Aviva Premieship Round 3 - Preview and Discussion

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TABLE


Friday 14th September

Bath Rugby (4,4) v Northampton Saints (4,5) - 19:45 ESPN
Preview

Bath Team News:
Bath make two changes, Ben williams for the Injured Banahan and Paul James in for Nathan Catt.

15. Nick Abendanon, 14. Kyle Eastmond, 13. Dan Hipkiss, 12. Ben Williams, 11. Tom Biggs, 10. Olly Barkley, 9. Michael Claassens
1. Paul James, 2. Lee Mears, 3. David Wilson, 4. Stuart Hooper (c), 5. Dominic Day, 6. Simon Taylor, 7. Carl Fearns, 8. Ben Skirving

16. Ross Batty, 17. Nathan Catt, 18. Anthony Perenise, 19. Dave Attwood, 20. Josh Ovens, 21. Mark McMillan, 22. Ollie Devoto, 23. Jack Cuthbert


Saints Team News:
A few enforced changes for Saints - Burrell starts for the injured Pisi, tom Mercey is chosen ahead of PDJ to deputise for the Mooj. Finally Rhys Oakley stands in for the suspended van Velze. In the backs Myler chosen ahead of Lamb. Nice to see Lawes making an appearance on the Saints bench.

15 Ben FODEN, 14 Ken PISI, 13 Dom WALDOUCK ,12 Luther BURRELL ,11 Vasily ARTEMYEV ,10 Stephen MYLER ,9 Lee DICKSON ,
1 Soane TONGA'UIHA ,2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt) ,3 Tom MERCEY ,4 Samu MANOA ,5 Christian DAY ,6 Phil DOWSON ,7 Tom WOOD ,8 Rhys OAKLEY

16 Mike HAYWOOD 17 Alex WALLER 18 Paul DORAN JONES 19 Mark SORENSON 20 Courtney LAWES 21 Martin ROBERTS 22 Ryan LAMB 23 Tom MAY



Saturday 15th September

Worcester Warriors (1,0) v Gloucester Rugby (1,4) 13:30 ESPN
Preview

Worcester:
Warriors make changes on the wing, centre and back row with Walker, Carlisle and Kvesic coming in.
15 Chris Pennell, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Joe Carlisle, 11 David Lemi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Shaun Perry
1 Matt Mullan, 2 Aleki Lutui, 3 John Andress, 4 James Percival, 5 Dean Schofield (c), 6 Chris Jones, 7 Sam Betty, 8 Matt Kvesic

16 Ollie Hayes, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 James Currie, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Semisi Taulava, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Josh Matavesi, 23 Josh Drauniniu


Gloucester:
36 switches to 10 while Tindall returns in the 12 shirt.
Jonny May; Shane Monahan, Henry Trinder, Mike Tindall, James Simpson-Daniel; Billy Twelvetrees, Dan Robson;
Nick Wood, Huia Edmonds, Rupert Harden; Will James, Jim Hamilton (capt); Tom Savage, Andy Hazell, Ben Morgan

Darren Dawidiuk, Dan Murphy, Shaun Knight, Sione Kalamafoni, Akapusi Qera, Dave Lewis, Freddie Burns, Rob Cook




Harlequins (5,5) v Sale Sharks (0,1) – 15:00
Preview

Quins:
Care switches with Dickson, while Easter is back at 8 seeing Guest moving to 6. Clegg replaces Botica on the bench.

15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care
1 Joe Marler, 2 Joe Gray, 3 James Johnston, 4 Charlie Matthews, 5 George Robson, 6 Tom Guest, 7 Chris Robshaw (C), 8 Nick Easter

16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Will Collier, 19 Peter Browne, 20 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Matt Hopper


Sale:
cueto back into the Sales strarting XV

15.Rob Miller, 14.Tom Brady, 13.Johnny Leota, 12.Sam Tuitupou, 11.Mark Cueto , 10.Danny Cipriani, 9.Dwayne Peel ,
1.Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 2.Joe Ward, 3.Vadim Cobilas, 4.Richie Gray, 5.Kearnan Myall, 6.James Gaskell , 7.David Seymour (capt.), 8.Richie Vernon

16.Tommy Taylor, 17.Alasdair Dickinson, 18.Henry Thomas, 19.Fraser McKenzie, 20.Mark Easter, 21.Will Cliff, 22.Nick Macleod, 23.Mark Jennings




London Wasps (1,1) v London Irish (0,0) – 15:00
Preview

Wasps:
Masi returns for Wasps in the centre, while Stephen Jones makes his AP debut. Lindsay, Haskell and Vunipola move to the bench with thomas, Palmer and Johnson starting. Launchberry moves to 6.

1 Tim Payne, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 3 Fabio Staibano, 4 Tom Palmer, 5 Marco Wentzel, 6 Joe Launchbury, 7 Jonathan Poff, 8 Ashley Johnson
9 Joe Simpson, 10 Stephen Jones ,11 Christian Wade ,12 Andrea Masi, 13 Elliot Daly, 14 Tom Varndell, 15 Hugo Southwell (c)

16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, , 18 Zak Taulafo, 19 James Haskell, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Nick Robinson, 23 Tommy Bell


London Irish:

15. Tom Homer; 14. Topsy Ojo*13. Jonathan Joseph*; 12. Sailosi Tagicakibau*; 11. Marland Yarde 10. Steve Shingler; 9. Tomás O’Leary*; 1. Max Lahiff; 2. Scott Lawson*; 3. Leo Halavatau; 4. George Skivington; 5. Bryn Evans*; 6. Declan Danaher (Captain); 7. Ofisa Treviranus*; 8. Jon Fisher

16. Brian Blaney; 17. Halani Aulika*; 18. John Ryan; 19. Kieran Low; 20. Alex Gray; 21. Anthony Watson; 22. Shane Geraghty*; 23. Jack Moates



Saracens (5,4) v Leicester Tigers (5,5) – 15:30 SKY
Preview

Saracens Team News:
A fair few changes for Sarries - Carlos Nieto, Jackson Wray, Neil de Kock, Owen Farrell and James Short recalled to the starting line-up, with Petrus du Plessis, Will Fraser, Richard Wigglesworth, Charlie Hodgson and Chris Wyles switching to the replacement's bench.

15 Alex Goode,
14 Chris Ashton, 13 Joel Tomkins, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 James Short, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Neil de Kock,
1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Carlos Nieto, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 5 Mouritz Botha, 6 Kelly Brown, 7 Jackson Wray, 8 Ernst Joubert

16 John Smit, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Will Fraser, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Chris Wyles


Tigers Team News:
Tigers, bringing in Cole for Castro and Logo for Stanko. Final change on the bench sees Chuter replacing Hawkins.

15 Geordan Murphy (c), 14 Scott Hamilton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sam Harrison
1 Logovi'i Mulipola, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Graham Kitchener, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Steve Mafi, 7 Julian Salvi, 8 Thomas Waldrom

16 George Chuter, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Rob Andrew, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Patrick Phibbs, 22 George Ford, 23 Matt Smiths swap prop




Sunday 16th September

London Welsh (0,0) v Exeter Chiefs (5,1) - 15:00
Preview

Exeter Chiefs:
Some reshuffling of the backs I understand.
15 Luke Arscott, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Phil Dollman, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Will Chudley
1 Brett Sturgess, 2 Chris Whitehead, 3 Craig Mitchell, 4 Tom Hayes (capt), 5 James Hanks, 6 Tom Johnson, 7 James Scaysbrook, 8 Richard Baxter

16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Carl Rimmer, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 James Phillips, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Jack Nowell



London Welsh:
15. Tom Arscott, 14. Phil Mackenzie*, 13. Sonny Parker*, 12. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 11. Nick Scott, 10. Gordon Ross*, 9. Tyson Keats,
1. Frank Montanella*, 2. Neil Briggs, 3. Paulica Ion*, 4 Jonathan Mills ©, 5. Matt Corker, 6. Daniel Browne, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

16. Dan George, 17. Tom Bristow, 18. Arthur Joly, 19. Kirill Kulemin*, 20. Alfie To’oala*, 21. Jonah Holmes, 22. James Lewis, 23. Seb Jewell.

But Worcester com roaring back 13-13, 7 minutes to go.

very unlike Farrell kicking from Farrell at the minute.

Neither Fly half impressing much at the moment as Flood misses touch

Dim wrote:Neither Fly half impressing much at the moment as Flood misses touch

Other than that one kick he's been ok but errors are starting to creep into leicesters game.

Some of tigers attacking play is looking pretty good if they can cut out the little errors.

Fair point I was being overly judgemental. Odd claim from the Stuart Barnes that Goneva is definitely a stronger defender than A. Tuilagi. Now Tuilagi's defence wasn't exceptional but compared to Goneva who's defensive positioning is atrocious?? Sometimes I wonder if they watch the games they're commentating on.

Dim wrote:Fair point I was being overly judgemental. Odd claim from the Stuart Barnes that Goneva is definitely a stronger defender than A. Tuilagi. Now Tuilagi's defence wasn't exceptional but compared to Goneva who's defensive positioning is atrocious?? Sometimes I wonder if they watch the games they're commentating on.

Typical Barnes, i think it's too early to tell what his defending will be like until he's used to how the Tigers play.

Not good from Farrell this. The contrast with Flood could really hurt his international ambitions.

it's not that I have a problem with Goneva's tackling it's his positioning, already once this game, in the build up to Murphy getting injured, he was miles out of the line, away from his wing and caught in no-mans land. I'm sure it'll improve but I think it's more than simply not understanding the tigers systems.

is that not a illegal tackle by brits?

nathan wrote:is that not a illegal tackle by brits?

I think if he'd made any kind of meaningful contact it would have been.

Cumbrian wrote:

nathan wrote:is that not a illegal tackle by brits?

I think if he'd made any kind of meaningful contact it would have been.

yeah of course!

I find it funny that Farrell was compared to Carter twice early on, and all I hear is 'look at Ashton' this and that yet neither have shown anything of note... at all!!!!

thebluesmancometh wrote:I find it funny that Farrell was compared to Carter twice early on, and all I hear is 'look at Ashton' this and that yet neither have shown anything of note... at all!!!!

Well Ashton is never going to be Carter-esque in his influence on the game, but he's done OK in his 2 seasons of International rugby! Not the best winger ever by any means but if he transfers early season club form to the AIs, I wouldn't bet against him getting a ticket to Australia

thebluesmancometh wrote:I find it funny that Farrell was compared to Carter twice early on, and all I hear is 'look at Ashton' this and that yet neither have shown anything of note... at all!!!!

to be fair, (and im not comparing either of them) even Carter has games where he does nothing of note.

Think Flood is trying to even up the show of number 10's lol

Quins finally starting to take the match away from Sale

will Farrell stay on?

Sarries might want to consider bringing on Hodgeson at this point so they have a more reliable goal kicker.

Never thought I'd say that.

CJ

You mean Farrell not Ashton?

Farrell misses another, thats 2 really really poor misses. Just as a point though, looking at a shot of the red posts from Farrells POV it isn't easy to see the lines, they really do fade into the background.

Could the posts be putting Farrell off?

I think what's worse about Farrell's misses is that they don't like they are even close to threatening the posts. It's not a case of missing by a couple of degrees, he's missing by a lot. His place kicking just seems really flat and heavy.

thebluesmancometh wrote:CJ

You mean Farrell not Ashton?

Farrell misses another, thats 2 really really poor misses. Just as a point though, looking at a shot of the red posts from Farrells POV it isn't easy to see the lines, they really do fade into the background.

Could the posts be putting Farrell off?

they havent with Flood's kicks. But if they are i assume Sarries won't be painting them red again.

It is quite odd theyre red, I can see the sarries want to be innovative but it is difficult to see the lines well, surely thats taking away from both kickers and adding risk to the game.

crikey, who's the women singing in the stadium lol

What a plum, catches the first then doesnt touch the other two?

Why does Farrell carry on with the league style pop pass when playing at speed and distance?!?!?!?!

It always goes to body, gives nothing to run onto and is difficult to take clean!!

Sarries being on the very edge of the law slowing the ball down.

Tigers seem to rolling out the way a lot quicker than Sarries.

Wasps killing Irish

did everyone see that, Tuilagi did an offload!! lol

ChequeredJersey wrote:Wasps killing Irish

whats the score?

43-14

Quins just got the bonus point against Sale too. 'twas Brown

And I just booked tickets to see Quins-Gloucester

ChequeredJersey wrote:43-14

Quins just got the bonus point against Sale too. 'twas Brown

that should give me some good points!

Come on Sarries, another penalty would be ideal!

ChequeredJersey wrote:Come on Sarries, another penalty would be ideal!

noooooo, don't say that!

Bring on the draw

Again!!!

ChequeredJersey wrote:Bring on the draw

quins looking good again this year

honestly can't see Tigers winning this.

grrrr, Flood has been watching too much of Farrell

well, Barnes your wrong as per usual you dim wit!

Does Barnes always get the players names wrong?

He thinks Allen looks like Tom Youngs.

dammit, draw!

So this weeks Ugly Sisters award goes to any one of Saints, Saracens or Tigers, go on boys have a go and chuck it around a bit, be a maniac etc.

The Cinderella "you will go to the ball" award goes to either one of the Exiles, if LW can pick some points up tomorrow it belongs to LI... or maybe it will be awarded next week instead.

Minted with the Wasps win, but I feel sorry for Irish. They don't have any depth in their squad. And also seem to have lost their way.

London Irish are in a big heap of trouble. They better pull out everything they have against London/Oxford Welsh. Or we will end up trading one set of Exiles for another.

Bloody hell Leicester/Saracens and Sky just stole 80 minutes of my life! Still a draw was the best thing Quins could have hoped for.

Congrats to Wasps though. They deserved that after the last two weekends.

Does anyone think Richie Gray might be regretting his big move to Sale now as well?

If he's having second thoughts I know a club that could do with a big Second Row who are having an OK start to the season.

Though to be fair to Sale it's early days and away to Sarries and Quins was always going to hurt

ChequeredJersey wrote:Though to be fair to Sale it's early days and away to Sarries and Quins was always going to hurt

They lost at home to Sarries, hammered away by Exeter. Wonder of Steve Diamond is regretting poaching Redpath?