Homepage

First topic message reminder :

Leicester Tigers top table with 100% record after the first phase of league matches

---

---

---

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.

Etzbeth second test rating http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3821_8018785,00.

Like I said he was great in first 2 rounds burb

Etzbeth second test rating http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3821_8018785,00.

Like I said he was great in first 2 rounds but poor Saturday. Agree with pete that this enforced rest could do him a favour. Meyer shown no signs of managing players workloads.

Coetzee needs a rest as well. He is a cracking player and so physical. Nick has a gem there

He will do me well whilst kaino in Japan.

Right, my thoughts on the upcoming Lions tour and some of the selections I have seen on here.

One of the key things for me on a Lions tour, is that the players have to gel quickly. Because of this I would always have a look at the various units within the team and potentially favour existing combinations if I knew they worked and worked well. What I don't think you can do to a great extent is experiment, in particular with playing players in positions that they don't regularly. I saw in one persons team that they had Stuart Hogg at 13. I think that would be foolish in the extreme as he does not play there regularly for club or country, and I would be amazed if that was the sort of thing that Gatland went with.

I also think that fitness and an ability to play back to back matches across three or four weeks is crucial, and I note in most peoples selections there are a number of players included who could, and in my opinion would struggle with this, most notably Stephen Ferris and Paul O'Connell. Ferris is managed massively in terms of game time across the season due to his chronic knee problems. That is much harder to do on a Lions tour, and could be a reason for leaving him at home. Likewise O'Connell has had massive injury problems since 2010, and as a result has little form to warrant inclusion. I understand people including him as on his day he is still a great player, but he cannot do it week in week out any more, his body does not allow it. Therefore he is another one that I would be considering leaving at home.

There is also always a bit of bolter, somebody that people don't think was nailed on for the squad but people had in mind as a bolter (normally a capped international), so potentially depending on form/injuries somebody like Keith Earls, who is not first choice for Ireland right now, but wouldn't be too left field a selection.

Then you have the potential real bolter, possibly uncapped, somebody like Jonny May maybe.

I think Gatland will surprise a few with his selection of the squad, and in terms of the contentious issues here where people disagree, I think Hartley, provided he continues to play well enough to keep the England jersey will be on the plane. He's an abrasive feicer, and I think Gatland likes that. Whilst we are on Hartley, he is currently head and shoulders above the likes of George, Youngs and co. Youngs, if he was at any other club would not be in contention for an England place. He to me is very much still a centre playing at hooker. Great in the loose, but darts go awry in more games than they don't, and he is made to appear a better scrummager than he actually is in the AP by the props that he has alongside him. At international level that will not happen.

Thought's on Barkley at 10 guys? Seems to be doing ok

I've not seen either of Bath's games prop, but in terms of his stats and the fact they have won 2 from 2 you have to say he is going ok. I wouldn't be marking you down for him, although up against a current international 10 I would probably have him 2nd best dependant on that 10's form.

ok cheers! Just useful to have with Steyn away and Heathcote injured.

In the two games Youngs has started this season, Tigers have hit 26 jumpers and missed 3. Sure he still has a lot to learn, but he is very exciting. And has clearly worked on his biggest weakness over the summer.

Tigers have played the two teams who were pre season favourites to finish 11th and 12th, neither of whom are renowned for their lineout prowess. I want to see how he does against teams like Saracens or Saints, with people like Borthwick, Joubert and Tom Wood getting up and disrupting him. If he comes through those sort of tests without getting the yips then I will rate him more highly than I currently do.

Of course. Be interesting with Sarries this week.

Wade could well be a bolter IMO. Really excited by him. Hint of Robinson/Williams about him. Love the way he stood Lowe up (similar story, Lowe not a winger, but got to beat what's in front of you). Natural pace and finishing ability like that can't be ignored.

Huge game that one. I am going for Saracens to get a narrow win.

Agree totally about Wade, the boy can finish. I did mention him on the podcast last week. I think Lancaster has to have a look at him this autumn.

Wallabies:

Berrick Barnes, Dom Shipperley, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane, Quade Cooper, Nick Phipps; Radike Samo, Michael Hooper, Dave Dennis, Nathan Sharpe (capt), Kane Douglas, Ben Alexander, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson.

Reserves: Stephen Moore/Saia Faingaa, James Slipper, Scott Higginbotham, Liam Gill, Brett Sheehan, Anthony Faingaa, Kurtley Beale.

Beale dropped....Barnes at FB???

I know Timani picked up an injury last week, is he out for the tournament? Is Simmons still in the wallabies squad?

Brett Sheehan, blimey, hes about 35 isnt he? desperate times.

Yes simmons is still in the aussie squad. Nice to have grey back for me. He can start this week

Craig Newby has retired from rugby. shame that, good player.

Seriously?! Man I'd love to actually have players not retire during my season for once!

Really liked they way Newby playsn just got his head down and did the job well.

We don't do money for retirements right?

Real shame that for Tigers, really liked Newby - didnt realise he was 33 though. They've had Wood retire last week too, not great for their backrow. Rugby is getting more and more brutal.

On Wade I think he's a very special talent, he's one of those players that if you are watching him you get on the edge of your seat every time he gets the ball - he got caught out against Nick Evans in the second half in the Double Header a few times in defence, but think that is more to do with Evans' ability than Wade.

Agree with you Pete about POC and Ferris, would also add BOD into that category now too - think Tuilagi will be Gatland's starting 13, seems his type of player.

Wonder if Gatland will take Foden, Halfpenny, Kearney and Hogg?

Imagine Hogg will be the one to miss out out of those 4.

http://www.superxv.com/news/rugbychampionship_news.asp?id=36430&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Weather conditions now updated on the match thread.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/Rabodirect-PRO12/paul-oconnell-setback-as-keith-earls-faces-dilemma-3226254.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Pete I agree with you about POC, don;t think he's been consistent in a very long time, but is still capable of great performances. Think he stood down as Munster captain this year too?

Gray should be nailed on for one 2nd row spot. The other spot is wide open currently.

Disagree that Gray should be nailed on. The locks need selecting as a pair that complement each others skillset, in which case Gray may well miss out depending on who else is in form come selection time.

I genuinely don't see anyone as nailed on just yet. The closest I would say to being sure of a shirt at this stage is Sexton, although that says as much about the other tens in contention as it does about him.

Gray got to be one of the closest to being a nailed on starter, wonder if any other Scots will be though.

Think the Irish could potentially miss out the most, as they have really started to go down the French route, one game they are world beaters and the next can get beaten easily.

England could surprise a lot with the numbers of players in the match day 22 - with big seasons can easily see Cole, Hartley, Corbisiero, Lawes, Morgan (maybe), Care, Wood, Croft, Tuilagi, Ashton and Foden in contention - wonder if Gatland would consider Marler as a wild card?

Saw Matt Dawson was saying that Parling should be a starter!

Dawson is a clown and that merely confirms it. He talks such drivvel and should stick to cooking.

His views on SH are weird also

He did get absolutely slated as soon as he mentioned that Parling should start! He liked Parling's work rate apparently, though went a bit quiet when they started asking him if they ever saw him get over the gain line!

I can see the Lions team being something like

Healy, Hartley/Best, Cole, Gray, not sure, Lydiate, Warburton, Heaslip, Phillips, Sexton, North, Roberts, Tuilagi, Ashton, Kearney.

Picked that on basis that Gatland will most likely get his Welsh players involved - can see a second lock being Welsh.

For me, Heaslip needs a big season as think he has dropped off a little in the last year or 2.

I think Heaslip needs a decent season. he was good in the second half of season last year in the Heino and the game he played against NZ where he was MOM.

All places are up for grabs

Thing I find interesting is that Gatland will obviously have to not take some Welsh players and how that impacts afterwards with his job at Wales - if he stays on.

Morgan sounds as though he's started well for Gloucester - so he could be in with a shout, I'm just not the biggest fan of Falateau, started well but he hasnt really moved on the way I thought he would do, needs a big season this year!

Morgan was good against Irish at the weekend. Strong carries.
Faletau will be in with a shout providing he has a good season. I like him, good player and is only young.

Morgan was poor the first week but that is to be expected it was his debut. heard he was good vs Irish.

I am a fan as he offers real go forward.

Still think the Lions backrow will be Ferris Denton and Warbs personally with heaslip off the bench as denton can play all across the back 3

he was good matt was your best forward along with Hamilton, who is a very good player, but so frustrating to play against as he does so many illegal things but gets away with it all!

Our number 8 Fisher was very good, didnt realise he has a Saxon cap.

I'd go with that Backrow Matt, wouldnt take Heaslip though unless he has a big season.

It's all about form now really. Faletau has been fantastic for Dragons and will get the game time through the season.

Performances in the magners league need to take into account the strength of the opposition. Sometimes they can be dire.

I would take Denton and Heaslip for sure. Faletau was inconsistent last season and two games in Magners league don't really change that.

The Celts actually rate the Magners pretty highly Steve, I doubt Gatland will shrug off Rabo performances.

I dont think he will take peoples Rabo form in to account.

He has already said if people impress in the Heineken he will, as that is similar to international rugby. The Rabo certainly isnt.

Rabo is awful, seen a lot of the teams putting out 'B' teams, remember someone saying that when Saints thrashed Leinster in pre-season thatit was only because they put out their 'c' team, but that was the same team that beat Dragons 45-20ish or so.

Can see why the English and French clubs are up in arms, as they just get to rest their players all the time - makes it so hard for other nations to win the HC!

At its best it can be a strong league, but often the players and the no relegation side of the league make for lacklustre games.

These are the two sides who the Dragons have faced. (btw this isn't a slate on Faletau, just how it is difficult for any player to be selected on his performances in the Magners League)

Leinster

Isa Nacewa
Andrew Conway
Brendan Macken
Noel Reid
Fionn Carr
Ian Madigan
John Cooney

Jack McGrath
Sean Cronin
Jamie Hagan
Leo Cullen
Quinn Roux
Ben Marshall
Shane Jennings
Leo Auva'a

Zebre

Sinoti Sinoti
Giovanbattista Venditti
Roberto Quartaroli
Gonzalo Garcia
Samuele Pace
Luciano Orquera
Tito Tebaldi
Salvatore Perugini
Carlo Festuccia
Dave Ryan
Emiliano Caffini
Quintin Geldenhuys
Nicola Cattina
Filippo Cristiano
Dries van Schalkwyk

Neither of those sides are all that strong. Same is true of the AP as well. Not many players will get into the Lions on AP performances alone, unless they are really really sublime, as I do believe it is a stronger and much more challenging league from September to May.

Only 6 players who started the Saints friendly started the Dragons game. So can't see how you can compare the two teams and the standard of the league on that...

The French rotate just as much as the Rabo teams with some sides nearly having a home and an away side. The top English teams have the squads to rotate but decide not to so thats there own problem surely? So I don't see how the Rabo teams have an unfair advantage over them??

SJE im not really sure what your getting at.

Those two sides I've listed are not a measure for a player playing on a Lions tour. One player in those two teams would push for the Lions if he were eligible, and that is Isa Nacewa.

I myself believe that the AP is a stronger league than the Rabo but I still doubt any player who doesn't play international rugby will tour, unless he is a sensation in the HC.

AP sides cant rotate as much. Teams battling for top 6 like Glos, Bath, Sale, Exeter, Irish cant afford to rotate every week. We pretty much need our full strength side each week.

Horses for courses.

Leinster look pretty strong whoever they put out on in the Rabo. Just because you don't know the players doesn't make them awful.

I imagine Leinster fans look at the Exeter side and say similar things when Saints just beat them.

Some of the teams Edinburgh and Glasgow put out are dire but the better sides are pretty strong. I don't think it's as strong as the AP though.

Didn't Wasps lose to Zebre pre-season??

Sale drew with a similar Leinster side to that i've posted in preseason. We were pretty much full strength for it.

pre-season results mean nothing. Irish won at Munster comfortably then look at our start to the AP.

I was referencing Chris's comment on the Rabo being an "awful" league because the side Saints thrashed in pre season destroyed the Dragons yet they were basically two different line ups.

I'd say the leagues are on a fairly level pegging these days. Good standard of rugby in both. The likes of Exeter, Sale, Bath all have big enough squads with sufficient quality these days to rotate around a bit in my opinion anyway. Tigers, Quins, Saracens definately do.

I dont like this whole the Rabo rotates its rubbish argument I'd love to see the Premiership hit with the internationals like the Rabo is. Right now only Tigers get the kind of hit most Rabo sides do and they are the English side that usually rotate the most!

"He did get absolutely slated as soon as he mentioned that Parling should start! He liked Parling's work rate apparently, though went a bit quiet when they started asking him if they ever saw him get over the gain line"

Well seen as you've been raving about how well Hartlley has been carrying this season here are the stats after 2 games:

Parling has made 36m for 11 carries
Hartley has made 29m for 14 carries

Other top locks in AP:

Robson: 20m in 8 carries
Attwood 15m in 2 carries (pretty efficient!)
Skivington 11m in 2 carries (again efficient)
Palmer 3m in 9 carries (wtf????)
Gray: 18m in 2 carries (very efficient!!!)
Botha: 7m in 13 carries
Borthwick: 18m in 13 carries