LV Cup Semi-Finals/Finals

Its the LV semi finals coming up this weekend -
Quins v Bath
Sarries v Sale

Who are you expecting to be playing? Will DOR's stick with their LV teams or draft in the more experienced guys now that its the knock out stages?

Selection of the LV regulars -

Mark Lambert
Dave Ward
Will Collier
Sam Twomey
Charlie Matthews
Joe Trayfoot
Luke Wallace
Tom Guest
Dickson
Botica
Sam Smith
JTH
Casson
Tom Williams
15. ?? OLH is out! Chisholm is injured isnt he?

Bath Rugby side to face Harlequins

15. Nick Abendanon
14. Horacio Agulla
13. Matt Banahan
12. Kyle Eastmond
11. Tom Biggs
10. Tom Heathcote
9. Peter Stringer
1. Nathan Catt
2. Ross Batty
3. Anthony Perenise
4. Dominic Day
5. Dave Attwood
6. Francois Louw ( c )
7. Carl Fearns
8. Ben Skirving

Replacements

16. Eusebio Guinazu
17. Charlie Beech
18. Kane Palma-Newport
19. Stuart Hooper
20. Nick Koster
21. Michael Classens
22. Sam Vesty
23. Semesa Rokoduguni


Quins

15. Ross Chisholm
14. Tom Williams
13. George Lowe
12. Tom Casson
11. Sam Smith
10. Ben Botica
9. Karl Dickson

1. Mark Lambert
2. Rob Buchanan
3. Will Collier
4. Sam Twomey
5. Charlie Matthews
6. Maurie Fa'asavalu
7. Luke Wallace (C)
8. Tom Guest

16. Dave Ward
17. Darryl Marfo
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. Pete Browne
20. Joe Trayfoot
21. Jordan Burns
22. Rory Clegg
23. Charlie Walker

From a Bath point of view, thats a strong backline. Front row could be a little ify, Batty's throwing has been poor in the past. Weather forecast isnt great in London, so it might not be the best game, I hope the pack should have enough to see you boys off though.

Quins have an experienced backline with a pretty fresh looking pack, may not be enough to cope with Bath especially if the older heads have another off day (i'm looking at you Mo!!)

Lots of youngsters to be excited about though Walker, Synkler, Marfo, Trayfoot, Wallace to just name some of them!

Bath to pip it in a hopefully very entertaining game.

Is it on tv?

yappysnap wrote:

Is it on tv?

Yes - SkySports 1

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/rugby-union-on-sky

Sale/Sarries on Sunday on SS3

I'll be there! Cannot wait! Teams released are pretty much what I expected. Bath seemed to be playing a strong team throughout the competition if I remember rightly while we have been playing essentially our 'A' side.

Going to need a good game from our young front 5 forwards to deal with a much more experienced bath pack.

Hoping for Botica to really pull the strings and kick well and going for Quins by 3!

Its not far off the Bath 1st team is it?
Is that the team thats been playing most of the LV cup fixtures.

I never want Bath to win at the best of times, but I really don't want them taking one of the HC spots! (they're welcome to one via the league just not via this). However, Bath look the stronger side and as much as it pains me to say this, they're actually playing quite good rugby at the moment

Yeah prop its certainly nearer to the 1st team than yours is.

Due to our, ahem, fairly average league position, this could well be our best way to get into the HC, so I hope the team really go for this.

That must have hurt to say that HKC...

Yeah, I think combine that all with a recent dip in performance and I think that Bath will bag this one.

Forecasts for the weekend are pretty attrocious though so I'm not sure we are going to see the open running game that we are hoping for!

Very much a game for the pack and the larger backs.......Banahan to bosh it up the middle and put the pocket rocket of Eastmond through the gap.

Sale Sharks:
Cameron Shepherd, Tom Brady, Jonny Leota, Nick Macleod, Charlie Ingall, Danny Cipriani, Cillian Willis, Ross Harrison, Tommy Taylor, Henry Thomas, Fraser McKenzie, Tom Holmes, James Gaskell, David Seymour, Andy Powell

Replacements Marc Jones, Alasdair Dickinson, Tony Buckley, Andrei Ostrikov, James Doyle, Nathan Fowles, Sam James, Will Addison

Saracens:
15 Ben Ransom
14 James Short
13 Chris Wyles
12 Adam Powell
11 Joe Maddock
10 Nils Mordt
9 Ben Spencer

1 Nick Auterac
2 Jamie George
3 Petrus du Plessis
4 George Kruis
5 Mouritz Botha
6 Justin Melck
7 Nick Fenton-Wells
8 Ernst Joubert

16 Schalk Brits
17 Jared Saunders
18 Matt Stevens
19 Alistair Hargreaves
20 Andy Saull
21 Neil de Kock
22 Charlie Hodgson
23 Jack Wilson

Nice win for Quins

ChequeredJersey wrote:Nice win for Quins

Quins should be kicked out of the tournament for the disgrace perpetrated by their captain today. No rugby player should take to the field in an alice band.

You can only play for Quins if you have awful hair these days

propdavid_london wrote:Yeah, I think combine that all with a recent dip in performance and I think that Bath will bag this one.

Forecasts for the weekend are pretty attrocious though so I'm not sure we are going to see the open running game that we are hoping for!

Very much a game for the pack and the larger backs.......Banahan to bosh it up the middle and put the pocket rocket of Eastmond through the gap.

Oh how how wrong can one be. Banahan is just a big lump and did nothing, certainly didn't bosh it up the middle. Great win for the Quins A team against Bath 1st team.

There you go, always interesting the different perspectives people can have. I thought Banahan did some good stuff, right from the kick-off. He always stretched the Quins and showed some neat offloads.

Eastmond did not live up to the hype however.

Banahan played well and consistently got over the gainline, but Quins were organised enough to bring him down. Bath could have been really effective if they'd flooded his channel with players to take the offload, but I thought they were trying too hard to go wide instead.

Poorfour wrote:Banahan played well and consistently got over the gainline, but Quins were organised enough to bring him down. Bath could have been really effective if they'd flooded his channel with players to take the offload, but I thought they were trying too hard to go wide instead.

Ah but that would have required a clever game plan and good coaching Poorfour, neither of which is offered by Gold.

Well, good result for Quins and Sale.
I must admit that I didnt see either of those coming.

With the team Bath brought I was expecting Quins to be a bit bullied, but the academy kids really stood up. There was the squad response that COS was looking for following the loss to Exeter.

Now looking forward to the Final in Sixways - tickets are on sale now.

propdavid_london wrote:Well, good result for Quins and Sale.
I must admit that I didnt see either of those coming.

With the team Bath brought I was expecting Quins to be a bit bullied, but the academy kids really stood up. There was the squad response that COS was looking for following the loss to Exeter.

Now looking forward to the Final in Sixways - tickets are on sale now.

Wallace's little off load was fantastic! I only watched the highlights last night, but in all hoensty, after the crap 6N this weekend, in hindishgt, i would have quite happily cashed in my HQ tickets for the Saturdays Quins game.

The final is looking to be a cracker!

How strong a side do you think Quins will play in the final with perhaps one eye on the top of the table clash with Saracens on the 24th?


Is it an advantage for Quins to have more match practice before the game on the 24th or do you think it's advantage to Saracens because their players get more of a rest?

LondonTiger wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Nice win for Quins

Quins should be kicked out of the tournament for the disgrace perpetrated by their captain today. No rugby player should take to the field in an alice band.

If you can setup a try by spinning out a tackle and then offloading one handed while going to ground I dont care what you wear.

beshocked wrote:How strong a side do you think Quins will play in the final with perhaps one eye on the top of the table clash with Saracens on the 24th?


Is it an advantage for Quins to have more match practice before the game on the 24th or do you think it's advantage to Saracens because their players get more of a rest?

I think we will see quins put out a similar side, that youthful team won this weekend vs a full strength Bath team I think O'Shea will see how they go against another full strength side.

Only real changed I can see are perhaps one or two changed in the pack to beef up the scrum, perhaps bring Johnson onto the bench or start him, and perhaps change the young lock (not matthews) for someone with a bit more weight - although in the loose he was great.

Also JTH coming into the starting line up or on the bench instead of walker.

Well done to Quins, they showed far more attacking intent than Bath, who couldn't impose themselves on the game and bring the larger pack to bear.

It was a perfect example (I thought) of how much of a difference good coaching can make. Bath looked like they lacked ideas, a backs coach is really needed to make the most of what is a fairly exciting backline I think.

So now I hope an English team wins the HC, giving the league an extra HC place so we can get in that way...

Yeah, I think COS will pretty much play the squad thats taken them to the LV final. Minimal changes unless forced.
Perhaps JTH to add a bit more direction in the middle, eveyone else functioned well.

propdavid_london wrote:Yeah, I think COS will pretty much play the squad thats taken them to the LV final. Minimal changes unless forced.
Perhaps JTH to add a bit more direction in the middle, eveyone else functioned well.

That's a little harsh on Tom Casson, who I thought was playing well until he went off - though if he's injured they might not have any choice!

How did Charlie Walker do anyone?

Just got off pulling double shifts all weekend and missed all the rugby (bar the Eng game which I chose over sleep )

Yeah, Casson did well - a few early collisions with Banahan and then they managed to work as a team to nullify that threat.
Not sure what the state of his injury is though.

Yappy - I think Charlie Walker was the only sub not used!
The other Charlie - Charlie Matthews was very impressive.

Bathman_in_London wrote:Well done to Quins, they showed far more attacking intent than Bath, who couldn't impose themselves on the game and bring the larger pack to bear.

It was a perfect example (I thought) of how much of a difference good coaching can make. Bath looked like they lacked ideas, a backs coach is really needed to make the most of what is a fairly exciting backline I think.

So now I hope an English team wins the HC, giving the league an extra HC place so we can get in that way...

That was my thought Bathman - think you've got a great squad on paper, just need some coaches with a clue now!

Is Paul Grayson looking for a job still?
I saw him down at the Stoop when Quins played Wasps in the Prem and it got me wondering if he was talking to either party.

AlastairW wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Well, good result for Quins and Sale.
I must admit that I didnt see either of those coming.

With the team Bath brought I was expecting Quins to be a bit bullied, but the academy kids really stood up. There was the squad response that COS was looking for following the loss to Exeter.

Now looking forward to the Final in Sixways - tickets are on sale now.

Wallace's little off load was fantastic! I only watched the highlights last night, but in all hoensty, after the crap 6N this weekend, in hindishgt, i would have quite happily cashed in my HQ tickets for the Saturdays Quins game.

The final is looking to be a cracker!

Just watching the highlights and Wallace's offload to Williams for the try was sensational. If it had been a SANZAR nations player in a Super Rugby match people would be raving about it for the rest of the season.

propdavid_london wrote:Yeah, Casson did well - a few early collisions with Banahan and then they managed to work as a team to nullify that threat.
Not sure what the state of his injury is though.

Yappy - I think Charlie Walker was the only sub not used!
The other Charlie - Charlie Matthews was very impressive.

Ah fair enough, bit of a shame.

Just watched the highlights and really impressed with Clegg as well, that break was at the end was good.

Great to see the Quins players putting in the big hits again and the crowd cheering them on for it, that's been missing these last few weeks.

Hope Trayfoot starts the final, just not sure about Mo at the moment and a 6.Trayfoot 7.Wallace 8.Guest triumvirate could go very well against the smaller quick Sale forwards.

Could we see Kohn coming on to the bench to get a bit of match fitness before the Sarries game? And perhaps JJ on the bench too.

Not sure Powell can be considered small yappy!
I've just booked my tickets for the final - hoping for a good open game.

Harlequins Team
15. Ross Chisholm
14. Tom Williams
13. George Lowe
12. Tom Casson
11. Sam Smith
10. Ben Botica
9. Karl Dickson

1. Mark Lambert
2. Rob Buchanan
3. Will Collier
4. Sam Twomey
5. Charlie Matthews
6. Maurie Fa'asavalu
7. Luke Wallace (C)
8. Tom Guest

16. Dave Ward
17. Darryl Marfo
18. James Johnston
19. Pete Browne
20. Joe Trayfoot
21. Jordan Burns
22. Rory Clegg
23. Charlie Walker

Team: Nick Macleod, Tom Brady, Will Addison, Jonny Leota, Charlie Ingall, Danny Cipriani, Nathan Fowles, Alasdair Dickinson, Marc Jones, Tony Buckley, Fraser McKenzie, Tom Holmes, James Gaskell, David Seymour Captain, Andy Powell

Replacements: Tommy Taylor, Ross Harrison, Henry Thomas, Andrei Ostrikov, Daniel Braid, Dwayne Peel, Sammy Tuitipou, Mark Cueto

Henry Thomas, Braid, Peel, Totopou and Cueto to come off the bench - thats a lot of impact.

Please win this one Quins. I do not want to see Sale sneak into the HEC via the back door.

If Sale won this but then got relegated, what would happen to their spot?

It would go to 6th place in the league I imagine.

Wow, fantastic game by the Quins kids and a few of the experienced heads.

I would have been rather depressed this weeekend if Quins had also lost aswell as the national side.

Sale had 3-4 effective runnes and once Quins managed to hobble them with double tackles they started to run out of ideas, coughed up posession by dropping the ball or aimless kicking of posession away.
Cipriani made poor decissions blowing at least 1 try scoring oportunity with a silly missed man pass.

In the end it was a comfortable win, but as Steve Diamond has said - they are really concentrating on the prem and this was just extra.

Andy Powell looks to be having a good run of form.

propdavid_london wrote:Wow, fantastic game by the Quins kids and a few of the experienced heads.

I would have been rather depressed this weeekend if Quins had also lost aswell as the national side.

Sale had 3-4 effective runnes and once Quins managed to hobble them with double tackles they started to run out of ideas, coughed up posession by dropping the ball or aimless kicking of posession away.
Cipriani made poor decissions blowing at least 1 try scoring oportunity with a silly missed man pass.

In the end it was a comfortable win, but as Steve Diamond has said - they are really concentrating on the prem and this was just extra.

Andy Powell looks to be having a good run of form.

Powell is one of those players I'm really not sure about. He was Sale's most effective attacking weapon - at times almost their only one - but I always have doubts about whether teams work better when he's on the pitch. With Sale it's hard to call because of their poor overall team performances, but Powell reminds me of Haskell in his early days: capable of eye-catching runs, but not so good at linking with his support to make something of it. I remember watching him batter the Quins defensive line for pretty much a whole 40 minutes while playing for Wasps a few seasons ago, with nothing to show for it.

Anyway, a really satisfying performance from the Quins squad, which leaves us with only two trophies that haven't yet graced our cabinet. I'm not so fussed about the JP Morgan Sevens one, but there's the little matter of the Heineken Cup. Only three games away, but defeating Munster and winning away in France and Dublin is a huge ask. Here's hoping.

I agree Poorfour,
For all Powells storming runs there was very little gain from them.

A-League final - won
LV Cup - won
H-Cup - Hmmm, here's hoping but some massive games coming up.
Aviva Prem - playoff is still likely, in with a chance of a final spot.

Never mind the tripple, we could be in with the quadruple.

propdavid_london wrote:I agree Poorfour,
For all Powells storming runs there was very little gain from them.

A-League final - won
LV Cup - won
H-Cup - Hmmm, here's hoping but some massive games coming up.
Aviva Prem - playoff is still likely, in with a chance of a final spot.

Never mind the tripple, we could be in with the quadruple.

There's a debate going on this on Come All Within. If you include the Floodlit Sevens trophy (where Quins are reigning champions), there's a potential quituple. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. A good performance against Sarries next week is the immediate need.

Poorfour wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:I agree Poorfour,
For all Powells storming runs there was very little gain from them.

A-League final - won
LV Cup - won
H-Cup - Hmmm, here's hoping but some massive games coming up.
Aviva Prem - playoff is still likely, in with a chance of a final spot.

Never mind the tripple, we could be in with the quadruple.

There's a debate going on this on Come All Within. If you include the Floodlit Sevens trophy (where Quins are reigning champions), there's a potential quituple. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. A good performance against Sarries next week is the immediate need.

+1

Nice to have some silverwear already though. Also nice that at least one of the teams I support won this week

Just watched the game and what a refreshing change from the Internationals!

Thought Casson had a really good game at 12 running, kicking and tackling well. Hopefully we'll see Wallace and Guest against Saracens bringing their LV form with them.

Still let's not get a head of our selves, Saracens away is a mighty task and it doesn't get any easier then that. This could just as easily be our only trophy.

Yappy, I'm so pleased Casson is getting some decent game time for you. He was the stand out back when he was in the U20s and it does seem to have taken him a little while to get goingk, but I feel the guy has a very bright future ahead of him.

Yeah it's taken him a while, and he's still not regularly playing in the prem, but his all round skills and his speed of mind seem to have come on leaps and bounds. JTH is going to have a serious fight on his hands now.

yappysnap wrote:Just watched the game and what a refreshing change from the Internationals!

Thought Casson had a really good game at 12 running, kicking and tackling well. Hopefully we'll see Wallace and Guest against Saracens bringing their LV form with them.

Still let's not get a head of our selves, Saracens away is a mighty task and it doesn't get any easier then that. This could just as easily be our only trophy.

I think you may have had a slight freudian moment there. It doesn't get easier than playing Saracens?

Errmmm wishful thinking on my behalf there...

In terms of skills and ability, I have thought since I first saw him that Casson could in time be a direct replacement for Greenwood - if he can put together a long enough run without being injured. He also has a knack of being on the winning side that borders on the freakish - as far as I can tell, he hasn't been on the losing side in that last 12 months.

Unfortunately, he's a bit fragile, but it would be interesting to see what he could do with a decent run in the team.