HUGH VYVYAN, the Saracens captain, returns to Kingston Park on Sunday for the first time since his summer move to Saracens, and admitted he is relishing the prospect of lining up against his former team-mates.

"I'm obviously very, very excited by it and I've got to admit that I've thinking about this game since the start of the season," said the 28-year-old.

"I'm sure I'll get an interesting reception when I go back up there. All the people who were close to me up there understood my decision and they supported me so I left on good terms.

"I'm really looking forward to playing on the pitch again, this time with a different shirt on."

Sunday's match will also see Vyvyan line-up against Jonny Wilkinson for the first time in his career.

"He's a talisman for both England and Newcastle," said Vyvyan who spent two days this week alongside the England captain at a training camp in Loughborough.

"Obviously we've got to put pressure on him, but you can't just focus on him as that would be completely wrong. They've got some very exciting backs and I think Stuart Grimes is one of the best forwards around so they pose a threat all over the field."

Sarries won only three Zurich Premiership matches away from home last season, one of which came on the opening day of last season against a Newcastle side captained by Vyvyan.

"I don't look at home and away as a problem," he said. "The teams are so evenly matched that the days of winning at home and losing away ought to have gone out of the window. Going up to Newcastle poses no threat for us. It's a game of rugby we have to win and I've got every confidence we can go up there and get the result."

Said Rod Kafer: "Newcastle got off to a good start but have now lost three on the trot and we know what that is like," said the head coach.

"They will see this as a critical game to win so from our point of view it's important we have the right mental approach to the game. We've been drilling home the importance of consistency and the players are aware of the need to put in a similar performance to last week."

The squad will also be acutely aware of the threat of Wilkinson who, despite not recapturing the irresistible form he displayed pre-injury, is still a proven match-winner.

"We always focus on the opposition's key players and Jonny is obviously one of them, and we'll be adopting a number of strategies to deal with a player of his class. But in saying that they have a number of very good players, particularly Jamie Noon, and they have some good ball-carriers in the pack so they are a good side."