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Teams

Bath RFC	InTheFastLane
Exeter Chiefs	Driver - RIP 606
Gloucester	Anonmattyt
Harlequins	Steven_Sharks
Leicester Tigers	LukeLovesLuka
London Irish	stnick88
London Wasps	Arry
Newcastle Falcons	Sgt_Pooly
Northampton Saints	Dammit_Chris
Sale Sharks	SirJohnnyEnglish
Saracens	LDCPete
Worcester Warriors	prop_lyd

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Waiting List
1. pullthestrings
2. Bathite

Why does Hartley pop out of every Saints scrum?

Matt/Prop...any ideas?

Yeah driver, I didn't realise I was at risk of going out....more rest for my players anyway!

Pete: I may be wrong but I think it's from the pressure of his own props and maybe the way saints tend to go for the 2nd shove so the extra pressure from the 2nd rows sometimes could see him struggle to stay down......although it could be body positioning on the hit or even tactical!!

Not me asking Prop.

Cheers Prop.

Love watching Munster grind teams down, battered in the scrum but lineout and pack control. Saints look a class below really.

Oh yeah sorry....well there's your answer Pooly!!

Back from holiday so activity back to normal

Toulouse in the HC...thankfully i've got half their side

Welcome back mate

That missed catch from Dowson was awful, him and Clark have been totally outclassed so far in this one.

i am on the munster game and dowson has been appalling. he has been ran through twice and that drop was nothing short of dreadful.

dickson is doing well and munster 8 and 7 really dynamic

Dickson is pure class. Would love to see him given a shot at 9 for England. Think the way he speeds up and slows down the game is fantastic.

Dickson is a steady scrummie, doesn't offer much when the pack doesn't dominate but has great basics. Connor Murray completely outplayed him yesterday though

Balshaw is in some electric form for OB!

I thought Murray was alright but I wouldn't say he outplayed him. Murray spent far to much time in rucks.

Which scrum half's offer a lot when the pack is struggling? No EQ ones do and that's all he is competing with.

POC, Manoa, Zebo were the pick of the players yesterday.

POC has been immense from 1st minute

Watching ERC highlights. Great game at Kingsholm. The English backs just keep impressing me more each week.

Still can't believe that Quins did what they did to the Connacht scrum but they still couldn't get the win! Considering they have won so many with a relatively poor scrum.

Lovely try from Rob Kearney as well

European draws in full...

Heineken Cup Quarter Finals

Gloucester vs. ASM Clermont Auvergne
Leicester Tigers vs. Toulouse
Sale Sharks vs. London Irish
Saracens vs. Newcastle Falcons

Semi Finals

Gloucester or ASM Clermont Auvergne vs. Sale Sharks or London Irish
Saracens or Newcastle Falcons vs. Leicester Tigers or Toulouse


Amlin Challenge Cup Quarter Finals

Northampton Saints vs. Stade Francais
Bath Rugby vs. Cardiff Blues
Exeter Chiefs vs. Munster
London Wasps vs. Leinster

Semi Finals

Exeter Chiefs or Munster vs. Northampton Saints or Stade Francais
London Wasps or Leinster vs. Bath Rugby or Cardiff Blues

Sarries - Gloucester final I reckon.....

Amlin looking tasty! Matt's lucky to asm at home.

I've got lucky this year with the home draws, but about time as I have ended up away in each of the last two seasons.

Did you see how close it was in the end between us Pooly for 4th seeding. I had to check the rules on the ERC website to work out which one of us had it!!!

I did exactly the same lol, couldn't believe I was 5th seed!

Tries, Pts isn't it?

yeah, and we were level on tries. I was glad it was settled on points difference to be honest, as the next two deciders are yellow cards and then a coin toss!

Haha...coin toss would have been fun.

Heads I win, tails you lose I reckon

ANyone seen Elliot Daly's try from yesterday yet? Got a feeling we could become quite strong in the 13 shirt with England with Tuilagi, May, Trinder and Daly battling it out for the shirt - wonder if any can be converted to a 12?

good to see harden now in saxons

anyone see the rugby paper yesterday

Glaws are offering to buy out Ben Morgans contract.

ALso Narraway in talks with saints according to the local rag

I wonder if Gloucester are getting a liitle help from the RFU to get Morgan?

Narraway to Saints has been doing the rounds for a while.

36 and Morgan make us such a better side. It means we have much more control.

a great ball carrier and an extra kicking game from 12 will suit us.

Narraway would not be a massive loss if got morgan.

Trinder, Burns and Morgan are good friends and played together at Cinderford so can see Morgan wanting to move to glos.

Would not surprise me if their is some RFU Help. it makes sense.

there could be some big transfers this year.
booth has said he is going for quality not quantity this year so hopefully we can get some decent players in. skivington and gopperth would be a good start.

narraway would be good for saints. morgan would be ideal for glos they need a big ball carrier.

http://www.london-irish.com/news/Irish82163.ink?newstype=N&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

skiv confirmed

could be the new club captain nick

He's never kicked on Tigers, could be a good signing for Irish if he gets some form back.

I think Gloucester are a lock, scrum half and prop away from a top class side if they get 36 & Morgan.

we seriously lack leadership at times so would be helpful.

hodgson off to worcester I think. his time is up my dad said he was awful yesterday. takes him an hour to get the ball out of each ruck.

Does Skivington confirm Kennedy leaving?

yep.
He is off to Toulon just hasnt been announced yet.

Garvey, Skivington and Bryn Evans gives us good options. Although I'm liking Bryn Evans at 6 recently, bulks up our pack.

Evans is okay at 6 against Sale, Wasps etc but he would be seriously found out in the HC I think.

So desperate for us to get into the HC next season. Miss the games so much but by Thursdays performance we'd struggle to win the Championship playoffs let alone compete in the HC.

Were we the last side to beat Clermont at Home in Europe? Must have been the last to take 5 points off them.

likewise steve, we need to if we are to attract more decent players.

top 4 for me will be saracens, quins, saints and tigers.

5 and 6 be between irish, sale, gloucester and possibly bath if they get their act together. to close to call.
one positive for us is that we have played gloucester, tigers, saints and saracens away so have the home fixtures against all them to come.

At least you are all signing players

Sale still have to go to Gloucester, Saints and Exeter.

We have half a chance against Saints if its during the 6N though if they lose players like Dickson, Clark etc to the 6N.

We have a chance of top 7 but I don't think we will get top 6 so could do with someone decent winning the LV so its 7 that qualify.

Guys did we ever reach an agreement on what was happening with the rules for next season? Were we reducing number of players in a squad or any other changes at all?

Sale have resigned Eiffion Lewis-Roberts apparently, with Sheridan joining Toulon.

He is treated as a god up here, some Sale fans see him as the greatest prop since Fran Cotton. Never really seen it myself. Make no mistake he is a step up on Tony Buckley but not that good.

Although ELR and Buckley are as bigger props as you are ever likely to see.

Are Toulon signing an entire English team? Arent they meant to be signing Delon Armitage too?

yep and kennedy chris!

So that's both Armitages, Kennedy, Sheridan, El Abd, Wilkinson who are all going to be playing for them. Sure there are more too.

Shaw might extend his deal as well. Schofield there at the moment as well but he may move I suspect now Saint-Anre has left.

Sheridan, Servat, Hayman.

Few years back and that would have been the best front row in the world without doubt. In fact a front 5 of

Sheridan, Servat, Hayman, Shaw, Botha would have been the best in the world circa 2007-2009

2/3 years ago that would have been the scariest front 5 in world rugby

Its still fairly terrifying. Not as good as it was by a long shot but would rather be behind it than against it as a general rule I'd have though.

Ben Alexander
Euan Murray
DOC
Botes
FDP
Skrela
Oliver
Marty
EFS
Lachie
Mermoz
Rougerie
Medard
could all leave

I didn't realise Ed Slater & Harden were called up to the Saxons:

England Saxons squad: Backs: N Abendanon (Bath), D Armitage (London Irish), M Banahan (Bath), F Burns (Gloucester), M Hopper (Harlequins), P Hodgson (London Irish), R Lamb (Northampton), J May (Gloucester), U Monye (Harlequins), B Twelvetrees (Leicester), M Young (Leicester). Forwards: C Brooker (Harlequins), P Doran-Jones (Northampton), M Garvey (London Irish), J Gaskell (Sale), J Gray (Harlequins), R Harden (Gloucester), T Johnson (Exeter), M Mullan (Worcester), K Myall (Sale), G Robson (Harlequins), A Saull (Saracens), E Slater (Leicester), T Waldrom (Leicester), N Wood (Gloucester).

Yeah added in Myall, Hodgson and Hopper as well.

I think Harden and Hodgson are just temporary for Thomas and Dickson whilst injured. Other 3 to remain with the Saxons I think as Trinder, Parling and Attwood have gone up.

Nice to see Myall get a chance from a Sale point of view as his line out work has been great this season, worth looking at for that alone. Only Wentzel has more steals I think but Myall did a job on Wentzel in Sale v Wasps. I personally prefer Myall to Gaskell at this point in time.

Has to be a better option then Hodgson though as a 9 replacement. Rather see a very young lad come through than keeping him in.

I'd go

1 Mullan
2 Gray
3 Doran-Jones
4 Garvey
5 Robson
6 Johnson
7 Saull
8 Waldrom
9 Young
10 Burns
11 Monye
12 Twelvetrees
13 Banahan
14 May
15 Armitage

Decent team.