 Saracens, once again though, were not able to put their regular Christmas period malaise behind them against a talented but under-performing Newcastle side back at Vicarage Road, as defensive weaknesses and coming out of the blocks slowly saw Saracens take only a losing bonus point from their final fixture of 2007 in the Premiership, though it was enough to see them go into the New Year in third place in the domestic league.The buildup to the first game of 2008 was dominated by talk away from the field of play, with the news that former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones was to succeed Alan Gaffney at the top of the coaching subject with Gaffney adopting the same consulting role Jones had been providing, whilst rumours of substantial cash investment from South African rugby interests abounded.When the focus returned to on-field matters, Saracens suffered a second successive defeat in the Premiership, this time away at Bristol, failing to take even a losing bonus point for the first time in any competition in the season and raising fears of the all too familiar Saracens' winter slump.