Leeds eye overdue climb by denying Saracens

Leeds went into the match at Vicarage Road in October bottom of the pile after failing to pick up a point in the four games following their opening day draw with Newcastle.

Saracens, by contrast, were the surprise leaders of the Premiership after an unbeaten start, and although they preserved their status with a 21-15 victory, the losing bonus point Leeds picked up at last gave the squad the belief that they could compete in the top flight.

There was also a sense of injustice that they had a try wrongly disallowed at a crucial part of the game, that was only strengthened when match referee David Rose rang Key and head coach Neil Back apologising for his mistake.

Galvanised by their grievance and their renewed confidence, Leeds have pulled level on points with Sale after picking up points in eight of the nine league fixtures since that defeat at Saracens.

And they now stand on the verge of finally clambering out of the sole relegation place thanks to victories in their last two games.

Key said: "The game at Vicarage Road was a very tight affair but despite us losing out that day, it proved a crucial point in our season.

"We had pushed the unbeaten league leaders all the way and, but for a piece of bad luck, we could have come away with a win.

"The following week we went to Wasps and won so that shows how much belief that performance gave us.

"Unfortunately, the last meeting between us in the LV Cup was not as close and we need to make sure that we perform better than that tomorrow."

If 10th-place Worcester – who have fewer wins than Leeds – lose at Harlequins today and fail to pick up a point, and Sale fail to register anything against Northampton tomorrow in a game that kicks off 30 minutes before Leeds play Saracens, then even a losing bonus point would see Leeds climb to 10th.

Conversely, Leeds could win and stay bottom.

"There is a great feeling within the squad but a realisation that our situation has not changed," warned a cautious Key, whose side have beaten Newcastle, Sale and Wasps in the last four games.

"We are still at the bottom and we need to make sure that we keep working hard for one another to build on our previous performances.

"We were absolutely delighted with the players' performance against Wasps and their ability to close out the game.

"As in previous games this year, we put ourselves in a position to win the match but on this occasion we continued to maintain the pressure and eventually that brought the clinching try from Hendre Fourie."

Leeds have made just one change with Scott Barrow returning at inside centre following the calf strain that forced him to miss the Wasps victory.

Henry Paul drops out altogether. Leeds are still without Andy Gomarsall (leg), Rob Rawlinson (neck) and Danny Paul (shoulder) through injury.

As a reaction to Saracens' defeat at Bath, their fourth in five games, Brendan Venter has made six changes.

In the forwards, prop Matias Aguero returns from international duty and he packs down alongside Schalk Brits – outstanding in Saracens' LV Cup win at Headingley Carnegie in January – who starts at hooker. Tom Ryder gets the nod in the second row while Jacques Burger and Justin Melck both come into the back row on rotation.

In the backline, Rodd Penney comes in at wing in the only change. On the bench, Fabio Ongaro is available after international duty along with Rhys Gill.

Venter said: "The Guinness Premiership is a very close competition and Leeds have proved just that with their results in recent weeks.

"They go into the game on the back of a very good performance against Wasps last weekend and that has made things even tighter at the foot of the table.

"From our perspective, I couldn't fault the effort and commitment from the players last week and I know they will give just as much on Sunday after a week in which they have trained exceptionally hard."

England flanker Lewis Moody will leave Leicester in the summer after signing a three-year deal with Premiership rivals Bath.

Moody, currently in his 14th season at Leicester, had been linked with clubs in the French Top 14.

But the 31-year-old was persuaded to move to Bath after holding talks with head coach Steve Meehan and chief executive Nick Blofeld.

"I am really looking forward to an exciting new challenge at this stage of my career," said Moody.

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