We've been left in cold, say Sarries

Saracens fly in to Bucharest for their Euro clash with Dinamo Bucharesti on Friday - 24 hours after a coaching mission headed by the England coaches Andy Robinson and Brian Ashton heads home.

Astonishingly, no effort has been made by the England set-up to follow up their coaching mission by bringing on board Saracens, who face the Romanian champions in the Parker Pen Shield at the weekend.

Robinson and Ashton will be in Romania tomorrow to work with school children and under-19 players in an effort to raise the profile of England's clash with Romania at Twickenham on 17 November.

Their expertise will be invaluable for the young players invited to the sessions but the presence of Saracens' World Cup winners, Tim Horan and Francois Pienaar, and French great Abdel Benazzi, the club captain, would have generated even more interest and publicity in that country.

Tim Lawler, the Saracens chief executive, said: "It's a shame that this is a missed opportunity and there could have been useful continuity with Saracens following on from the England sessions with local players.

"However, we didn't know what they were planning and so we will wait until we reach Bucharest before assessing how best we can help them."

Although disappointed they have not been included, Saracens will take their own gift of rugby kit to present to the local union and are planning to support the Bucharesti players when the return match is staged at Watford on 6 January.

Meanwhile, the club have put Jannie de Beer's comeback on hold.

The South African fly-half, who damaged knee ligaments in a preseason friendly against Edinburgh, was hoping to play at least 20 minutes against Dinamo Bucharesti but is still a week away from full fitness.

De Beer's place has been taken by his countryman Luke Smith, who scored 24 points in Saturday's 34-14 win over Bordeaux-Begles.