Steve Borthwick
The current England captain is in his second season with Saracens and Director of Rugby Brendan Venter has named the second row as his captain for the 2009/10 campaign.

Borthwick was first handed the England captaincy in the 2008 Six Nations as a stand-in for Phil Vickery but following the appointment of Martin Johnson as Team Manager, Borthwick was quickly given the captaincy for the summer tour to New Zealand.

Borthwick has been a regular in the England squads since 2001 although it has been in the past three years where he has made a second row position his own.

He has demonstrated his leadership abilities throughout his career from the time he was first called to international duty as part of the victorious 1997 England U18s tour to Australia in a side which included Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall and Saracens forwards Coach Alex Sanderson.

A member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad, Borthwick was also only one of two players to play every minute of England's 2008 Six Nations campaign.

A product of Preston Grasshoppers, Borthwick was a lynchpin in the Bath pack since making his Premiership debut for the West Country club in the 1998/99 season and has captained the West Country side for the past three seasons.

He led the club to their first trophy in a decade in 2007/08 when they defeated Worcester Warriors to lift the European Challenge Cup, his final match for the club before joining Saracens

Brad Barritt
Barritt arrived at Saracens as part of a three year deal in October 2008 from the Super 14 outfit The Sharks.

A powerful centre with a fine distribution game, the English qualified 22-year-old and Super 14 regular made 14 appearances for Saracens last season.

He made an instant impact when he came off the bench against Worcester Warriors midway through the season after joining from Super 14 side the Sharks to score a try on his debut.

His performances quickly caught the eye of the national selectors and he was part of the England Saxons touring squad in the summer of 2009. He has been named in the EPS squad for the 2009/10 season.

Schalk Brits
Dynamic hooker Brits is a new signing to the Saracens squad for the 2009/10 season, bringing with him a wealth of talent and experience at Super 14 and International level.

The 28-year-old joined from The Stormers franchise where he was a regular in the Super 14 and has also been a mainstay of the Western Province side in the Currie Cup.

Brits made his Springbok debut last summer as a replacement against Italy before featuring in the Tri Nations against New Zealand and Australia.

He won the Man of the Match award when he played for the Barbarians against England at Twickenham in May 2009 and the hooker is no stranger to Vicarage Road having played for his former side The Cats when they visited for a friendly in 2005.

Noah Cato
Saracens' leading try scorer last season, Cato enjoyed a fantastic first full season with the Vicarage Road club that also saw him make his England Saxons debut.

Blessed with pace and a natural try scoring ability, Cato scored a try on his full Guinness Premiership debut for Saracens in 2007/08 against Leeds and he hasn't looked back - becoming a regular in the first team ever since.

Cato comes from a sporting background with his grandfather Glen Wilson considered a legend among Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club supporters and although still only 20, he is considered as one of the brightest prospects in the English game.

He scored six tries in five matches as England U20s won the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2008 and he has also been part of the England 7s circuit. His performances last season earned him a call-up to the England Saxons squad and he was part of the 2009 Churchill Cup.