Aviva Premiership - Round 17

Table




Fixtures

Fri 18th Mar 16

19:45 Bath Rugby  v   Newcastle Falcons BT Sport


Sat 19th Mar 16

15:00 Harlequins  v   Worcester Warriors


Sun 20th Mar 16

13:00 Exeter Chiefs  v   Northampton Saints Sandy Park BT Sport
14:00 Wasps  v   Sale Sharks
15:00 London Irish  v   Gloucester Rugby
15:15 Leicester Tigers  v   Saracens BT Sport

I think we need Leicester, Saints, and Sale to win to really make the top of the table a lot more interesting for the last leg of the season.  
We need Newcastle to be Bath because, well, Bath are Bath.
London Irish to win or they are doomed.
And Quins because yesterday I met a really pretty Quins fan in my office and had the joy of checking her knee for flexion and extension, over and over.

Yes, you called?

Falcons
Quins
Exeter
Wasps
Irish
Tigers

Tigers will still be missing JDV and O'Connor on top of the internationals. We can keep Tom Youngs on that list for the season though and now add Mike Williams back to it who is out for the weekend after experiencing pain in the same arm he previously broke.

Thankfully Thompstone, Goneva and Tait should be fit apparently. Fonau and Bateman are also making timely returns from injury.

Ayerza, Thacker, Balmain, Barrow, Kitchener, Croft, McCaffery, Slater
Kitto, Burns, Thompstone, Smith, Betham, TV/Goneva, Tait

Reps: Bateman/Van Vurren, Genge, Mulipola, Fitzgerald, Fonau/Pearce/Crane, Harrison, Williams, Goneva/TV

Reckon we'll see something like that.

I predicted Kitch starting and Fitzgerald getting a rest last week and was wrong. As such I'm blindly predicting it again.

The other possible change from that would be Owen Williams starting at 12 with Smith at 13 and Betham out on the wing. I think Cocker will stick with Smith as his rock at 12 though.

I'd like to see Owen Williams start. Sarries defence loves to pressure 10s like Burns who wants to run and attack. Williams is adept at playing territory and the turning on the attack when he sees it.

Falcons v Bath

1 Rob Vickers
2 George McGuigan
3 Taione Vea
4 Mouritz Botha
5 Calum Green
6 Mark Wilson
7 Will Welch (captain)
8 Nili Latu

9 Sonatane Takulua
10 Mike Delany
11 Marcus Watson
12 Juan Pablo Socino
13 Chris Harris
14 Giamba Venditti
15 Simon Hammersley,

Replacements:

16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Michael Young, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Belisario Agulla

Bath Rugby team to face Newcastle Falcons

1 Max Lahiff
2 Rob Webber
3 David Wilson
4 Stuart Hooper (c)
5 Dominic Day
6 Matt Garvey
7 Francois Louw
8 Leroy Houston

9 Chris Cook
10 Ollie Devoto
11 Jeff Williams
12 Kyle Eastmond
13 Matt Banahan
14 Semesa Rokoduguni
15 Tom Homer

Replacements

16 Tom Dunn 17 Nathan Catt 18 Henry Thomas 19 Charlie Ewels 20 Guy Mercer 21 Jonathan Evans
22 Max Clark 23 Horacio Agulla

Guess Bath are going to try and smash us to bits!

That's a huge side.....!

We'll need to be smart, efficient and clinical.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Falcons v Bath

1 Rob Vickers
2 George McGuigan
3 Taione Vea
4 Mouritz Botha
5 Calum Green
6 Mark Wilson
7 Will Welch (captain)
8 Nili Latu

9 Sonatane Takulua
10 Mike Delany
11 Marcus Watson
12 Juan Pablo Socino
13 Chris Harris
14 Giamba Venditti
15 Simon Hammersley,

Replacements:

16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Michael Young, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Belisario Agulla

Bold call dropping the best fly half in the premiership!!

He burnt too many calories last week, so needs a rest to recuperate.

He didn't play last game either.

That's odd. Fitness isn't usually an issue you'd associate with a man of his work ethic.

Leave Goode alone!!!

Our only saving grace this week is Devoto is at fly half.....it'll be an unlikely win I feel, I'd be happy with a LBP and an Irish defeat.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Guess Bath are going to try and smash us to bits!

That's a huge side.....!

We'll need to be smart, efficient and clinical.

It is the only side we can put out. Haven't consciously made the decision to choose a bulky side

I see that Rob Baxter is moaning again. I wonder how much credit he has in the bank so far and when people are allowed to be critical? Their match with Saints will be highly instructive - will be interesting to see how the differing styles match up.

Sam Sarries' defence isn't the same without Gustard.

Sarries loss is England's gain.

Think Leicester will win this game.

Without their England players and Taylor, Saracens are playing like a side around 8th-10th in the league not 1st.

Just adding one or two players a game from the 6 nations has made a difference.

Alex Goode - very classy club player.

Then there's been absentees like Brits, Ashton and Hodgson.

A club shouldn't rely on a handful of players but sadly that's happened this Saracens this season.

The strength in depth that in previous seasons seems to be teetering.

Hamilton has been sub par. Hargreaves lacking power. Brown is not the same player he was.

Tompkins and Spencer haven't really grabbed their opportunities.

Mordt is not a good 3rd choice 10, nice bloke but simply good enough a player.

It's been the cameos from the 6 nations guys dragging the squad out the holes dug - Itoje vs Bath, Goode vs LI, Taylor vs Gloucester etc.

Making 3 wins that could have easily been losses without those players.

Quins team for Worcest...Not far off the team from last week - would be nice if they could maintain for 80mins.

Harlequins team
15. Ross Chisholm
14. Charlie Walker
13. George Lowe
12. Harry Sloan
11. Henry Cheeseman
10. Ben Botica
9. Karl Dickson

1. Mark Lambert
2. Dave Ward
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. James Horwill©
5. Sam Twomey
6.Mat Luamanu
7. Luke Wallace
8. Nick Easter

16. Joe Gray
17. Owen Evans
18. Will Collier
19. Charlie Matthews
20. James Chisholm
21. Tito Tebaldi
22. Joe Marchant
23. Ollie Lindsay-Hague

Sarries have certainly lost an edge of late. Gustard has been the best NH defence coach for years, Sarries must be gutted to have lost him.

Having said that, we overcomplicate play in our own half far too often. Burns is particularly guilty for playing in the wrong areas, especially when we're down on the scoreboard. Kitto the young scrum half is great in attack but not so in defence. Unless Williams starts you back row should be looking to have a field day.

Tickets for Sunday's match are still available at the Tigers ticket office. Buy in person at Welford Road, phone 0116 319 8888 (option 2) or book online.

Leicester Tigers (v Saracens, Welford Road, Sunday 3.15pm)
15 Tommy Bell
14 Adam Thompstone
13 Peter Betham 
12 Owen Williams
11 Vereniki Goneva 
10 Freddie Burns 
9 Jono Kitto
1 Marcos Ayerza 
2 Harry Thacker
3 Logovi'i Mulipola 
4 Dom Barrow
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Mike Fitzgerald
7 Lachlan McCaffrey
8 Jordan Crane (c) 

Replacements
16 Greg Bateman
17 Ellis Genge
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Tom Croft 
20 Opeti Fonua 
21 Sam Harrison
22 Matt Smith
23 Telusa Veainu 

We've gone big up front so I presume rain is forecast for Saturday. Three kickers in the back line makes me think we'll be playing for territory first and foremost.

Burns vs Mordt - it's a nice match up for Burns, no Charlie or Farrell will be a relief.

As usual I expect most of the playmaking will come from Alex Goode though.

Of course you'll play for territory and why not?

I cannot see you losing the forwards battle.

Both teams missing players but I think your backup forwards are better than our back ups. Hope I am wrong though.

What's happened to young Nick Auterac?

Saints line up for Sandy Park:

15 Ben Foden
14 Ken Pisi
13 George Pisi
12 Harry Mallinder
11 Ahsee Tuala
10 JJ Hanrahan
9 Lee Dickson (capt)
1 Alex Waller
2 Mikey Haywood
3 Paul Hill
4 James Craig
5 Christian Day
6 Teimana Harrison
7 Jamie Gibson
8 Jonathan Fisher

16 Reece Marshall
17 Ethan Waller
18 Gareth Denman
19 Victor Matfield
20 Tom Wood
21 Kahn Fotuali’i
22 Stephen Myler
23 James Wilson

JM seems to think that the only line up we have had in the backs that has worked doesn't need to be repeated, i.e. Mallinder Jnr. and Burrell.

Lightweight back row, with Harrison a 7 and 6 and Gibson a 6 at 7. I suspect that will not be the way it works out in practise.

bluestonevedder wrote:What's happened to young Nick Auterac?

The web says 'close to returning after suffering a stinger'

beshocked wrote:Burns vs Mordt - it's a nice match up for Burns, no Charlie or Farrell will be a relief.

As usual I expect most of the playmaking will come from Alex Goode though.

Of course you'll play for territory and why not?

I cannot see you losing the forwards battle.

Both teams missing players but I think your backup forwards are better than our back ups. Hope I am wrong though.

Alex Goode is with the England travelling squad. He might feel a touch groggy of there's something to celebrate tomorrow night.

Our backup props are young and Bateman is probably not fully fit. That's a concern with Mulipola also not fully fit. Croft and Fonua on the bench is good for impact.

I think it'll be close but Sarries should be able to pull this one off.

Sam seems like you don't want Tigers to have the favourites tag!

You are at home - have two powerhouse props who will probably cause ours all sorts of problems.

Kitchener will rule the skies.

I expect you'll dominate us with a tight gameplan. Just don't have the power in the pack to match you.

Burns will have an armchair ride behind the dominant Tigers pack outclassing the below par Mordt.

Goneva will probably break through the weak tackling of the Saracens team.

Wolf pack has lost it's bite with no Gustard. Lack of power with no Vunipola bros,George,Itoje and Kruis.


Saracens side to face Leicester Tigers:

15 Alex Goode (198 apps)

14 Mike Ellery (20 apps)

13 Marcelo Bosch (57 apps)

12 Brad Barritt (c) (162 apps)

11 Chris Wyles (198 apps)

10 Nils Mordt (58 apps)

9 Neil de Kock (248 apps)

1 Richard Barrington (72 apps)

2 Schalk Brits (161 apps)

3 Juan Figallo (28 apps)

4 Jim Hamilton (41 apps)

5 Alistair Hargreaves (76 apps)

6 Michael Rhodes (18 apps)

7 Kelly Brown (125 apps)

8 Jackson Wray (133 apps)



Replacements

16 Dave Porecki (3 apps)

17 Titi Lamositele (14 apps)

18 Petrus Du Plessis (122 apps)

19 Hayden Smith (61 apps)

20 Will Fraser (71 apps)

21 Richard Wigglesworth (144 apps)

22 Nick Tompkins (31 apps)

23 Ben Ransom (61 apps)


The only hope I have is that if Saracens are still in the game in the last 20 minutes, the bench might pull something out of the bag.

Expecting a loss though.

Well I hope Louw is banned for the rest of the season!!!

Falcons should have won that one. A little more composure in the opposition 22 and that's a win. A couple of chips to nothing and Micky the anchor Young dragging momentum to a stand still off the bench hit them hard.

Didn't catch it but would have took the LBP before the game

Worth a watch. You had three drop goal attempts to win the game in the final minutes.

I have no idea how Bath won that, Newcastle were far the better team. Bath look like an absolute shambles at the moment.

In the end Bath won because they had the individual genius. some of their play was mesmerising - but there was bugger all organisation, leadership or teamwork. Mike ford looked constipated with fear on the sidelines, whilst Toby Booth came across as a man with no idea what they can do to arrest this decline during mid match interviews. The pair of them are probably just counting the days to their P45s

GeordieFalcon wrote:Well I hope Louw is banned for the rest of the season!!!

What happened Geordie??

Yappy, Louw dragged Young out a ruck in a headlock and then from a standing position judo threw him to the floor still in the headlock with Louw landing on top. Dangerous play with Austin calling for a red and Kay saying justice served with a yellow.

A citing wouldn't be a surprise, expect him to miss a couple of games.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Yappy, Louw dragged Young out a ruck in a headlock and then from a standing position judo threw him to the floor still in the headlock with Louw landing on top. Dangerous play with Austin calling for a red and Kay saying justice served with a yellow.

A citing wouldn't be a surprise, expect him to miss a couple of games.

I agree that should have been red. And Louw shold be cited. Not only did Louw have Young by the neck, he threw him down over his leg for additional leverage, similar to a trip or judo throw, as said above. Stupid.

And, by the way, how could Newcastle not get over for a try when 2 men up?

Sam your totally correct with Micky Youngs...he is appalling. His default setting is a box kick. You should hear the abuse he gets at home games...and we're a crowd that doesn't really criticise our players unless they really are poor.

This season is becoming very frustrating...as have some previous....leaving too many points on the pitch.

Dean is very vocal after every match saying "we caused our own defeat" , "we made errors at critical points" " its our fault we lost" etc etc...but hes been saying that for several seasons now...what are they doing to fix it!!!

doctor_grey wrote:And, by the way, how could Newcastle not get over for a try when 2 men up?  

I think this only happened for 2/3mins reading reports.

9-18 HT to Worcester at the moment

True face palm moment from Quins for the second try. Touch judge raises his flag to signal the opposition have gone off the pitch, ref calls play on, all Quins boys stop, Worcester score.

Wuss are hauling themselves out of it leaving us and Irish to fight it out for relegation.

yappysnap wrote:9-18 HT to Worcester at the moment

True face palm moment from Quins for the second try. Touch judge raises his flag to signal the opposition have gone off the pitch, ref calls play on, all Quins boys stop, Worcester score.

Wonder if Ryan will complain about that?

15 - 21 to Wuss at full time.

No Heaf, Ryan won't be complaining but there was a controversial decision that went Warriors way so your shared annoyance at refereeing can continue.

Are Wuss now safe?

What a shower of Poopie from Quins.

Well done wuss, you played like you wanted it. Quins like their season was already over.

Something not right behind the scenes

stub wrote:15 - 21 to Wuss at full time.

No Heaf, Ryan won't be complaining but there was a controversial decision that went Warriors way so your shared annoyance at refereeing can continue.

Are Wuss now safe?

tbh I think Wuss have been safe for a while ...

PS I'm more annoyed that it messed me up on Superbru

Heaf wrote:PS I'm more annoyed that it messed me up on Superbru

Superbru?

Well Its down to Irish or Falcons.

Personally I think its time the league was ring fenced....this season...ie now.

Big game for Irish tomorrow. If they get nothing out of this one, I think they're down.