GLOUCESTER and their new hero Lesley Vainikolo arrived at Vicarage Road on Sunday, but Saracens boss Alan Gaffney is confident his side have more than enough firepower to shoot down Dean Ryan's fancied side.

The director of rugby has stuck with the same team who made European Champions Wasps look like chumps at Twickenham last weekend, and for a dozen of them involved in the humiliating 50-9 Premiership semi-final drubbing in May, it's payback time.

Dan Scarbrough, Kevin Sorrell, Neil de Kock, Nick Lloyd, Iain Fullarton, Richard Hill and Ben Skirving started at Kingsholm while Matt Cairns, Kris Chesney, David Seymour, Adam Powell and Rodd Penney came off the bench to try and stem the wave of Cherry and White attacks.

The defeat did not offer a true representation of what Saracens were about last season and Gaffney has demanded his side erase the painful embarrassment' of that day by producing another action packed display.

The Men in Black beat Wasps three scores to one on Saturday and it could have so easily been more. And with Gloucester's new cult figure The Volcano smashing in five tries on his union debut against Leeds, the stage is set for an explosive encounter.

"Gloucester played well that day and deserved to win by that score," recalled Gaffney of his side's semi final collapse. "We were pathetic in the second half. That's not having a go at the players who were out there, we tried as hard as we could but just could not get it together. It was an embarrassing loss and our boys know they have got to put in a good performance on Sunday."

Sarries trailed 14-3 at the break before the hosts cut loose in spectacular fashion and gave Thomas Castaignede a less than fitting send off to his glittering career.

"The first 40 minutes I thought we played pretty well," added the Aussie. "They got the penalty try and another when Kameli (Ratuvou) was sin binned, but then they showed what they can do.

"We tried to chase the game and we didn't need to do that. They have got a lot of pace in the side and a lot of boys with plenty of ability. If you make those simple errors against them, unless you adjust very quickly in defence, you are going to suffer for them."

So, hoe do you solve a problem like Vainikolo? The jet-heeled 28-year-old scored 149 tries in 152 appearances for the Bradford Bulls, an imperious record by anyone's standards.

Gaffney remained tight-lipped as to any special plans Sarries might have to nullify the Tonga-born wing, but hinted the quality of the opposition may have made the star look more formidable than he is.

"Obviously scoring five tries is great in the Premiership but he didn't have to do an enormous amount for four of those," he said.

Sarries full-back Dan Scarbrough is relishing the chance to stop the 16st giant in his tracks and has been getting tips on how to do so from former team-mate Tevita Vaikona, who played alongside Vainikolo for the Bulls.

"I watched Lesley for years at Bradford Bulls and obviously he's a big, strong lad and he showed against Leeds what he can do," said Scarbrough. "But he has also got weaknesses and we have to make sure we focus on them as a team and not just an individual."

Flanker David Seymour is taking the more pragmatic approach to prevent Vainikolo repeating his try-scoring heroics - starve him of possession.

"We've got to try and stop the ball from getting to him and not let him pick up much space," said the 22-year-old. "We've looked at videos of certain attacking aspects we will try against Gloucester and hopefully we can carry on our good start.

"It will be an interesting match and one which is vital to the season as a whole."

Saracens: Scarbrough, Penney, Sorrell, Powell, Leonelli, Ross, de Kock (cpt); Lloyd, Cairns, Mercey, Ryder, Vyvyan, Chesney, Hill, Skirving.

Replacements: Kyriacou, Yates, Fullarton, Seymour, Dickens, Thrower, McMullen.