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The ex-Saracens scrum-half that left a 15-year-old Maro Itoje in awe
By Liam Heagney
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.
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Latest Comments
Good summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
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