Aviva Premiership - Round 3 Preview

Current Table:

Fixtures:


Friday 20th September

19:45   Worcester Warriors v Harlequins   (BT Sport)
The BT cameras make their first visit to Sixways as we start the weekend with a vital match for both teams. In last weeks preview I talked about Worcester's inability to turn pressure into points, which according to independent observers was very true of their efforts against London Irish last week. Having had much of the territory, Warriors had the lead as the final minutes approached, but a late penalty saw Irish sneak a win and consign Worcester to two defeats in a row. They will need to improve to get anything from a fired up Harlequins side, who may feel they were unlucky in the rain last week. However Evans goal kicking percentages have been in decline for over a year, so it should have been no surprise that his frailties appeared. He has been an incredible performer for the former champions, but perhaps the decline is permanent? Warriors will have to dominate the Quins pack, and even if they achieve that, can they really score enough points. I cannot see it, so Quins should be favourites.



20:00 Sale Sharks v London Wasps
Sale will have been shocked by the comeback from the Falcons last week. Hold on for the win and they could have approached this match with confidence and feeling comfortable. As it is they will be feeling nervy and the pressure will mount as matchday approaches. Steve diamond will be working the team hard, and we can expect them to be really fired up come Friday.
Wasps have had some eventful Friday night trips to the North-West. thankfully we are unlikely to see a repeat of a few seasons ago when they refused to get off the coach, as the playing surface at the City of Salford AJ Bell Satdium is far superior to that at Stockport. Having suffered two very narrow losses, Wasps will be looking to open their win account - but will need an improved showing from their pack.




Saturday 21st September

15:00 Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons
Leicester host the Leicester Development Squad Falcons in their first non-televised match of the season. If there is ever a time for Dean Richards to lead his men to a victory at Welford Rd, this is it. Bereft of half a team due to injury and international duty Tigers will not often look so weak. However they should still be far to strong for a brave but limited Falcons side. Tigers fans will be crossing their fingers in hope (but not expectation) that Toby Flood is ready to lead his team out - we need him fit, far more so than the other missing faces. Play as they did in the second half last week, and I shall be driving home a happy man.
Falcons secured a fantastic comeback victory last weekend, but surely two away wins on the bounce is too much to expect. They did win the A league fisture earlier this week though, so who knows. Might Deano rest some key players this week, in preparation for the home tie in Round 4 with a struggling Gloucester?


15:00 London Irish v Exeter Chiefs
Some stout defending allied to a couple of flashes of inspiration saw London Irish win last weekend. They will be full of confidence and looking forward to the Chiefs visit. You feel that for this match though they will really need to keep all 15 players on the pitch. Chris Hala'ufia is a massive player to them, but he has to stop the silliness that attracts referee's ire.
Exeter were seriously under par in Round 1, and scraped over the winning line in Round 2. They will need to improve further if they are to head back down the M4/M5 with the vistory their fans would have pencilled in at the start of the season


15:15 Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints (BT Sport)
Apparently woeful in Round 1, Gloucester were undone by Nick Wood's moment of madness in Round 2. That they could get to half-time with a lead says a lot about Gloucester's spirit (and something about Sarries conservatism). However, rooted to the bottom of the table, things do not get any easier with the visit of an on-song Saints team. Gloucester will need to play right up to their potential if they are to stand a chance.
Saints have always had a strong pack, but they seem to have some real invention in the backs too. Often slated, Stephen Myler seems to be enjoying both the arm chair ride and the talent he can use outside him. The skills of Foden and George Pisis, nicely complement the power and pace of North and Burrell.



Sunday 22nd September

14:00 Saracens v Bath Rugby (BT Sport)
Apparently this match is a Play-off Final rehearsal!!!  While not impossible, making such predictions so early, and in Bath's case rather flimsy evidence, is a risky business. Having said that it is a tantalising fixture which should tell us a lot about just how solid Baths aspiration to return to the top of English rugby actually is. This match will be decided primarily up front. Bath will expect to have the upper hand at scrum time, with Sarries looking to dominate the lineout and more crucially the breakdown. Despite their try count, Sarries backs have looked a little rusty - and struggled to score against Gloucester until their opponents were knackered. Owen Farrell, though, is continuing to stand much flatter and direct the Sarries in a way that bodes well for England.
With Eastmond still likely to be injured, Henson has to be better than he has in his two appearances to date. Bath have potential, but Sarries should win by more than a score.

Looking forward to Ford vs Farrell on Sunday, that will be one hell of a contest and with two big packs smashing each other up front it may well come down to who can put their big lumps in the best position and use what quality ball the backs get best.

On current form you'd back Ford to control the territory but Farrell seems to have the more able and more cohesive centre combo (Henson and Joseph is convincing nobody). If it comes down to a kicking contest you'd expect Farrell to triumph but his kicking in general was poor vs Glaws.

Tigers simply need 5 points from Falcons at home and we supposedly have Flood, Youngs and Manu available. We won't know that for sure until Saturday at about 2.30 though.

I don't think that the centres will be Henson/Joseph. Joseph will keep his spot, but I expect Eastmond, Banners or Williams at 12. Seriously looking forward to it, would love to beat them more than any other team!

Another cracker  

My predictions:

Quins by 3 - a late score allows Wuss the losing BP and Quins don't manage a TBP
Sale by 10 - Sale with Diamond's boot firmly up their backside smash Wasps who are a little flimsy still
Tigers by 20 - Tigers reap the points against a weak Falcons side, Tigers get a TBP
Exeter by 3 - High scoring close game that Ex sneak
Glos by 3 - The shock of the round, Glos finally realise the season has started and bounce back in style against Saints, Northampton slump after a tiring win last week
Saracens by 10 - Reality check time for Bath and their army of sycophants

Oh and on a side note, will we ever get a Tigers game report that doesn't wheel out the injury list as the only reason they could lose?  

Of course you will Yappy. Next time we will blame International call ups

yappysnap wrote:Another cracker :OK: 

My predictions:

Quins by 3 - a late score allows Wuss the losing BP and Quins don't manage a TBP
Sale by 10 - Sale with Diamond's boot firmly up their backside smash Wasps who are a little flimsy still
Tigers by 20 - Tigers reap the points against a weak Falcons side, Tigers get a TBP
Exeter by 3 - High scoring close game that Ex sneak
Glos by 3 - The shock of the round, Glos finally realise the season has started and bounce back in style against Saints, Northampton slump after a tiring win last week
Saracens by 10 - Reality check time for Bath and their army of sycophants

Oh and on a side note, will we ever get a Tigers game report that doesn't wheel out the injury list as the only reason they could lose? :whistle: 

That thesaurus you got last Christmas came in handy

Hala'ufia is definitely a huge player for us LT, however I suspect we may not see him on Saturday as he was wearing a protective knee brace after we beat Worcester last weekend. That aside, we are clearly going to win this game. The reason? My three daughters are the team mascots for the day!!! Don't know who's more excited, me or the kids!!!  

I reckon you are more excited

Hope they have a great day.

Bathite wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Another cracker  

My predictions:

Quins by 3 - a late score allows Wuss the losing BP and Quins don't manage a TBP
Sale by 10 - Sale with Diamond's boot firmly up their backside smash Wasps who are a little flimsy still
Tigers by 20 - Tigers reap the points against a weak Falcons side, Tigers get a TBP
Exeter by 3 - High scoring close game that Ex sneak
Glos by 3 - The shock of the round, Glos finally realise the season has started and bounce back in style against Saints, Northampton slump after a tiring win last week
Saracens by 10 - Reality check time for Bath and their army of sycophants

Oh and on a side note, will we ever get a Tigers game report that doesn't wheel out the injury list as the only reason they could lose?  

That thesaurus you got last Christmas came in handy

Everyday's a school day Bathite. So do you think Bath could win?

On the one hand, nervous about this trip to Irish for Exe as the Chiefs simply have not clicked this season apart from a brief spell during the Wasps game; but on the other hand, it's got to happen sooner or later, and then I hope that the form with which we ended the season will return

yappysnap wrote:

Bathite wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Another cracker :OK: 

My predictions:

Quins by 3 - a late score allows Wuss the losing BP and Quins don't manage a TBP
Sale by 10 - Sale with Diamond's boot firmly up their backside smash Wasps who are a little flimsy still
Tigers by 20 - Tigers reap the points against a weak Falcons side, Tigers get a TBP
Exeter by 3 - High scoring close game that Ex sneak
Glos by 3 - The shock of the round, Glos finally realise the season has started and bounce back in style against Saints, Northampton slump after a tiring win last week
Saracens by 10 - Reality check time for Bath and their army of sycophants

Oh and on a side note, will we ever get a Tigers game report that doesn't wheel out the injury list as the only reason they could lose? :whistle: 

That thesaurus you got last Christmas came in handy

Everyday's a school day Bathite. So do you think Bath could win?

Haha! Nope, don't think we've got a chance. But everyone will be on the bandwagon saying how "we are not that good" straight after the game no doubt. Even if we play well, the chat will be "if they want to be top4, thy need to win these games. Blah blah

It's one of the hardest places to go, they are in good form and we miss Louw and Agulla big time

Oh and sarries are a much better side!

Nah to be honest I would be stunned if Sarries lost it. I really don't expect Quins to go well against them either later this season. Only Tigers seem to have their number.

Sarries are a good more settled side but they are no means invincible, especially if you front up and match them physically. The scrum has creaked at times, they aren't always clean at the breakdown and if you can cut down their big carriers on the gainline then their backline isn't that creative.

Of course saying that and doing that is two massively different things. Ford/Stringer is a good halfback pairing for this and their kicking game will be key. Get Sarries big pack running back for lineouts in their own half and pinning them in will be a platform for what they need to do.

I think Hala'ufia is out but Blair Cowan is back so that softens the blow.

yappysnap wrote:Another cracker  

My predictions:

Quins by 3 - a late score allows Wuss the losing BP and Quins don't manage a TBP
Sale by 10 - Sale with Diamond's boot firmly up their backside smash Wasps who are a little flimsy still
Tigers by 20 - Tigers reap the points against a weak Falcons side, Tigers get a TBP
Exeter by 3 - High scoring close game that Ex sneak
Glos by 3 - The shock of the round, Glos finally realise the season has started and bounce back in style against Saints, Northampton slump after a tiring win last week
Saracens by 10 - Reality check time for Bath and their army of sycophants

Oh and on a side note, will we ever get a Tigers game report that doesn't wheel out the injury list as the only reason they could lose?  

This is a good indication of how unexpected and poor our start of the season has been. Would you have said a month ago, that Glaws winning at home to any side was the shock of the round? As it happens it probably is now. I just have a feeling we'll come good for this one. My only concern had been the weather, as a down pour would play into Saints hands. It looks like the weekend will have a touch of the Indian Summers about it, so it should aid us quite nicely.

Other than Glaws, I can see Quins winning by 10; Sale by less than 3; Tigers by a boat load; Chiefs by over 10; Sarries by 7.

Quins to win by less than 7
Sale to win by less than 7
Tigers to win by more than 14
Irish to win by less than 7
Saints to win by more than 7
Saracens to win by 7

LondonTiger wrote:I reckon you are more excited

Hope they have a great day.

Nice one Ozzy - hope you all have a great day!

For what its worth..........

Worcester Warriors v Harlequins- Quins really need to right the ship.  Worcester in early trouble?
Quins by 14

Sale Sharks v London Wasps - pretender v. contender match, methinks.  Will Wasps really turn it on?  Or was last season a mirage? Will Sale show some us some good footy?
Sale (at home) by 0.001

Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons - hmmmm.  Difficult.  And many story lines here.  I suppose the question is how much the huge run of injuries will inhibit Tigers against a gutty Newcastle team.  Should be a close run thing. 
Tigers by 3

London Irish v Exeter Chiefs - Critical for Exe to win to show top 4 or top 6 potential.  Critical for Reading Irish to continue to win to distance themselves from the bottom.  Exeter are simply better.
Exeter by 10

Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints - Gloucester must win.  I think Saints are due a a come down after playing well against Quins and Exeter.  If Saints win, it will show a steel which I don't think existed before.  Optimistic and hopeful, but Gloucester have a lot of talent........
Gloucester by 3

Saracens v Bath Rugby - Tough to call.  Bath finally look to be improving, especially in the pack where real improvement is critical.  Sometime an improved back line can be ephemeral (like that word?).
Sarries at home, win by 10

Wasps team:

Team
15 Andrea Masi
14 Christian Wade
13 Ben Jacobs
12 Chris Bell (C)
11 Josh Bassett
10 Andy Goode
9 Charlie Davies
1 Matt Mullan
2 Carlo Festuccia
3 Jake Cooper-Wooley
4 Joe Launchbury
5 Kearnan Myall
6 Ashley Johnson
7 Sam Jones
8 Ed Jackson
Replacements
16 Tom Lindsay
17 Simon McIntyre
18 Will Taylor
19 James Cannon
20 Nathan Hughes
21 Joe Simpson
22 Joe Carlisle
23 Tommy Bell

And Sharks (cips on bench)

Team Tom Arscott, Rob Miller, Mark Cueto, Andy Forsyth, Tom Brady, Nick Macleod, Dwayne Peel, Ross Harrison, Tommy Taylor, Henry Thomas, Kirill Kulemin, Michael Paterson, Dan Braid Captain, David Seymour, James Gaskell

Replacements Marc Jones, Eifion Lewis Roberts, Vadim Cobilas, Johnathan Mills, Josh Beaumont, Will Cliff, Danny Cipriani, Phil Mackenzie

Worcester Warriors vs. Harlequins
15 Chris Pennell
14 Josh Drauniniu
13 Ravai Fatiaki
12 Josh Matavesi
11 David Lemi
10 Ignacio Mieres
9 Paul Hodgson

1 Jeremy Becasseau
2 Ed Shervington
3 John Andress
4 Mike Williams
5 Dean Schofield
6 Sam Betty
7 Jake Abbott
8 Jonathan Thomas (c)

Replacements
16 Nick Seymour
17 Paul Andrew
18 Euan Murray
19 Chris Jones
20 Semisi Taulava
21 Jeremy Su'a
22 Danny Gray
23 Jon Clarke

Harlequins Team

15. Mike Brown
14. Tom Williams
13. George Lowe
12. Tom Casson
11. Ugo Monye
10. Nick Evans
9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler
2. Rob Buchanan
3. Will Collier
4. Nick Easter
5. George Robson
6. Maurie Fa'asavalu
7. Chris Robshaw (C)
8. Tom Guest

16. Dave Ward
17. Mark Lambert
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. George Merrick
20. Luke Wallace
21. Karl Dickson
22. Ben Botica
23. Sam Smith

Quinn's by less than 7
Sale by more than 7
Tigers by more than 7, TBP
Chiefs by less than 7 (sorry Ozzy, hope the kids have a great day regardless of the result)
Cherries by less than 7 (unfortunately!)
Sarries by less than 7.

Think Gloucester will be determined enough to see Saints off although feel it will be close. Although I agree that Saints will be stronger in this instance if does rain (doubtful by the sound of things) I don't think Saints are at their strongest in the rain like was implied on commentary last week. In previous years the form has dropped off with the heavier winter pitches before picking up again in spring helping them to generally finish the season strongly (before falling in the damn play-off's!).

Apologies for any typo's, posting from phone whilst travelling.

My predictions:

Wuss vs Quins.
I think if the forecast was heavy rain Wuss might think they had a chance to slow things down and take them on in the front five. As it is I think Quins will be looking to move on from last week and will have too much for them. Quins 4pts, Wuss 0

Sale vs Wasps
My feeling is Wasps have been unlucky so far and looking at the head to heads on the teamsheets I can only see them as winners. Sale caught Gloucester cold, but I think they are going to spend the season in the bottom 3rd. Sale 1pt, Wasps 4.

Leicester vs Newcastle
Leicester have their big guns back (not that any of their fans had mentioned this!) and are at home, should be a full 5 pointer for me. I'm sure Deano will have targeted other games besides this one to pick up points. Leicester 5, Newcastle 0

Irish vs Exeter
This could be a good game (not just because of the quality of mascots!), 2 sides who look to run the ball and both with 1 not entirely convincing win. I've got a feeling Exe might sneak this, but it could go either way. Irish 1pt, Exe 4.

Gloucester vs Northampton
Despite the fact Gloucester are at home, I'm going to have to go with the Saints. I'm really not convinced by the Glaws front 5, especially now Wood is out, so I think they will struggle to get a decent platform in this game. Could be close though. Glaws 1pt, Northampton 4.

Saracens vs Bath
Despite Bath having a 2 from 2 so far, I'm not that confident. Newcastle were fairly clueless in our game and the way we totally let Leicester back into it worries me. If Eastmond isn't fit, Henson hasn't impressed me yet which could leave a lot of pressure on Ford's shoulders and despite the pack being infinitely better than the last few seasons, I think we will miss Louw in games like this.
Sarries 4, Bath 0.

I think Bath will get a losing bonus point

I can see Glaws winning as well as tigers, Exe, Quins and Sale.

LondonTiger wrote:
Harlequins Team

15. Mike Brown
14. Tom Williams
13. George Lowe
12. Tom Casson
11. Ugo Monye
10. Nick Evans
9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler
2. Rob Buchanan
3. Will Collier
4. Nick Easter
5. George Robson
6. Maurie Fa'asavalu
7. Chris Robshaw (C)
8. Tom Guest

16. Dave Ward
17. Mark Lambert
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. George Merrick
20. Luke Wallace
21. Karl Dickson
22. Ben Botica
23. Sam Smith

Great to see Guest starting and Synckler on the bench. I am a little surprised that Nev is starting though, this would be the perfect chance to give Botica his first start of the season, keep him keen and let him loose. Only other odd selection is Smith at 23, Walker would cover the back three better and he covers 13. Be interesting to see if Mo and Guest are subbed or just Mo.

Gutted, would have loved to have seen us at full strength to see how close to Sarries we are

London Irish team to face Exeter Chiefs:

15. Topsy Ojo*; 14. Marland Yarde*; 13.Fergus Mulchrone; 12. Eamonn Sheridan; 11. Andrew Fenby; 10. Ian Humphreys; 9. Tomás O’Leary* (Captain); 1. Matt Parr; 2. David Paice*; 3. Halani Aulika*; 4. Nic Rouse; 5. Jebb Sinclair*; 6. Declan Danaher; 7. Bryn Evans*; 8. Ofisa Treviranus*

Replacements: 16. Jimmy Stevens; 17 John Yapp*; 18. Leo Halavatau; 19.Ian Nimmo; 20. Gerard Ellis; 21. Sailosi Tagicakibau*; 22. Shane
Geraghty*; 23. Darren Allinson

How much has Ojo played at FB?

Was originally a FB and moved to wing to accomodate Delon.  Has been at FB all pre-season and in our first two AP games and has looked good there.

Saracens line-up vs. Bath

Starting XV – 15. Goode; 14. Ashton, 13. Wyles, 12. Taylor, 11. Strettle; 10. Farrell, 9. Wigglesworth; 1. M. Vunipola, 2. Brits., 3. Stevens, 4. Borthwick ©, 5. Kruis, 6. B. Vunipola, 7. Burger, 8. Joubert

Replacements – 16. George, 17. Gill, 18. Johnston, 19. Hargreaves, 20. Brown, 21. De Kock, 22. Mordt, 23. Ransom

Bryn Evans at 7!!!

Skivington injured?

Bit disappointing that we are rotating the team, but its a long season and maybe the coaches feel that Bath can get more out of the home game vs Irish the week after. Perenise at LH is a surprise, what has happened to Beech? A big opportunity for Heathcote to show Ford Snr that he can't just pick his son for every big game too.

Bath seem to be giving this one to Sarries. I'm sure they'll try and grab a losing bonus point but I can't see them getting any more than that. Disappointingly negative as that was shaping up to be quite a game.

LondonTiger wrote:Bryn Evans at 7!!!

Skivington injured?

Skivs was concussed in our last pre-season friendly at Munster and hasn't featured since.  Bryn will wear 7 but will play blindside.  Dec will be the openside but he won't wear 7 since he suffered a really bad knee injury wearing the jersey.

Disappointed with Bath, what's the point in throwing your B team to the wolves? And what message does this give to those players if they're only started in perceived losing causes?

Leicester bring back YoungsB, Flood and Manu, while choosing (in conjunctions with Stuart Lancaster for some players) to rest a number of players.

YoungsB, Cole and Parling all on the bench under England orders. Allen rested completely, while Niall Morris will be on the bench, having missed some training this week having been involved in some Irish stuff. Ryan Lamb, to the relief of many, is not in the matchday squad.

Deacon, Hawkins, Mafi, Smith, Hamilton and Tait not considered due to injury but all in training. Miles Benjamin still on the long term injury list alongside Tom Croft.

Still a strong team that should be too strong for Falcons.

Leicester Tigers (v Newcastle Falcons, Welford Road, Saturday 3pm)
15 Blaine Scully
14 Vereniki Goneva
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi
12 Dan Bowden
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Toby Flood (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Boris Stankovich
2 Neil Briggs
3 Logovi'i Mulipola
4 Ed Slater
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Thomas Waldrom
7 Jamie Gibson
8 Jordan Crane

Replacements
16 Tom Youngs
17 Tom Bristow
18 Dan Cole
19 Geoff Parling
20 Julian Salvi
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Niall Morris

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Adam Powell, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Tom Catterick, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Warren Fury, 1 Franck Montanella, 2 Rob Vickers, 3 Kieran Brookes, 4 Carlo del Fava, 5 Dominic Barrow, 6 Mark Wilson, 7 Will Welch (c), 8 Chris York

Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson, 17 Gary Strain, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Sean Tomes, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Chris Pilgrim, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Alex Crockett

I think the Bath plan will be to hang in there for 50mins and then try and hit them with the bench.

Not happy with it but hey what can you do?

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY GLOUCESTER
Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 3
Kingsholm
Saturday, September 21st, 2013
Kick off 3:15pm
15 Ben FODEN
14 Jamie ELLIOTT
13 James WILSON
12 Luther BURRELL
11 George NORTH
10 Stephen MYLER
9 Kahn FOTUALI’I
1 Alex WALLER
2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt)
3 Tom MERCEY
4 Samu MANOA
5 Christian DAY
6 Tom WOOD
7 Calum CLARK
8 Sam DICKINSON

Replacements
16 Mike HAYWOOD
17 Ethan WALLER
18 Gareth DENMAN
19 Courtney LAWES
20 Phil DOWSON
21 Lee DICKSON
22 George PISI
23 Ken PISI

Gloucester Rugby:

Rob Cook; Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees, James Simpson-Daniel; Freddie Burns, Jimmy Cowan; Dan Murphy, Darren Dawidiuk, Rupert Harden; Tom Savage (capt), Elliott Stooke; Matt Kvesic, Akapusi Qera, Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements:

Koree Britton, Yann Thomas, Shaun Knight, Will James, Ben Morgan, Dan Robson, Mike Tindall, Jonny May

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE LONDON IRISH
15 Phil Dollman
14 Ian Whitten
13 Jason Shoemark
12 Sam Hill
11 Tom James
10 Gareth Steenson
9 Haydn Thomas
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Jack Yeandle
3 Hoani Tui
4 Dean Mumm (capt)
5 Damian Welch
6 Ben White
7 James Scaysbrook
8 Tom Johnson
16 Chris Whitehead
17 Ben Moon
18 Carl Rimmer
19 Tom Hayes
20 Kai Horstmann
21 Dave Lewis
22 Henry Slade
23 Matt Jess



What has happened to Jack Nowell? Looked so good last season.

I think Nowell is injured..

Leicester host the Leicester Development Squad Falcons

Hey LT.... seems to me Brookes, El Madri...its going the other way..

Our front row will give leicester's some competition i think...and ill be looking to see how Brookes goes...can he repeat his top class display against Bath. We've gone for a heavyweight second row combo (front 5)...and lightweight pacy back row.

Our backs dont excite me at the moment...

I dont really see us getting anything out of this...but hey who knows.

happier now Flood and B.Youngs are back for us. Hopefully they'll bring goneva and manu in to the game more.

SirBurger wrote:I think Nowell is injured..

He is indeed Sir Burger, a knee injury which may require surgery. Naqelevuki still not 100% with his knees either, Mitchell tore a muscle in his upper arm in the Braves match on Monday, Dave Ewers tweaked a hamstring in training, and one or two others are still out as well. Really hoping that the Chiefs front 5 can out-muscle their opponents and give the backs a decent set-piece platform

formerly known as Sam wrote:Bath seem to be giving this one to Sarries. I'm sure they'll try and grab a losing bonus point but I can't see them getting any more than that. Disappointingly negative as that was shaping up to be quite a game.

Sam - I totally agree! Massive let down, i'd be seriously pi ss ed off if I bought a ticket (I guess I'd be praying for a Gav try!)

yappysnap wrote:Disappointed with Bath, what's the point in throwing your B team to the wolves? And what message does this give to those players if they're only started in perceived  losing causes?

There's an incredibly strong bench. Sarries play really well in the last 30 mins, so maybe this is a master plan? Who knows