, Eifion Roberts, Dean Schofield, Brent Cockbain, Chris Jones, Luke Abraham, JM Fernandez Lobbe.

Replacements: Marc Jones, Stuart Turner, Sean Cox, David Tait, Chris Leck, Oriol Ripol, Selorm Kuadey

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