The return of David Strettle to the Premiership has been confirmed
Saracens have just confirmed the return of winger David Strettle on a one-year deal from the start of the 2018-19 season.
‘Stretts’ returns to the club following three seasons playing for Clermont-Auvergne in France, where he won the 2017 French title as well as playing in the Champions Cup Final against the Men in Black in the same year. He was also Clermont’s top try-scorer during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
The 34-year-old won two Premiership titles in his time with Sarries and the club is delighted to confirm the return of a player who will be a great addition to the squad, he said: "‘I already have some unforgettable memories at Saracens – they have always had a place in my heart."
The 14-times capped England international spent five years at Saracens in his first spell with the club between 2010 and 2015, before moving onto a new challenge in Clermont and says he is happy to return to the club alongside teammates with whom he shared countless memories.
Strettle explained: "An opportunity arose in France which I took as a fresh challenge, but now can’t wait to come home and hopefully make some more great memories. Some of my best friends are at Saracens, so I can’t wait to get back out on the field and be a part of the same team with them again."
Those five years with the North Londoners were preceded by spells with Rotherham Titans & Harlequins and expressed his pleasure at being able to bring his young family back to St Albans after three years on a French adventure.
He said: "I now have a wife and a fantastic daughter – we are looking forward to bringing them back to London, where I know Saracens will welcome us all with open arms.
"It’s a dream come true to be returning to the club and I can’t wait for the start of next season at Allianz Park"
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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