Fantasy Aviva Premiership season 4

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to the Aviva Premiership

---

---

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

---

Links
Rules
Fixtures
Aviva Premiership League Table
European Homepage
LDCPete Cup homepage
Budgets
Domestic Confirmations
Transfer Homepage
Foreign Transfers
Press Releases

---

Waiting List
1. Sam
2. pullthestrings
3. Bathite

That's a typical French league game isnt it? Who was the Irish lock who went nuts and started attacking people in the crowd?

Juan smith been out a very long time. Was the best blindside in the world but has had some bad injuries so would need to see how he returns. Would not rate him yet.


I am off to watch biarritz vs Toulon on NYE I hope it kicks off when I am there. Be a great crack.

Trevor Brennan was the Irish lock

I know you wouldn't rate him lol, been out since Feb/March so 9 months or so but back in training.

More interested on other views because I might play him this weekend against you.

Similar with Domingo then for example Matt?

agree with matt.
until he plays cant really rate. same applies to domingo or any injured player really who is out for 6 months or more really.

I have said for me domingo loses ratings so am being consistent others have rated him so they should stay consistent but always opinions.

I give a player generally 6 months so Becker now losing ot for me.

However if smith was against danaher etc I would just have them cancelling out. If juan smith was against kaino I would score massively against.

For example pooly you johnny and a few others started marking down ferris end of last season saying finished or out to long. I used to give players benefit but now 4/6 months means they lose ratings

Everybody rates differently, part of the fun really finding that balance in selection.

Rugbydump.com has a video of the Biarritz v Bayonne incident from last night - doesn't show a great deal, just Hari's dad getting thrown to the ground!

Following all available...

HK Chris Whitehead (E)
PR Juan Pablo Orlandi (ARG) (3)
PR Sakaria Taulafo (Samoa) (1)
PR Nic Mayhew (E)
PR Ben Moon (E) (3)
PR Bob Baker (1 or 3)
FL Sione Kalamafoni (Tonga)
FL Liam Messam (NZ)
FL Alexander Lapandy (France)
FL Jake Abbott (E)
FL/N8 Luke Watson (South Africa)
N8 Simon Taylor (Scotland)
N8 Ryan Kankowski (South Africa)
SH Charlie Davies (E)
SH Stuart Commins (SA/E)
FH Lionel Beauxis (French)
CE/FB Shane Geraghty (E)
CE Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
CE Willie Mason (Australia)
CE Casey Lualala
WG Julian Savea (NZ)
WG/FB Rory Lamont (Scotland)
WG/FB Jack Wallace (E)

RFU press confrence live on sky sports news from 5

Leadership players group
Intern coach
Off field England Team manager to be appointed
Rob Andrew re-appointed
Improved communication between clubs and country
Core values to be pushed more to England players
Commercial issues to be resolved
RFU re shuffle

All Findings of reviews

I know I'm late but just watching the Saints v Sarries game and Dickson's cover tackle on Strettle was stupendous.

New homepage..........

https://www.606v2.com/t19321-fantasy-aviva-premiership-season-4-homepage

Kelvin R Tremain Memorial Player of the Year - Jerome Kaino (Auckland, Blues, All Blacks)

Investec Super Rugby Player of the Year - Wyatt Crockett (Canterbury, Crusaders, All Blacks)

Tom French Memorial Maori Player of the Year - Piri Weepu - Whakatohea (Wellington, Hurricanes, All Blacks)

ITM Cup Player of the Year - Aaron Cruden (Manawatu)

Crockett really deserved the S15 player of the year award. Another season of S15 and he will be prime for International shirt, was a little to soon for him this year.

Front rowers take time to develop and grow into the role. Crockett had a few hidings at international level but will be better for it.

we have the same at gloucester where we have been dripping dawiduik an Harden in to the team,

They decided this year was the right time to cut them free and you have Dawiduik as one our best players keeeping an international out of the team and people talking of Dawiduik and Harden as having a future at a higher level. Dawiduik is 23 and Harden 26

Same happened with Dan Cole etc. front row needs to be earned and the only way is to take a few hidings and learn. Cole is now 24 and has the potential to be one of the best he just needs more game time otherwise his rate of development will stall.

i really want to see our young props at clubs where they start regularly. If we had central contracts like many unions this would happen. As our club game is so strong this will never happen and nor should it

I see what you mean Matt.

I thought that Buckley and Dickinson would mean far less time on field for Imiolek and Thomas but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would (mostly because none of them are great in the scrum.

To be fair Steve i doubt you would find one glos fan not glad to be rid of dickinson. He is a good sub but his scrummaging is the worst i have seen from a loos head at glos. When the pitches were hard and the ball flying around he was great but the minute there is scrummaging.

Thomas is a real prospect and i agree none of Buckley or dickinson are great scrummagers so kind of makes you think why did sale sign them

I think we signed them as some sort of depth tbh. We have Dickinson, Buckley, Thomas, Imiolek, Cobilas and an Injured Sheridan. Without them we would be very short of props.

I think they have been bought as bit part players in the long run but of late they are important squad men.

Cole could do with moving from Tigers to be honest. His gametime will be limited to starting against bottom 6 AP teams and benching in the big games, as he is not going to get ahead of Castro in the Tigers pecking order anytime soon.

PDJ also needs the game time at Saints for the same reason.

On the other side, the likes of Corbisiero, Mullan, Marler, Wood all get decent gametime for their clubs, it's the tighthead side that is a potential issue going forward for England.

This is why I find it frustrating that PDJ left, it appears for the money and because he thought he'd get more recognition!! Not that i'm complaining too much with Harden coming along nicely!!

Dan Cole could do with going to France for 2 years to really toughen him up. Chucked in at the deep every week

Strong rumuors that Cole is off at the end of the season with us and Quins the front runners.

f that driver we want him playing for england!

Yeah, I had heard that stnick, although budget may be an issue for us I believe. Would be great to have him and Corbs lining up in the front row for us though. My understanding is that it would be largely dependant on freeing up some of the budget by offloading Delon to Toulon. I guess the picture will become abit clearer after Christmas as 'official approaches' cannot be made until January.

Wasps might soon be entering the fray for bigger players as strong rumours now that an Arab consortium are going to be buying us and getting a whole host of marque signings....hopefully that will mean we get to stay 'within' the salary cap just like Tigers and Saints

I reckon Delon will go, Homer has fb nailed down due to his kicking and unless Delon is happy to play wing or 13, he wont want to be a sub.

I would swap Delon for Cole if I could as 15 isnt a problem position whereas 3 is, although big Faan has been destroying opponents in the scrum recently, just a bit of a Julian White in the loose!

Dan Cole doesn't need toughening up!

I think dan cole is superb and on is shaping up to be wc. I worry about his sharpness and match toughness by lack of games. I think it explains his inconsistency internationals.

Think he has it all hence trying to buy him a million times on here. Him and Marler are future world beaters.

However not playing week in week out is bad for a prop.

Prop summed it up with Pdj leaving. He is now not playing much where at club he left harden is playing week in week out and doing well against likes of Toulouse and along with dawiduik being talked of in representative terms.

In key positions game time counts. Corbs came on leaps last year by playing as did players like cruden, Lambie etc. as pete said this week the biggest failing of English rugby is not playing people for what they are rather we focus on what they can't do.

Because club rugby is so pressured it will stay this way. You are always playing for something in the AP so harder to blood. Irish glos and quins particularly are good at playing youth where the likes of Exeter worcester bath etc are not.

I believe in relegation but it does limit exposure for young players. Look how many under 20s get game time in super 15 or rabo compared to ap or top 14

Spot on Mat. Teams in the AP find it difficult to blood youngsters as the price of failure is massive. For clubs like London Irish and I am sure it is the same for Gloucester and others with smaller budgets, then the younger guys get blooded out of necessity so develop well in a short space of time.

Unfortunately what then often happens is one of the bigger/richer sides offers a better contract and they go where the money is knowing that it is a short career. Sadly, this generally means going back to a spell of bench warming and limited gametime and their progress stagnates.

I think it is one of the reasons why we (England) in recent years have failed to convert success at U20 level to the senior set up.

Unfortunately there is no easy fix to this without either a complete overhaul of the club/league structure in this country, or a huge cash injection into all of the top flight clubs enabling the smaller sides to keep hold of their talented youngsters for longer.

I would say youth players playing in the AP has come on 10 fold in recent seasons! Far more than there was a few years ago.

Personally I see it the other way regarding players going to other clubs. Players who go to Leicester ie Brookes, Kitchener etc are going there as they know that it boosts your chances of playing for England. Don't think money comes into it

Steve, I don't disagree that players go to Leicester to boost their England chances, but look at Kitchener as an example. Where is he in the Tigers 2nd row pecking order?

Deacon
Parling
Skivington
Mafi
Slater
Kitchener

Compare that to had he stayed at Worcester, he would be playing week in week out and developing against other quality locks in the AP. At present I think he has played possibly 1 or 2 games off the bench. I cannot see how that is aiding his development and therefore aiding the national team.

Wouldn't be a bad thing for Leicester to 'Loan' these players out to the likes of Newcastle and Worcester for regular game time.

Am just watching Time of Our Lives on SS1. Jeff Stelling chatting to the Wimbledon crazy gang boys Dave Bassett, Alan Cork and Wally Downes.

Very funny some of their stories.

I love that show , its quality. Jeff Stelling has to be one of the greatest sports show hosts of all time.

Anybody here seen the 2009 Living with the pride? well worth a watch.

He's so laid back on it Stelling and just tees the guests up to tell their stories, top class.

I think this probably seen most at somebody like Falcons. We are a team made up of average journey men with one or two class acts.

Rather than trust out pretty talented youngsters (Hodgson, Catterick, Shiells etc) we've signed some pretty average players looking for a quick buck. Ashley Wells a typical example, a dire prop neither good in tight or loose keeping Shiells out of the team.

Nick won't like this

http://www.rugbyweek.com/news/article.asp?id=33025

22m! That's only 20p in our money!

Ozzy3213 wrote:He's so laid back on it Stelling and just tees the guests up to tell their stories, top class.

Agree there , he seems so a down to earth character and doesn't think above him self around other people. I used to quite enjoy the banter he had on soccer saturday with Phil Thompson , Matt Le Tissier and Paul Merson. Eat your heart final score.

What's everyone's claim to fame? these usually lead to some interesting stories

I've got a couple I can think of:

As a 3 year old I ran head first into david bellamy's stomach who simply laughed, ruffled my hair and continued on his tour of the history museum with big wigs!

I was in a nick love film (extra in it) and had to be shoved out the way by sean bean and then danny dyer!

I was once on points west as a kid when a fixed mirror fell onto my bed when I was sleeping and luckily I didn't have a scrathc!

My old man finished his career with an away match at kingsholm, I started mine at kingsholm.

My claim to fame

Probley being picked up by Sunderland FC (despite being a Newcastle fan) at the age of 13 and being released on my 14th birthday because i got offered a Falcons junior devolpment contract through Schools of rugby and i took that then Falcons pulled the funding on it and it never came off.

Could of been a pro sportsman and Falcons screwed me over! but i'd rather play rugby with my mates , well i did lol.

hope that isn't true pooly! time will tell.
he is only 28 i imagine he still wants to play for south africa though.

I know Nick, only one report though. Could be a bit of lazy journalism tbh

It's been confirmed pooly, he is staying in Japan for another year, apparently on the biggest contract in that league!

What do you want for him?

Anybody seen the video of this

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,9818_7342640,00.html


Bizarre French. Am trying to find the video online

Still not for sale mate!

Looks like a good game at Kingston

Try for Scott Lawson 26-25 to falcons with the conversion to come!

Newcastle win!

That's a massive result for them. They are still a long way from safety, but at least they're not dead yet.

They need to make Kingston Park a fortress from here to the end of the season now.

Wahoooooooo!!!'