SARACENS are currently in negotiations with Simon Raiwalui with regard to extending his stay at Vicarage Road.

Given the imperious form of the former Fijian captain you can understand why.

The colossal second-row forward has been instrumental in the Men in Black's unbeaten run either side of Christmas, providing the heartbeat of a pack that is now among the most formidable units in the Premiership, and his destructive ball-carrying ability has been one of the Men in Black's most potent attacking weapons.

"I'm enjoying my rugby at the moment," said the Auckland-born 30-year-old. "They seem keen to keep me and I'm a Saracens player and I'm happy at Sarries at the moment. Contract negotiations are a funny thing, but I'm not thinking about that at the moment. I'm just concentrating on playing and if we can keep this roll going then everyone wants to be a part of it."

Raiwalui was linked with a move with a move to big-spending Pau in the summer and was understood to have held preliminary talks with the French club after a first season at Vicarage Road he admitted "as quite hard".

"I'm not going to lie, it was quite hard last year," admitted Raiwalui, signed on a two-year deal from Newport in 2003. "But we are getting that consistency now. I don't think they are going to change the squad too much in the summer and that is the kind of stability that Saracens haven't had for a few years."

Although Sarries did little to promote stability when they parted company with Rod Kafer midway through the season, they did at least ensure continuity by promoting Steve Diamond, an appointment Raiwalui endorsed.

"I've known Steve since I was a young player at Sale. He is still the same as he was then: he calls a spade a spade. He is one of the boys and is a player's coach. He knows how to get the boys up and when to give them a bollocking. Fordy has also added a new dimension to the team and it seems to be working."

Three wins and a draw would add further credence to the belief that Diamond's pragmatic approach is paying dividends and Raiwalui, in particular, appears to be thriving under the new regime.

"We are playing a tight game and I'm getting a lot of the ball which is good," he said. "We are in a bit of form at the moment, but we must take it week by week and keep moving forward. Even though we are playing a limited game, we are getting better and Dimes and Fordy are bringing in a new dimension each week.

"We are going places in the forward pack and now the backs are starting come on leaps and bounds. If we can gel the two together then I think we are going to be quite a formidable outfit."

The pack certainly proved too hot to handle for Brive on Sunday, although Raiwalui was disappointed Sarries did not translate their dominance into points."

"It went pretty well but we would have liked a few more points," he said. "If it wasn't for a few dropped balls it could have been a few more, but we had a lot of the ball and put a lot of pressure on them, but they were quite potent as well and could have scored a few tries themselves. But we stuck in there and it was great to come away having not conceded a try."

Raiwalui will again captain the side in the return leg on Sunday and Sarries are likely to need another commanding performance from the Fijian if they are preserve their lead and book their place in the last four.

"We will just go into the game thinking it's nin-nil and go and win the game. We are not thinking we are 13 points up - if we win the game by one point I will be happy. We are under no illusions as to how tough it's going to be, but we are going there with the intention to win. They are very good team though and we are going to have to play to our full potential to get a result, but I love playing in France as they play a very physical style over there."

Should Sarries emerge victorious, Raiwalui will get another chance to pit his wits against the French with Pau or Clermont Auvergne awaiting the winners in the last four.