Spring has sprung, and the fields of Hallen glow in the radiant sunshine as they prepare to welcome the neighbourly contingent of Bristol Saracens down to the Fortress. Old E’s flying jubilant from their mid-season victory at the Bakewell memorial ground. They know the injured beast is more dangerous than a fresh one, and so will not tackle the battle to come lightly.

So let's look at the 1st XV squad that will welcome the challenge…..

Packing down the front row with a combined weight similar to that of an American black bear we have George Burnie at Loosehead who has begun his serious bulk season this week since he found out he would be propping on Tuesday, and has been following an extreme weight gain program provided by the French prop school. We hope to have him up several pounds by Saturday to sure up the scrum.

If you went to the darts and got to watch this man play, you'd get your 180 board ready and hope your shoulders can hold it up all evening we have Jack the immovable boulder Houlder slotting on the other side of the scrum at tighthead.

Some say when he came to Old Elizabethans training for the first time he was mistaken for a Colt, however having to hold down the frontrow for us has apparently aged him terrible, we have James Brooke the hooker of choice.. If you are unsure who he is, he will be in the clubhouse afterwards sporting a blackeye.

In the engine room we have the ever reliable Dom Horn whose Knees and Elbows seem to have magnets that attract themselves to opponents temples/Soft facial parts, hard running and no nonsense we hope to see him bag another try against Sarries. In there Hip to Hip with him is the ever improving Adam Skyner, who like a rather large majestic salmon seems to have found his niche as expert kick off receiver and Maul magician.

The Backrow is built upon dangerously large levels of shithousery which seems to be the glue that binds them together, hand-offs to face, tip tackle and general physical bullying will be the order of the day, with a backrow of Will Tobin, HKP and Rhys Edwards.

Yet again providing Michelin star service from the base, will be a fan favorite of Sam Hygate, his Halfback pairing with Matt Carr shall be quite the pallet livener come sunshine Saturday. We hope to see the French grand slam victory seep into their play with a little word called Jouez.

Possibly the denchest center pairing to have pulled on the shirt for some time, I can already feel the gainline quaking in its little boots for the pummeling it is about to receive, we have a new partnership with Sam Brewer and Jamie Halpin hoping to be serving up meters on tap for the crowds of Hallen.

The back three could be described as nothing less than potent, however… the bookies are predicting not much passing to be on display between these three as they fight it out for this season top try scorer… Packing down on the wings, the thumb and pain merchant Pat dore, the Phantom stepper, maze runner and part time flanker Jagger, and Barnett in unusual territory at fullback.

The bench on Saturday has as all very excited… The cindrella story pairing of the return of Rob Lee and Ned Sweeney hungry for action, lets just hope their glass ankles can stand the test of Saracens and the "mildly" uneven surface of Hallen. Wopps returns as utility back's cover, showing off his silky skills/Anti gas in training midweek, to bag himself a spot back in the squad.

What a game we have in store and what a day!