Biarritz wary of Saracens threat

Biarritz Olympique may have been installed as favourites to qualify directly from Pool 4 for the knock-out stages but ace scrum half Dimitri Yachvili insists there will be no complacency from the 2006 Heineken Cup finalists.

Biarritz may have been accused of a spot of that when they lost their home quarter-final against Northampton Saints last April but Saracens will be getting full respect from the French club when they travel to Parc des Sports Aguilera on Saturday.

Saracens announced their return to the top flight with a 33-31 home win over Glasgow Warriors while Biarritz were restricted to a debut try from new signing and South African World Cup final medal winner Ashwin Willemse in their 19-11 win at Viadana.

"I know that the result against Viadana was maybe not what the media were expecting but we certainly didn't under-estimate the strength of the Italians," said Yachvili.

"It's only the media who are calling this an easy Pool - we certainly aren't doing anything of the sort.

"There are four strong teams and Saracens are probably considered as one of the strongest teams in the tournament so we are focusing on qualification and not thinking about home quarter-finals or anything like that.

"We didn't have any particular problems in the game against Viadana as our set pieces were good and we had some good play in the backs.

"However, it's true that our finishing wasn't what it might have been and we could have been a bit more clinical, but Viadana are a strong side with a lot of Italian internationals and notably a few All Black players in their squad and they pushed us very hard.

"I am happy to have got the first win on the board though and we are now focusing on the task ahead of us against Saracens."

Biarritz have reached the knock-out stages six times in the seven seasons they have taken part in the Heineken Cup and the trip to Vicarage Road will be a major test in their bid to make it through to the last eight for a seventh time.

"Saracens are certainly a very formidable side," said Yachvili. "They have recruited very well and have been impressive in the Premiership so far this season.

"I watched their games against Leicester Tigers and London Wasps and they are certainly a very complete and well-organised outfit. We have a great deal of respect for them as opponents and this game is going to be a really tough clash.

"But it will be great to see Census Johnson again. Although Census wasn't at Biarritz for long, he helped us win the French championship and he had a big impact at the club. He is a very solid player and we know how much of a threat he could pose to us.
"I think one of our problems so far has been that because of the World Cup and the delay to the start of the Top 14, there are a lot of our players who have had a very long pre-season and maybe lack a bit of pitch time.

"Although the coaches have implemented a very physical pre-season schedule and got in as many friendly matches as they could, we need games to get into our rhythm and I don't think we have been able to properly do that so far.

"A big advantage Saracens will have over us is that their non-international players have already got half a dozen games under their belts but having said that, we won't get a second chance at this so we just have to be ready for the challenge ahead."