The ex-Saracens scrum-half that left a 15-year-old Maro Itoje in awe

An On This Day tweet from Saracens has prompted an outpouring of genuine affection from Maro Itoje for a long-gone Fijian scrum-half. Moses Rauluni spent six years at the London club, bowing out at the end of the 2009/10 season.

It was a moment from this campaign that Saracens celebrated on Friday, posting a picture of Rauluni from their May 2010 32-23 win over Leicester at Welford Road. 

The snap from a bygone era was well received, England star Itoje soon commenting: “The first time I saw Moji, I was around 15/16 and I thought he was a hooker. Someone told me he was a 9 and I was like there is nooooo waayyyy a scrum-half can be that BIG!!!!”

Itoje’s admiration for the now retired 44-year-old who played 65 league games for Saracens was quickly endorsed by a number of the club’s other current figureheads. 

Skipper Brad Barritt tweeted: “He is a beast. Banned from weights, gets too big and strong. Only cardio.”

Billy Vunipola and Alex Goode also had their say. Vunipola added “What a man” while Goode tweeted “Mr Brisbane pal” in recognition of the Suva-born Fijian international’s upbringing in Australia. 

That late-season 2010 win at table-topping Leicester helped Saracens to finish third and make the playoffs, something of a rare occrrence for them at that time.

However, while they defeated Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens in the following weekend’s semi-final, they couldn’t repeat their success over Leicester as they lost out in the final at Twickenham to the Tigers on a 33-27 scoreline. 

That was the showpiece which Brendan Venter spent sat at home in St Albans babysitting his son as he was serving a ten-week touchline suspension and a one-match Twickenham ban at the time.