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by **Ozzy3213** Tue 29 Jan 2013, 2:09 pm

First topic message reminder :

Breaking News: Former London Irish boss stnick88 returns in charge of Worcester Warriors and Quins win the top of the table clash with Tigers to narrow the gap between the two teams to a single point.

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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	Leicester Tigers	15	12	1	2	384	329	+55	42	31	0	2	52
2	Harlequins	15	11	0	4	392	353	+39	43	37	3	4	51
3	Newcastle Falcons	15	10	0	5	379	341	+38	40	30	1	5	46
4	Sale Sharks	15	9	0	6	377	351	+26	41	35	1	6	43
5	Gloucester	15	9	0	6	378	356	+22	42	38	1	4	41
6	Northampton Saints	15	7	1	7	376	361	+15	40	37	2	6	38
7	London Welsh	15	7	2	6	351	336	+15	37	31	0	6	38
8	Bath Rugby	15	8	0	7	355	357	-2	34	38	0	5	37
9	London Irish	15	6	0	9	369	378	-9	39	39	2	8	34
10	Saracens	15	4	1	10	316	380	-64	28	41	0	5	23
11	London Wasps	15	2	0	13	313	381	-68	28	43	0	10	18
12	Worcester Warriors	15	2	1	12	317	384	-67	27	41	0	7	17

Fixture List
European Homepage

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 Finalist - £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 29 Jan 2013, 10:34 pm

Agree with you about Daly, a few years back I was chatting to some Wasps players at a pre season game in Henley and they said that Daly is the best young player they have ever seen.

If he bulks up a bit more then he could be an absolute star - nice bloke as well.

by LukeLovesLuka Wed 30 Jan 2013, 12:06 am

From telegraph:

ENGLAND TEAM TO PLAY SCOTLAND AT TWICKENHAM
A Goode (Saracens); C Ashton (Saracens), B Barritt (Saracens), B Twelvetrees (Gloucester), M Brown (Harlequins); O Farrell (Saracens), B Youngs (Leicester); J Marler (Harlequins), T Youngs (Leicester), D Cole (Leicester), J Launchbury (Wasps), G Parling (Leicester), T Wood (Northampton), C Robshaw (Harlequins), (capt), B Morgan (Gloucester).

Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), M Vunipola (Saracens), D Wilson (Bath), C Lawes (Northampton), J Haskell (Wasps), D Care (Harlequins), T Flood (Leicester), D Strettle (Saracens

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 8:07 am

Did Foden not even make 23???

by prop_lyd Wed 30 Jan 2013, 8:50 am

If you swapped strettle for foden then that would be an awesome impact bench!!

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 9:05 am

And Hartley for Gray

by stnick88 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 9:18 am

What has Youngs done to warrant a start over Care?!

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 9:21 am

He started and was excellent in his last test.

I'd say his club form was better too.

by stnick88 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 10:01 am

true forgot he started v NZ. fair enough.

Disagree he is on better form than Care though for club, Care been a fair bit better for me.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 10:09 am

Youngs has been in great nick, actually think Care has slipped off a bit of late but still playing well.

Youngs is obviously fist choice 9, unless he has a stinker the previous test or is injured he'll be starting.

by stnick88 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 11:16 am

he frustrates the hell out of me. does some great stuff and looks a world beater than does something awful and his passing and decision making goes to pot. prefer him as a impact sub with care starting.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 1:59 pm

Youngs shouldn't be an obvious first choice as he isn't good enough and to be honest whether he is or or not I feel is up for debate.

At his best (which isn't seen nearly enough for me) he is a real threat to both the fringe and the spaces in behind with his kicking and his decision making is better than Care's English counterparts.

His temprement however is mediocre at best and when that goes so does his decision making. When he is bad he is horrid.

Mike Brown being added to the backline improves it but David Strettle's inclusion suggests to me that Lancaster is more interested in playing players who play for a top team that he is about playing top players. The decision is a joke and is the first time I've hugely disagreed with a Lancaster decision so much as that I question if he is the right man for the job.

If Brad Barritt plays at 13 then he could be the worst international 13 ever to play the game (along with Farrell) and he and 36 (who I think might be the future at 12 but don't think he is ready yet) is certainly the worst centre combination of the 6N sides.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:01 pm

"Youngs shouldn't be an obvious first choice as he isn't good enough"

You don't think Youngs should be involved with England?

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:07 pm

No, I mean he isn't good enough to be an obvious first choice. He might be Lancaster's first choice but there isn't enough between he and Care when it comes to either ability or form to suggest one is an 'obvious' first choice and considerably better than the other.

That's what I think anyway.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:15 pm

Youngs reaches heights Care can't for me, he's just a class above.

by dammit_chris Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:18 pm

Agree with you there Steve.

He's just looked purely at a team that can win a territory game in the backline and let Farrell kick penalties. Thing that frustrates me is that the NZ game masks the faults from the other AI's where we looked less than distinctly average.

We also have the makings of a very, very good pack, which will give us plenty of ball but without Tuilagi where will the breaks and tries come from? Never thought I'd see an England team that had less try scoring ability in their back three than a Scottish teams!

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:19 pm

probably true that Youngs best is better than Care's best. Also true that Care's average perfomance is better than Youngs average performance. certainly in the last year.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:23 pm

Can't agree but no issues, I'm a massive Youngs fan. He's the best SH in the NH for me.

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:29 pm

dammit_chris wrote:Agree with you there Steve.

He's just looked purely at a team that can win a territory game in the backline and let Farrell kick penalties. Thing that frustrates me is that the NZ game masks the faults from the other AI's where we looked less than distinctly average.

We also have the makings of a very, very good pack, which will give us plenty of ball but without Tuilagi where will the breaks and tries come from? Never thought I'd see an England team that had less try scoring ability in their back three than a Scottish teams!

Totally disagree with you there , He's trying to crack what his best team is and you can't go out and throw the ball about and play wide high tempo rugby with out a settled 32 man squad.

I have no doubt that Stuart Lancaster is the man to take England forward , we keep saying we lack creativity in the backs but we don't have the players to that and SL can't exactly help that? That's more down to AP coachs. England will click in 6 months time. They where not that average in the AIs.

They where robbed by a shotty try decision against SA , Australia's back row played a game which no back row would of kept up with them.

They'll score trys with out Tuilagi , They've been doing it for the past 100 years without him and we didn't have a strike runner at 15 or a gainline smashing 13 when we won the RWC so why are we so worried about it?

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:37 pm

Don't have creative players?

Youngs, Care, Flood, Burns, 36, JJ, Manu, Brown, Foden and Goode all fall into the creative bracket in my book. We could play a creative game if we wanted to.

They are just the guys who have been involved in the squad of late. Likes of Wade, Daly, May and others who aren't miles away also fit that bracket.

Englands backline is about 10 times worse than the one which played in 2003. Tuilagi might have got in ahead of Tindall but that is the only position up for debate.

Backline lacks spark and I don't expect the one named on Saturday to score many tries.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:39 pm

It's the opposition that'll stop us scoring tries, they're never big scoring games against the Jocks.

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:40 pm

Foden isn't creative at all , he just runs and runs there is no plan B with him.

I can't belive people are questioning whether SL is the guy to lead England already?

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:47 pm

hmmm.

How did he create so many tries for Chris Ashton then?

by dammit_chris Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:51 pm

Guess we will see during the 6Nations - personally don't think he puts enough emphasis on attack, England score something like 0.66 tries a game without Tuilagi, but close to 3 a game when he features.

He's been in charge for quite some time now, we will always be in games because of our pack and Farrell's boot but if that is how we look to win big games then we will really come unstuck playing that way.

We have plenty of attacking options to pick from, but from the looks of it we are going for Barritt at 13, which just says everything about our intent against a team that has recently lost to Tonga.

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:53 pm

Steven_Sharks wrote:hmmm.

How did he create so many tries for Chris Ashton then?

For Saints? As he didn't create that many for him for England?

I'd say James Downey and Jon Clarke along with total forward domination 95% of the time helped him at Saints.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 2:56 pm

A year or two ago all people would talk about was the Foden/Ashton combo. He created loads for Ashton

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:08 pm

They had a great bond at Saints, not really seen that too much at Int level.

Foden is bang out of form anyway.

by dammit_chris Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:25 pm

Foden had one bad game in January - was excellent against Exeter, and played very well against Gloucester at the weekend. Can't really see him being bang out of form

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:31 pm

Chris,

There is Saints fans calling for him to be dropped!

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:32 pm

Really? Got a link?

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:33 pm

http://www.rugbynetwork.net/boards/read/s99.htm?101,13806195,13807552

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:34 pm

Re: Ben Foden dropped by England new
Posted by: andysaint (IP Logged)
Date: 29 January, 2013 19:15

As an England fan, Bens form is not good enough to be considered as a bench or first team player and I would put Brown at full back.

For Saints, it's good to have his quality in the squad but he does need to improve for us too or I would like to see Wilson moved to full back.

by dammit_chris Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:41 pm

People are entitled to their opinions but when Saints beat Exeter 19-30, Foden had a hand in all three tries (either set ups or runs that got them into position to score), he had a stinker up in Scotland a few weeks back, but just because you have one bad game doesn't mean you are in bad form.

He was very good against Gloucester last weekend, as was Lee Dickson. Got a lot of Saints fans and they all can't believe he isn't in the match day 23. Each to their own I guess.

by stnick88 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:48 pm

Think a lot of it has to do with sticking with the side that beat NZ.

If we play poorly against Scotland, I'd expect Foden to be back in the mix, possibly on the wing with Brown at FB.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:52 pm

It's one good game he's had rather than one bad Chris.

He's been pretty average since injury and isn't pushing for an England starting spot.

I'm glad SL is taking form into account, nobody deserves to be nailed on, especially when there are better players in form available.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:54 pm

If SL is taking form into account then it is tough to see how Strettle is in. Also Goode been injured of late.

I would have been very interested to see where, if anywhere, Freddie Burns fitted into this England side.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 30 Jan 2013, 3:57 pm

Burns would have got a bench spot at some point, possibly not this game mind.

Strettle is probably in because there's nobody else.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:02 pm

One word.

Wade.

If they are good enough their old enough. If their good enough their tall enough!

by DHLS07 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:03 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Burns would have got a bench spot at some point, possibly not this game mind.

Strettle is probably in because there's nobody else.

There are quite a few wingers around who look far more capable of scoring tries than Stettle does.

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:06 pm

I don't think Wade is up to it. Got a battering off the Irish last Friday.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:08 pm

Wade along with Joseph and May is the most naturally gifted young back I've seen for a year or two.

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:09 pm

Danny Cipriani was the most naturally gifted half back
a few year back and that hasn't worked out?

Joseph and May could make it but i'm not 100% on Wade.

by stnick88 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:12 pm

This isnt just my Irish bias, but Marland Yarde looks the real deal.

His work rate is phenomenal, chases every kick like his life depends on it.

Tackles well, good under the high ball, very quick and strong and a good eye for the try line.

He will be knocking on the England door in a year or so.

by Driver Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:18 pm

Yeah he looks mincey Nick , Seems to have it all.

He'll make it before Wade does.

by DHLS07 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:21 pm

Yarde is good going forward but needs to work on his defensive positioning. Big, strong lad though, and quick. Could well make it onto the international stage if he continues to improve. Already a better option than Strettle.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:21 pm

I rate Brady with my Sale bias nick. He could do worse than look to move towards a better club.

Charlie Amesbury excellent for Sale of late as well. His ambition on my gym's noticeboard for students who are on scholarships is to play England Saxons.

by DHLS07 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:23 pm

That is a pretty poor ambition Steve. Surely he should be aiming to play for the full England side. If you aim lower you are only going to sell yourself short.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:23 pm

England under 20's for Friday night

Watson Arnott Sloan Hill Howard Slade Day;L Cowan-Dickie, Crumpton Sinckler Stooke Barrow Moriarty Conlon Clifford(c)

Doesn't look as good as last year on paper but certainly going to be competive. Strong looking front 5.

by stnick88 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:25 pm

I have always rated Amesbury, seems to always play well against Irish. Can't comment on Brady as havent seen enough of him.

Yeh Yarde does need work on his defensive side but most young wingers do. Have high hopes for him and hope he stays at Irish for the long run, has another year here.

by stnick88 Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:27 pm

There is huge hype around Watson but he has a lot of work to do.
Can see he has a lot of talent but has looked a little out of his depth when in our first team. Has still managed to score a few tries mind you. very quick.

by Steven_Sharks Wed 30 Jan 2013, 4:28 pm

Or he is being realistic. He is 26 and is unlikely to play for England unless he improves by 50%+ and very quickly.

Also could simply be a year by year goal as Will Addison's is the same.

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