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First topic message reminder :

Upcoming Fixtures: AP R1 - Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks, Gloucester v Northampton Saints, London Welsh v Leicester Tigers, Saracens v London Irish, London Wasps v Harlequins, Worcester Warriors v Bath Rugby

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Waiting List
1. pullthestrings
2. Bathite

Welcome to Season 5 of the Aviva Premiership fantasty rugby game. Below are the rules of the game which must be adhered to. If there are any situations that arise in the course of the game which are not covered by the rules, a final decision will be made by the RFU (Ozzy3213) as to how the situation will be resolved.

Senior Squads wrote:
The maximum squad size is 40 senior players. If a team has more than 40 players in their squad then they will be fined £1 million per player over the permitted amounts per day for the first seven days. If after 7 consecutive days a team still has more than the permitted number of players then the team will be fined £2 million per player per day, and fined 1 league point per player per day for the next seven days. If after this time a team still has more than the permitted number of players in their squad, the RFU (me) will remove players at it’s discretion to bring them back under the permitted numbers. There will be no right of appeal to players being removed.

Be aware that all tier one international matches which are played during the season will count in the game, and players selected in the matchday 22's for those matches will not be eligible to play for their clubs on that weekend, therefore you must give due consideration to the make up of your squad.

Academy Rules wrote:
Each team will be allowed to have a listed senior academy squad of 20 players. Players who are in the senior academy must be under 22 years of age as of 1st September 2012 (therefore must have been born on or after 1st Septmber 1990). Players who are under the age of 20 (so born after 1st September 1992) AND are in the academy of the club that you are managing in real life, DO NOT need to be listed as senior academy players as part of your 20, but are available to you in this game and cannot be poached by other clubs without paying you a fee.

Should a player not listed in your 20 senior academy players, but part of the clubs academy in real life move clubs in real life, then you will have first option of promoting him to your listed senior academy. If you choose not to take this option he will become property of the club that he moves to in real life in this game.

Transfers wrote:

• Domestic (other AP Teams)
  Each team has a budget to use in the purchase of players. Domestic transfers between AP clubs, regardless of nationality of player, should be negotiated between the respective managers, and then confirmed on the Domestic Transfer Confirmation Page.
  
  
• Domestic (Championship and below)
  Each team may during the season purchase no more than 3 players from the Championship or the National Leagues. These players must be bid for on the Championship/National League bidding page, and each bid will be considered by me on it's own merits before being accepted or rejected. No bid will be accepted until a minimum of 24 hours has elapsed from the time the bid was made, in order to afford other managers the opportunity to make a counter bid.
  
  
• Foreign
  To make a foreign transfer (i.e from any club outside of the AP, regardless of whether the player is English) a bid should be made on the Foreign Transfers Page, which will be considered by me against the posted guidelines for purchase prices before being accepted or rejected. No bid will be accepted until a minimum of 24 hours has elapsed from the time the bid was made, in order to afford other managers the opportunity to make a counter bid.
  
  Foreign transfers will unlimited during the off season and 2 during the season. The exact dates of the two transfer windows during the season is to be confirmed.
  

Player Releases wrote:
Managers may choose to release players from their clubs, for which they will be offered compensation

Compensation will be paid as follows

£2 million – current international (must have played international rugby in the previous 12 months)
£1.5 million – former international
£1m – top flight experience
£0.5m – other

If a released player plays in real life for a team outside of this game he will be deemed to have returned to that team. If not then he will be deemed to have signed for a Championship side. If another manager wants to pick a released player up, they will have to bid for him in the same way as for a foreign or Championship/National League player.

Retirements wrote:
There will be no compensation for retiring players. Should a player who retires decide to come out of retirement and play again, then he will automatically go back to the club who he was playing for in the game when he retired.

Fixtures wrote:
There will be 22 Aviva Premiership games per season, plus the play offs. There will also be Heineken Cup, Amlin Challenge Cup and Anglo Welsh Cup matches. These games will take place once a week. A thread will be put up for managers to name their teams on Thursdays, then on Fridays, managers will post the scores that they think will happen from these games (apart from games in which they are involved). An average of all predictions will be taken, and then 0.5 points added to each teams score for each prediction that had them as the winner, and that will then be the final score.

Teams wrote:
When naming your team, not only should you put the starting XV and replacements, but also tactics that your team will employ. Results will be affected by the tactics described.

In addition, each team must have the following:-

At least 10 England qualified players in your matchday 23, and at least 5 of those must be in your starting XV.

At least 2 props and 1 hooker on the bench.

All players must be eligible (not injured or banned).

Failure to comply with these rules will result in forfeiting the match and a 1 league point deduction.

If you fail to submit a team for a match, then the other team will be automatically awarded a 30-0 bonus point win. If both teams fail to submit a team, then it will be scored as a 0-0 draw.

Injuries and Suspensions wrote:
Injuries in this game do NOT reflect real life, they will be generated by me.

Players banned in real life will be ineligible for selection in this game for the duration of the ban.

Inclusion of injured/banned players will result in them being replaced by players on the bench, and the bench not having eight players, which may result in punishment if it concerns the front-row.

Punishment for fielding an ineligible player will be loss of one match point for a first offence, two for a second offence and so on.

Financial Rewards wrote:
There will be no rewards for the result of an individual match, instead the managers will receive cash for predicting.

£1.5m for descriptive predictions
£0.25m for scores on the doors predictions
If you fail to predict without first advising me that you are unable to do so that week, you will be fined £1m for a first offence, £2m for a second offence, £3m for a third offence etc.

AP finishing positions.

Champions: 8m
Runners Up: 6m
Playoff Semi Finalist Losers: 5m
5th: 4m
6th: 3.5m
7th: 3m
8th: 2.5m
9th: 2m
10th: 1.5m
11th: 1m
12th: 0.5m

Heineken Cup

Losing Quarter Finalists - £2 million each
Losing Semi Finalists - £3 million each
Runners Up - £4 million
Champions - £5 million

Amlin Challenge Cup

Losing Quarter Finalists - £1 million each
Losing Semi Finalists - £2 million each
Runners Up - £3 million
Champions - £4 million

Anglo-Welsh Cup

Losing Semi Finalisst - £1 million each
Runners Up - £2 million
Champions - £3 million


If your budgets falls below minus £10 million for any reason, the administrators (ozzy3213) will step in and players from within your squad will be released for the relevant financial compensation in order to bring your budget back above minus £10 million.

Good player, prefer him at 9 to 10 and would be good there in the in the wet as he would have a better kicking game than a lot of other 9's.

Windo new Glos scrum coach

Steve, whats your thoughts on this growing rumour that there may be a deal involving Dempsey + 9 million for Carroll?

I'd be pretty happy with it. Dempsey is a class act, but on the verge of turning 30, he cant have too many years left of his prime.

Out of interest who is everyone looking forward to seeing play this season in the AP?

For me I really want to see how Twelvetrees goes at Gloucester, he could be the answer to England's problems at 12, but am never quite sure with him.

Will also be really interesting how much game time George Ford gets this season at Tigers, looks like he's third in line for England with the EPS/Saxons team...

Also want to see Cipriani play well for Sale, do really like him as a player and if the Sale pack get good ball then it could see him back in the England setup.

speaking or Richard Haughton yesterday, he's just confirmed he will play for Jersey next year. Jersey are going to have a very good team next year. Feel sorry for the Pirates as theyve lost 12 of their first team.

Jersey, Bristol and Leeds iwll give Newcastle a challenge.

I would be very surprised if Carroll left.

Think people are getting weird over Rodgers passing philosophy, but he played with Danny Graham up top at Swansea and he isn't one for the purists.

Aqualani agent says he is staying with Liverpool for the season which would be nice as I'm a fan. No little of Borini but need a 3rd/4th choice cb so we don't play Carra.

Cole rumoured to be given a chance too - was suprised they let Aquilani go - good passer of the ball.

From what Rodgers said seems Carroll will leave in one form or another - be a good loan signing for West Ham with Big Sam in charge.

Cole has a good relationship with Rodgers so expect him to be involved and if he is at his best then he is a great asset.

Cover for Lucas also vital. Spearing can play along side Lucas but can't do a job on his own.

Borini could go either way. Keeping Skrtel and Agger at the club and fit is so vital. Agger probably the most underrated player in the league. He is up with Vidic, Kompany etc

Watching last nights 7's. Kruis has put on some serious bulk. He could really force his way into Saracens side this season but will have tough competition from Hargreaves, Botha and Borthwick.

Very strong Irish side. Love watching Chisholm and Ollie Lindsey-Hague. Tagi also looked on fire.

Question for Pete.

In the League fixtures, who has the fixtures of Exeter?? Is it Pooly?

Steven I think Wasps helped all the other teams look really good too! Im not sure what has happened as we always had such a strong youth system but Sarries, Quins and now Irish seem to be able to produce more youngsters - though to be fair we must have put out the youngest team in the tournament this year!

Steven_Sharks wrote:Watching last nights 7's. Kruis has put on some serious bulk. He could really force his way into Saracens side this season but will have tough competition from Hargreaves, Botha and Borthwick.

Very strong Irish side. Love watching Chisholm and Ollie Lindsey-Hague. Tagi also looked on fire.

Kruis is a unit and was Saracens best player along with Short. Never realised how quick Short was until last night. Chisholm needs gametime for Quins this season, he could be a bolter for a summer tour place as England will have players away with the Lions. He is rapid and very hard to bring down.

Chisholm will need to try and take Smith's place on one wing unless Brown gets injured.

I would have Chisholm over Smith.

Pete looks like George Kruis is injured for 3 months, did his mcl last night apparently.

Just watching Stormers game, now know who Hugh Pyle is Steve.

Thought he was U20 player so didn't bother checking out....must have watched Rebels 5/6 times this season too.

I thought it was a mistake you'd missed him as your good on your super rugby.

He could become very good.

Pete I'd take Chisholm over Smith as well but Smith played a lot of rugby last season with Monye injured.

My bad Steve, I've had to pick and choose my games this season with getting rid of Sky. Generally only watched Rebels when JOC playing and I'd struggle to name their pack at the best of times.

I'm really bad on U20 players having watched about 3 games in WC, feel a bit left out when yr all raving about players and I have no idea who you're talking about.

Steven_Sharks wrote:How do people rate Greg Laidlaw as a player? particularly in wet

Him and matt Scott work really well together and were excellent In Heino. They also work
Well together at international.

Laidlaw really mixes it
Up well. Good player

BBC rugby knowledge great as usual

Newcastle Falcons team-mates backing pleases Will Welch

Newcastle Falcons lock Will Welch has said he is overwhelmed by the support from his team-mates following his appointment as captain

Could I get some opinons on what people think would be my best front five combination please? Thanks!

ookers
HK Dylan Hartley (E) EPS
HK Rob Webber (E) EPS
HK Motu Matu'u (New Zealand)

Props
PR Ryan Grant (Scotland) (1)
PR Sona Taumalolo (Tonga) (1)
PR Thomas Domingo (France) (1)
PR Carl Hayman (NZ) (3)
PR Sekope Kepu (Australia) (3)
PR Logovi'i Mulipola (Samoa) (3)
PR Henry Thomas (3)

Second row
LK Calum Clark (E) EPS
LK Bradley Davies (Wales)
LK Patricio Albacete (Argentina)
LK Courtney Lawes (E) EPS
LK James Craig (E)
LK Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
LK Joe Launchbury (England)

1.Domingo
2.Hartley
3.Kepu
4.Davies
5.AWJ

Interesting you dont put Lawes there mate. Really struggling to work out my best 23 with the eq rule, as want to load up my bench with impact players, but the starting lineup to have lots of leaders and big tacklers!

Lawes has been out injured for a while, so need to see ow he comes back. Main issue for you Chris is who calls the lineout? Of your locks, none are renowned for leading the lineout although you have some very good jumpers. If you have someone in the back row who can lead the lineout I would go with Davies and Lawes in the engine room.

It's pretty much why i went AWJ , he's probs your best lineout operator.

Guys but doesn't Parisse lead the Italian and Stade lineouts? Whenever I'[ve seen Italy play he's always calling them.

But neither Italy or Stade have fantastic lineout options , he just happens to be the best at the job.

Bortalami calls the Italian lineout if he plays.

Similar with Pete & Driver. You miss you a good quality lineout lock really or somebody who could lead.

Parisse is a good jumper but not top draw like Bonnaire/Hari so you'd need a good lineout lock imo.

Anyone get a hooker available?

Rocky Elsom, Deon Stegmann, Luke Burgess and CJ Van Der Linde are all available...

Guys can I ask a question

What is your opinion of matt Scott.

He has been marked down in every game I played him yet he is rock solid outside laid law in their run to the Heino semi and has looked like a Bolter for the lions in the tests he has played for scotland.
Is it just because he is not well known yet ?

To be honest Matt , I don't even know who Matt Scott is.

I'd say its because he isnt that well known at the moment Mat - think the other problem is that Scotland are seen to have a bit of a dull backline, which probably doesnt help his cause! I think I've only seen him 3-4 times, so hard to get a good judgement on him.

Driver - RIP 606 wrote:To be honest Matt , I don't even know who Matt Scott is.

Played all Scotland tests including vs Australia and played in all Edinburgh heinos

Solid player Matt, certainly wouldn't mark him down in defence.

He had a very good season, particularly in the Heino, so wouldn't mark him down, but need to see if he can carry it on this year or if he was a one season wonder before marking him up there with established internationals.

There will be a proper fixture list thread in due course, but here is how the seasons fixtures are set...


Aviva Premiership Round One
Newcastle Falcons v Sale
Gloucester v Northampton
London Welsh v Leicester
Saracens v London Irish
Wasps v Harlequins
Worcester v Bath

Aviva Premiership Round Two (RC)
Bath v Wasps
Harlequins v London Welsh
Leicester v Worcester
London Irish v Gloucester
Northampton v Newcastle Falcons
Sale v Saracens

Aviva Premiership Round Three (RC)
Bath v Northampton
Harlequins v Sale
London Welsh v Newcastle Falcons
Saracens v Leicester
Wasps v London Irish
Worcester v Gloucester

Aviva Premiership Round Four
Newcastle Falcons v Saracens
Gloucester v Wasps
Leicester v Harlequins
London Irish v Bath
Northampton v Worcester
Sale v London Welsh

Aviva Premiership Round Five (RC)
Bath v Sale
Harlequins v Saracens
Leicester v Newcastle Falcons
London Welsh v Gloucester
Northampton v Wasps
Worcester v London Irish

Aviva Premiership Round Six (RC)
Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins
Gloucester v Bath
London Irish v Northampton
Sale v Leicester
Saracens v London Welsh
Wasps v Worcester

Heineken/Amlin Cup Round One
Heineken/Amlin Cup Round Two

Aviva Premiership Round Seven
Bath v Newcastle Falcons
Gloucester v Leicester
London Irish v Harlequins
Northampton v Saracens
Wasps v London Welsh
Worcester v Sale

Aviva Premiership Round Eight
Newcastle Falcons v Worcester
Harlequins v Gloucester
Leicester v Northampton
London Welsh v Bath
Sale v London Irish
Saracens v Wasps

Anglo-Welsh Cup Round One (AI's)
Anglo-Welsh Cup Round Two (AI's)

Aviva Premiership Round Nine (AI's)
Bath v Harlequins
Gloucester v Sale
London Irish v Newcastle Falcons
Northampton v London Welsh
Wasps v Leicester
Worcester v Saracens

Aviva Premiership Round Ten (AI's)
Newcastle Falcons v Wasps
Harlequins v Worcester
Leicester v Bath
London Welsh v London Irish
Sale v Northampton
Saracens v Gloucester

Heineken/Amlin Cup Round Three
Heineken/Amlin Cup Round Four

Aviva Premiership Round Eleven
Bath v Saracens
Gloucester v Newcastle Falcons
London Irish v Leicester
Northampton v Harlequins
Wasps v Sale
Worcester v London Welsh

Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
Newcastle Falcons v Bath
Harlequins v London Irish
Leicester v Gloucester
London Welsh v Wasps
Sale v Worcester
Saracens v Northampton

Aviva Premiership Round Thirteen
Newcastle Falcons v Northampton
Gloucester v London Irish
London Welsh v Harlequins
Saracens v Sale
Wasps v Bath
Worcester v Leicester

Heineken/Amlin Cup Round Five
Heineken/Amlin Cup Round Six
Anglo-Welsh Cup Round Three
Anglo-Welsh Cup Round Four (6 Nations)

Aviva Premiership Round Fourteen (6 Nations)
Bath v Worcester
Harlequins v Wasps
Leicester v London Welsh
London Irish v Saracens
Northampton v Gloucester
Sale v Newcastle Falcons

Aviva Premiership Round Fifteen
Bath v London Irish
Harlequins v Leicester
London Welsh v Sale
Saracens v Newcastle Falcons
Wasps v Gloucester
Worcester v Northampton

Aviva Premiership Round Sixteen (6 Nations)
Newcastle Falcons v London Welsh
Gloucester v Worcester
Leicester v Saracens
London Irish v Wasps
Northampton v Bath
Sale v Harlequins

Aviva Premiership Round Seventeen
Bath v Gloucester
Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons
Leicester v Sale
London Welsh v Saracens
Northampton v London Irish
Worcester v Wasps

Anglo-Welsh Cup Semi Finals (6 Nations)
Anglo-Welsh Cup Final (6 Nations)

Aviva Premiership Round Eighteen
Newcastle Falcons v Leicester
Gloucester v London Welsh
London Irish v Worcester
Sale v Bath
Saracens v Harlequins
Wasps v Northampton

Aviva Premiership Round Nineteen
Bath v London Welsh
Gloucester v Harlequins
London Irish v Sale
Northampton v Leicester
Wasps v Saracens
Worcester v Newcastle Falcons

Heineken/Amlin Cup Quarter Finals

Aviva Premiership Round Twenty
Newcastle Falcons v London Irish
Harlequins v Bath
Leicester v Wasps
London Welsh v Northampton
Sale v Gloucester
Saracens v Worcester

Aviva Premiership Round Twenty-One
Bath v Leicester
Gloucester v Saracens
London Irish v London Welsh
Northampton v Sale
Wasps v Newcastle Falcons
Worcester v Harlequins

Heineken/Amlin Cup Semi Finals

Aviva Premiership Round Twenty Two
Newcastle Falcons v Gloucester
Harlequins v Northampton
Leicester v London Irish
London Welsh v Worcester
Sale v Wasps
Saracens v Bath

Aviva Premiership Semi Finals
Heineken/Amlin Cup Final
Aviva Premiership Final


I have put in brackets which rounds fall in international windows. Please note that the Rugby Championship starts in August, so although AP R1 does not see any RC games as it is a rest week, it is right in the middle of the tournament, so if you choose to play SH internationals who are playing in it then people may mark you how they see fit for that, given that it is unlikely that players would travel halfway across the globe for one game and then back to play for their country.

Mat, I'd say I rate him ok but just waiting for 2nd season

i saw little of him matt so cant rate him too highly as of yet. also, i find in predictions sometimes players get rated vs who their up against, and so far its been Sonny Bill Williams and Luke McAllister, so no suprise he gets marked down against them.

Morning all, after some advice please.

Ignoring EQ restrictions, what is my best lock combination?

On last seasons form I'd say 4. Nallet 5. Skivs Pete mate but think you could get away with 4. Skivs 5. Borthwick at times to boast the old EQ

Miss a tadge of quality in the engine room I think Pete.

I'd go with the Skivs/Borth combo to use EQ but imagine you'll lose out in the engine room most weeks tbh. Front & Backrow look great but just needs a tweak I think.

depends who the lock pairing your up against is.

If I was playing you and you put out Skiv and Borthwick I would go Garvey/Kennedy. If I was up against a stronger combo like Etzebeth/Gray I would play Muller over Kennedy to add more bulk.

Am thinking of doing a player draft for players who are now at AP clubs in the real world but not in this game.

Thoughts?

stnick88 wrote:i saw little of him matt so cant rate him too highly as of yet. also, i find in predictions sometimes players get rated vs who their up against, and so far its been Sonny Bill Williams and Luke McAllister, so no suprise he gets marked down against them.

I would agree SBW but Mcallister does not do it for me. when he was first in the AB;'s was tremendous but for me should never have gone to sale

player draft??

does this mean we can release a player to then have him in our team if at full quota

Is that for everyone Pete? Would be interesting, think my senior squad is at 37 so if there were a few more internationals out there...

If you are at 40 limit then you'll have to make a decision as to whether someone on the list is better than someone in your squad, and if so you can release a player from your squad for cash.

What you can't do is take a player from the draft and then just release him for cash. If you take a player from the draft you cannot release him until Jan 1st 2013.

sounds good idea to me pete.

thats fair enough matt but think everyone else would rate mac a fair way above matt scott. was pretty good for toulouse last season.