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by **Ozzy3213** Tue 03 Jul 2012, 11:30 am

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

Homepage - Page 17 Aviva-Premiership-Trophy-e1306508139154

2011/2012 – Newcastle Falcons
2010/2011 - Newcastle Falcons
2009/2010 - Saracens
2008/2009 - London Irish

POS	Aviva Premiership	PLAYED	WON	DREW	LOST	P F	P A	P D	T F	T A	TBP	LBP	POINTS
1	Bath Rugby	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Gloucester	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Harlequins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Leicester Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	London Irish	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	London Wasps	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	London Welsh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Newcastle Falcons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Northampton Saints	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Sale Sharks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Saracens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Worcester Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fixture List
European Homepage

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.

by dammit_chris Tue 21 Aug 2012, 8:38 pm

Some team Toulon put out last weekend!

Toulon: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 David Smith, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Matthew Giteau, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Jonathan Wilkinson, 9 Sebastien Tillous borde, 8 Chris Masoe, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Joe van Niekerk, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Sebastien Bruno, 1 Andrew Sheridan,
Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Nicholas Kennedy, 19 Pierrick Gunther, 20 Mathieu Bastareaud, 21 Vincent Martin, 22 Nicolas Durand, 23 Davit Kubriashvili

by Driver Tue 21 Aug 2012, 8:41 pm

Mermoz at 13 is a stange one, I'd play Mermoz at 12 with Basteraud outside him till Gits finds some form.

Bruno and Shawsy are still playing!

by dammit_chris Tue 21 Aug 2012, 9:19 pm

Gits is playing well from what I've heard.

Trouble with Toulon is that they don't make the most out of their backs at all, just play kicking/pressure game!

Some engine room they have!

by Steven_Sharks Tue 21 Aug 2012, 10:09 pm

That teams lineout would get crucified in predos in this league

by Driver Tue 21 Aug 2012, 10:11 pm

18 Nicholas laughing

Kennedy

by Sgt_Pooly Tue 21 Aug 2012, 10:12 pm

Steven_Sharks wrote:That teams lineout would get crucified in predos in this league

They get a bit of hammering in the T14 Steve, very unstable on their own ball. I imagine it's why they brough Nicolas in

by Guest Tue 21 Aug 2012, 10:32 pm

Huget ngwenya/morahan

by Steven_Sharks Tue 21 Aug 2012, 10:40 pm

cheers matt

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 6:58 am

Huget/Biggs

Think they're all pretty similar level Steve so may as well use EQ

by 'Arry Spurs Wed 22 Aug 2012, 8:46 am

Alright lads I'm away from today till Monday at Leeds festival, will respond to offers when I'm back

by Guest Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:01 am

Its a tough one steve. Biggs for me a lightweight defensively.

Morahan looked great this year and kicks well. been involved with Australia and looks a big game player

Ngwenya lightning and quite physical. bit of x factor

by Driver Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:08 am

Is there a game this weekend? I'm 50/50 whether or not to go away this weekend. Got holidays in for tomorrow and Friday as well so 5 days off!

by dammit_chris Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:20 am

Steve - I think Biggs is an ok player at AP, but hasnt really kicked on as much as I thought he would at Bath. Said in most games during the summer tournament that I'd probably mark him down a little against international wings.

If you were looking at EQ players would you consider JJ on the wing?

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:22 am

I'd rate Biggs much higher than I would JJ on the wing personally. I like Morahan at FB.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:24 am

JJ got mixed reviews there last season for me. NO point playing him on the wing now I've lost George Lowe as I don't have another EQ Outside centre.

I don't need Biggs in forn EQ quota for the first part of the season with Marler, Borthwick, Wood, Dickson and JJ involved.

I don't think there are many better finishers than Biggs around, particularly not EQ. But his allround game is what isn't that good. Defence okay but positioning in defence a little weak.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:29 am

He improved a fair bit at Bath I thought Steve. Decent EQ option, certainly not a weakness imo. I'd have him alongside players like JSD, Cueto etc

by dammit_chris Wed 22 Aug 2012, 9:55 am

He definitely wont lose you games but I think he's struggled a bit with the way Bath performed last season. If they play better and get the ball out wide more than his ratings will go up.

Have a feeling Bath could struggle this season though.

Also think London Irish could be a bit of a surprise package if they avoid injuries.

by stnick88 Wed 22 Aug 2012, 10:05 am

If our pack fronts up we could as our backline is quality. Be tough though. Hala'ufia injury isnt as bad as first thought and will be back by October which is great news.

by dammit_chris Wed 22 Aug 2012, 10:28 am

I do really like the way Irish play rugby - always seem to get a lot of strike runners involved.

Is Shaun Edwards involved with you this year? Am sure I read that somewhere - if so he will make a huge difference. England should have gone all out for him, think he's an exceptional coach!

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 10:54 am

I hope Bath struggle, really don't like them

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 11:16 am

Think Worcester and Welsh will be the ones who struggle.

The rest will be pretty tight. Leicester, Saracens, Quins and Saints will most likely be the top 4 with Irish, Sale and Gloucester just behind.

Unsure how Wasps and Exeter might do. Think people may give Exeter a bit more respect than they did. Wasps may need time to jel.

Bath good on paper but just don't work.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 12:04 pm

I imagine Gold will sort the pack out, James is a good prop too which they've missed

by dammit_chris Wed 22 Aug 2012, 12:08 pm

Worcester have made a couple of good signings, but they are going to miss Benjamin and Garvey on the wings - can't see them scoring many tries.

Personally thought London Welsh were an average side in the Championship and played well in the playoffs, so expect that they could finish bottom by quite some margin.

Quietly confident about Wasps this year, though I was last - but there is no way we can have 5 retirements, 17 players out injured for 3months + again this year! Our pack looks strong, have a very good backrow this year of Haskell, Poff and AJ - just worried about the front row, espc at hooker!

Tigers have made some great signings - can see them winning the league - think Quins have missed a trick in only recruiting two players, neither really improves their first team.

Sale have a great first XV but they seem to have a really small squad, which could cost them.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 12:17 pm

Agree there Chris, Welsh should be bottom by some distance after Worcester who are at least tight defensively.

Big season for Lindsay if he gets the nod at 2, I really rate him, just needs to improve his throwing. Scrummaging and loose work has always been right up there.

Was very surprised with our scrum against Edinburgh, we dismantled them for most of the match and they had Jacobson & Cross as props. Young Shield gave Cross all sorts and dramas and Tomashzhuxcu beasted Jacobson until he ran out of steam.

by dammit_chris Wed 22 Aug 2012, 12:23 pm

I hope Lindsay kicks on, the bloke is a machine but I think he suffers from the same thing Haskell does - not much upstairs! He makes some odd decisions, but freak of a ball carrier! Sadly I think Dai Young will favour his Welsh signings! Think Wasps are the true London Welsh this year.

Worcester will rely on Goode's boot and fancy footwork to stay up - I really like their no8 Blair Cowan, very handy player.

Always found props confusing, it always seems to be a case that one week you can absolutely boss someone and the next week you get bossed - guessing there is a huge difference in styles, and that height can make a huge difference to how you scrummage/deal with a scrummager!

Thankfulyl never had to find out!

by **Ozzy3213** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 2:42 pm

I think Worcester might suprise one or two people this season and finish higher than 11th.

For me, Tigers will finish top, then it's Sarries and Quins for 2nd and 3rd spots.

After that, I think 4th place is really up for grabs, as there is very little between all the teams (apart from London Welsh) and it will come down to who keeps key players fit, who focuses on the AP more than other competitions and a little bit of luck along the way.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 3:00 pm

Good news for Matt.....

Fourie possibly off to Toulon (I thought it was Jaque Sad

)

http://www.rugby365.com/article/49228

And Goosen is starting for Cheetahs this weekend

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 3:37 pm

May be proved wrong but I don't see how Worcester have improved.

They have added some good players who whilst experienced are on the way down in Hodgson, Lemi, Clarke and Schofield. Losing Rasmussen is a huge blow as is Benjamin, Marcel Garvey and Ezra Taylor (although he didn't play much at all).

I struggle to see them doing to much.

Without doubt the best summer signing in my mind has been Richie Gray. Massive coup for Sale.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 3:40 pm

Massive coup Steve, no disrespect to Sale but he must have had better options.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:05 pm

He turned down Saracens if I'm not mistaken.

by **Ozzy3213** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:10 pm

I heard he turned them down as he didn't want to move that far south.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 4:13 pm

Have no idea of the reason but I know Sale initially reported he turned down 300k from sarries which they than had to retract.

by Guest Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:25 pm

Biggs is no
JSD or Cueto.

Cueto is past it now but was a tremendous player for club and country.

Think Richie gray will take prem by storm. Can't see Worcester doing much although some of there young players will be a year older.

by Driver Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:38 pm

I don't think Cueto is past it Matt , still a pretty good player for Sale at the moment and could still do a decent job at a international level.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:43 pm

Have to disagree. Whilst Cueto still okay for Sale. His lack of pace is highly worrying to me.

9. Peel
10. Cips
11. Addison
12. Tutupou
13. Leota
14. Brady
15. Miller

21. Willis
22. Macleod
23. Shepherd

probably Sale's best backs. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on Cueto and he will play a lot but I'd like him behind Brady and Addison in the pecking order. They are our future

by Driver Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:47 pm

I think Addison will play 13 from what i'v seen , can't see why they would drop Cueto though he's work rate from the wing is immense and links play up so well.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 5:50 pm

He is too slow for me. I think Leota is too good to drop at 13 when you can have Addison on the wing then I think that works.

I will likely be very very wrong.

by Guest Wed 22 Aug 2012, 6:22 pm

Think
Sale have to
Move on from
Cueto

by dammit_chris Wed 22 Aug 2012, 6:23 pm

Defensively Cueto is very good on the wing, offensively would say he now struggles as he just isnt quick enough to worry defences at all and doesnt have the explosive power that other wingers who lack speed do.

Intelligence, positional play there arent many better though.

Any players that people think could be stars in the AP next year that you don't quite expect? I like the look of Botica who Quins have signed to play 10/12, apparently has an English passport too.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 7:38 pm

Be surprised if Cueto isn't nailed on starter for Sale

by **Ozzy3213** Wed 22 Aug 2012, 8:30 pm

Cueto's all round game is still better than Brady and Addison. Whilst he may lack a yard of pace now, he is still an effective carrier and usually makes good ground when he gets the ball.

I think sometimes we get clouded in our judgement and see potential as being better than it currently is, whereas we also assume that anyone in the twilight of their career is past it.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 22 Aug 2012, 8:55 pm

Agree on that one Pete.

A player is sometimes rated higher on here because what he might do rather than what he produces on the pitch.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 22 Aug 2012, 10:30 pm

I would have Tom Brady ahead of Mark Cueto in the Sale team. No doubt in my mind who is more effective in a Sale shirt over the last year/year and a half.

by Guest Thu 23 Aug 2012, 8:45 am

http://planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_8010939,00.html

Barnes and Horne together is a good pairing. Still lacks some ball carriers though.

Alexander a good addition

by **Ozzy3213** Thu 23 Aug 2012, 8:48 am

anonmattyt wrote:http://planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_8010939,00.html

Barnes and Horne together is a good pairing. Still lacks some ball carriers though.

Alexander a good addition

Not for me it's not! Sad

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 23 Aug 2012, 9:57 am

Barnes & Horne an improvement but still think they'll struggle, neither offer a running threat which they lacked against ABs

by Driver Thu 23 Aug 2012, 10:06 am

RFU and FFR confirm they will pull all club sides from ERC competitions and have a Anglo French cup instead.

by dammit_chris Thu 23 Aug 2012, 10:14 am

Can see why they would do - the current way the ERC and Rabo are run is so biased towards Rabo teams. Be interesting to see what happens with this from now.

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 23 Aug 2012, 6:31 pm

Franks topped AB's tackle account v Aus with 15 tackles! Not bad for a TH

http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/7537966/

by dammit_chris Fri 24 Aug 2012, 7:30 am

Anyone thinking how Sarries will be playing this season think again. Saw 40minutes of them last night in the City v Stade Francais and they are a completely different team - just attacked and played some amazing rugby - Ashton got a hattrick as they scored over 60 points!

Was very impressed and I really don't like Sarries as a club. Think they might surprise some people with an expansive game, they';ve been speaking about playing that way all summer!

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