Saracens rampant against Red Bulls

After the promise of last weekend at Northampton, Newcastle Red Bulls were put to the sword in North London yesterday afternoon.

Disruption for Red Bulls

Red Bulls were dealt a blow hours before kick off when Stewart Moore who was named to start at inside centre was recalled by his parent club Ulster from his short loan spell. As I said in my preview, Moore looked to have all the credentials to have a big impact on Red Bulls this season. As the saying goes, never fall in love with a loan player.

Dominant display

Looking at the team sheets, I genuinely thought that Red Bulls could get a result here. Unfortunately a 43-0 result shows nothing to back that pre-match optimism up! Credit to Saracens who did a job and the Saracens academy looks to be producing the standard of talent that Red Bull will be looking to aspire to bring through the academy in years to come. The biggest disappointment for me is to not even be on the scoreboard.

Red Bulls sit third

After yesterday's result, Ted Bulls now sit third in the table with the top two from each pool qualifying for the semi finals. They're level on points with Saracens, who have a far superior points difference.

Encouraging news on Faiva

The game faced a lengthy pause in the second half when replacement hooker, Hame Faiva went down with a nasty looking injury. Fortunately there was some encouraging news on that front from Alan Dickens post match interview in that he was up and walking around. Although his appearances have been limited and from the bench, I like the look of Faiva and feel he could have a big impact part to play in the second half of the season.

More exposure for the academy

Although the result isn't what anyone wanted to see, there was a chance for some of the academy and fringe players to get some much needed game time. Junior Newton was called into the squad and came off the bench to make his debut. Oli Spencer as a senior academy player continues to get plenty of game time. It's the same with Nathan Greenwood, although yesterday might not have been his type of game! Up front Micky Rewcastle and Connor Hancock will be learning all the time in the front row. Finally in the back row Adam Scott, Reuben Parsons and Finn Baker all got a chance to show their worth.

A look ahead to Leicester

This block has been about building towards Leicester and players putting a mark down for selection and ultimately for contracts next season as recruitment is expected to be underway. I'll be surprised if we don't see Tom Christie make his debut on Friday night. There'll be hope that Simon Benitez Cruz comes away from Twickenham unscathed this afternoon. We know Christian Wade doesn't arrive until December. Stephen Jones is due to arrive in December too, to add some guidance to the attack.

Red Bulls project

Results like this can be frustrating, but to be fair to Red Bulls they've come out this week and spoken to fans and been on BBC Radio Newcastle. This is a project and it's not going to happen overnight. There's a commitment to improvement across the board from facilities to the squad and it's a case of being part of the journey. The majority understand this, but there's a very small section who don't and think that success will happen overnight. Ultimately, yes the Red Bull investment and insight helps hugely and fans can see that there's a plan. But success has to be earnt on the field and no amount of money guarantees that.