Brendan Venter warns Saracens cannot afford slow start against Bath (From Watford Observer)

Brendan Venter warns Saracens cannot afford slow start against Bath

2:40pm Friday 26th February 2010 in

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Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter has told his team they cannot afford a poor start on Sunday against Bath.

The Men in Black have been sluggish in the first half of their last two matches against Worcester and Wasps. Venter has worked with his players on improving the set piece in training and knows they will have to rise to the occasion against a Bath team which have won their last four Guinness Premiership matches.

Asked the reason for their first-half problems, he said: "It was definitely not fatigue. We just really have to be more mentally switched on. We cannot afford to start slowly and we've been spending a lot of time on our set piece which hasn't been strong enough.

"Bath are playing really well at the moment so it's a big challenge for us. We have to be able to deal with Bath and see if we can handle them.

"They had a lot of injuries to key players earlier in the season and it's no coincidence that they're recent form has been linked to Butch James' return to fitness.

"I thought he was the unsung hero for South Africa when they won the World Cup and he's just a wonderful player."

Wing Michael Tagicakibau earns a recall to the side for theVicarage Road match in place of England Saxon Noah Cato. Kas Lealamanua and Mouritz Botha will also come back into the pack as Sarries look to halt a run of three Premiership defeats from their last four.