Aviva Premiership Round Three

by **Ozzy3213** Tue 16 Sep 2014, 8:07 am

First topic message reminder :

So round two carried on pretty much were round one left of, with a couple of on-sided high scorers, and the rest of the games hard fought encounters with plenty for both partisan and neutral fans to enjoy. On Friday night a ruthless Saracens outfit clinically put Harlequins away, leaving Conor O'Shea and co with much to do before this weeks fixtures rolls around. First up on Saturday was the throwaround down at The Rec, where Bath ran in seven tries, and despite losing by over 20 points Welsh managed four of their own to pick up a try bonus point. Gloucester showed the good and the bad of what they've got, all within 80 minutes. Being well behind to a Danny Cipriani inspired Sale at half time they stormed back in the second half to earn themselves the win, with Steve Diamonds men doing enough to stay within seven points and score four tries to pick up two point son their travels. Saturdays final game was even further down in the West country, where Exeter fought hard but ultimately fell short against a Tigers outfit, who whilst not yet quite at their best picked up their second win in the opening two rounds. Sunday saw the biggest surprise of the round, where Wasps held free scoring Saints tryless in the first half before pouncing to score two tries in a minute themselves to pick up what could be a crucial win for them. In the weekends final fixture London Irish travelled to Kingston Park and returned south with a win and four point from a hard fought encounter with Newcastle Falcons.

Prediction wise, I got 4 out of 6 again this week, although it wasn't my boys who let me down this time, it was the jokers from the The Stoop and the Sinners, although I would be amazed if many people had tipped Wasps to win that one. Anyway, here's the table after round two;-

*Pos*	*Team*	P	W	D	L	F	A	PD	TF	TA	*TBP*	*LBP*	*PTS*
1.	Saracens	2	2	0	0	73	28	+45	7	3	1	0	9
2.	Bath Rugby	2	2	0	0	82	46	+36	9	6	1	0	9
3.	Leicester Tigers	2	2	0	0	60	37	+23	6	4	1	0	9
4.	Exeter Chiefs	2	1	0	1	72	24	+48	9	2	1	1	6
5.	Northampton Saints	2	1	0	1	69	26	+43	9	2	1	1	6
6.	Wasps	2	1	0	1	48	50	-2	5	5	0	1	5
7.	London Irish	2	1	0	1	35	38	-3	2	5	0	1	5
8.	Harlequins	2	1	0	1	20	54	-34	2	3	0	0	4
9.	Gloucester	2	1	0	1	40	80	-40	3	12	0	0	4
10.	Sale Sharks	2	0	0	2	47	63	-16	6	5	1	1	2
11.	Newcastle Falcons	2	0	0	2	35	56	-21	5	6	0	1	1
12.	London Welsh	2	0	0	2	26	105	-79	4	14	1	0	1

So on to this weeks fixtures, and here they are:

Friday 19th September 2014 19:45 Gloucester vs. Exeter Chiefs

An interesting and tough to call game first up this weekend. Gloucester will be buoyed by their win over Sale and at home again this week will want to put in a performance that matches their second half one last week. The Chiefs, although beaten, were well in the game against Tigers and I think will go to Kingsholm confident of getting a result. Both teams are likely to finish in that middle of the table group from around 6th to 10th, so points earned from this sort of game will be key to deciding the finishing order. Kingsholm is always a tough place to go though and I can see Gloucester squeaking home again in this one, with the Chiefs picking up another losing bonus point.

Saturday 20th September 2014 14:00 Sale Sharks vs. London Welsh

The last time Welsh were in the Premiership, they lost their first two games and went to Sale Sharks in round three and promptly picked up their first win of the campaign. Both of these sides are winless so far this season, and will be desperate to get of the mark in this fixture. Welsh will need to tighten up in defence considerably if they are to get anything, having conceded 14 tries and over 100 points already. Sale showed against Gloucester that they have not become a bad side overnight, and if Danny Cipriani performs as he did last week they will have too much for Welsh this time around. I've got this down as five points for Sale and Welsh heading home with nothing.

Saturday 20th September 2014 15:00 Harlequins vs. Wasps

Quins would say they have genuine ambitions to finish in the top 4 this season, and having played two of last seasons top 4 so far this term and not been outclassed, Wasps have to be aiming to break into that group as well. If they're going to, this is precisely the sort of game they need to win, and potentially stop their rivals from picking up any points against them. Quins will have a point to prove though, and will be wounded by what happened on Friday night. Their attacking game needs to click, as Wasps will score points against them and they will need to ensure that they aren't leaving three pointers out there as they have been. This I think will be a real ding dong affair with the lead changing hands a couple of times, but I'm backing Quins to bounce back and pinch it, with Wasps picking up a losing bonus point.

Saturday 20th September 2014 15:00 London Irish vs. Saracens

On paper this is a comfortable away win. Saracens haven't hit top gear yet, despite what the scoreline against Quins may suggest, and are two from two. Irish won ugly on Sunday, and will take some confidence from getting off the mark with that win. To stand any chance in this one Irish will need to counter the driving maul better than they did on Sunday, and will need the scrum to go well as it has done in their two games so far. Irish have won 2 of the last 3 fixtures between the sides, so will take confidence from that. As you can probably tell I am searching for crumbs of comfort here, but the reality is that the head says Saracens comfortably, the heart says we'll dig one out again and sneak the win.

Saturday 20th September 2014 15:15 Bath Rugby vs. Leicester Tigers

Two of the three teams with 100% records go head to head in Saturdays televised fixture. Both have genuine title ambitions, and both will want to lay down a marker here in their first big test of the season. Bath will need to be tighter defensively than they were against Welsh, although it's hard to imagine that they won't be as it looked like they just switched off with the game already won. Tigers haven't hit top gear yet, and will be looking to go up a notch in this one, but are missing a few key guys in the pack, which is where the strength of this Bath team is. This will be a right old battle, and I'm tipping Bath top hold their nerve at home and come through for the win. Losing bonus point for the Tigers.

Sunday 21st September 2014 14:00 Newcastle Falcons vs. Northampton Saints

As with last week the round winds up at Kingston Park. Falcons could have done with an easier game here, but instead face a wounded Northampton saints who you suspect will have a point to prove this weekend. It's one of those games though, where Newcastle have nothing to lose, as there is no weight of expectation on them to get anything here and they could well throw the shackles of and spring a surprise. They will need to get their team selection right though, and tactics, and I still have a question mark over Dean Richards and whether his tactics and selection are what is holding them back. I want to be brave and go with the upset here, but I also want to be right, so am going with the odds and predicting a try bonus point win for Saints.

Ozzy's predicited table after round three:

Saracens 14, Bath Rugby 13, Northampton Saints 11, Leicester Tigers 10, Harlequins 8, Gloucester 8, Exeter Chiefs 7, Sale Sharks 7, Wasps 6, London Irish 5, Newcastle Falcons 1, London Welsh 1.

by Welly Thu 18 Sep 2014, 8:46 pm

LondonTiger wrote:Purdy never really seemed to have the speed nor instinct needed for a winger. OC suits him more.

Yep he never impressed me as much as Catchpole, Williams or Pohe in the backs.

He is a elusive runner but not winger quick, he was also prone to handling mistakes from what I heard and saw occasionally at Nottingham.

also technically he was a free agent as we didn't offer a contract so therefore you didn't sign him from us. Wink

by HongKongCherry Thu 18 Sep 2014, 8:56 pm

Is that in the same way you tapped Burns up in August so therefore you didn't sign him from us, you poached him?? Wink

by Welly Thu 18 Sep 2014, 8:59 pm

HongKongCherry wrote:Is that in the same way you tapped Burns up in August so therefore you didn't sign him from us, you poached him??

Lies, Lies, Lies and more lies...............

by HongKongCherry Thu 18 Sep 2014, 9:05 pm

Welly wrote:
HongKongCherry wrote:Is that in the same way you tapped Burns up in August so therefore you didn't sign him from us, you poached him??

Lies, Lies, Lies and more lies...............

You're right... It was in July!

by Welly Thu 18 Sep 2014, 9:05 pm

HongKongCherry wrote:
You're right... It was in July!

Well no June silly.

by formerly known as Sam Thu 18 Sep 2014, 9:47 pm

Well December. We weren't fussed until it became apparent Flood was off for the cash and the sunshine.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:18 pm

Harlequins squad

15. Mike Brown
14. Marland Yarde
13. Harry Sloan
12. Jordan Turner-Hall
11. Aseli Tikoirotuma
10. Ben Botica
9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler©
2. Dave Ward
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Charlie Matthews
5. George Robson
6. Luke Wallace
7. Chris Robshaw
8. Nick Easter

16. Rob Buchanan
17. Mark Lambert
18. Will Collier
19. George Merrick
20. Jack Clifford
21. Karl Dickson
22. Louis Grimoldby
23. Ollie Lindsay-Hague

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:19 pm

Evans carrying a knock and out for a couple of weeks apparently.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:19 pm

LI team

15. Andrew Fenby; 14. Alex Lewington; 13. Fergus Mulchrone; 12. Shane Geraghty*; 11. James Short; 10. Chris Noakes; 9. Scott Steele; 1. Tom Court*; 2. David Paice*; 3. Halani Aulika*; 4. George Skivington (Captain); 5. Jebb Sinclair*; 6. Blair Cowan*; 7. Ofisa Treviranus*; 8. Luke Narraway*
Replacements: 16. Gerard Ellis; 17. Matt Parr; 18. Leo Halavatau; 19. Dan Leo*; 20. Kieran Low*; 21. Tom Guest; 22. Tomás O’Leary*; 23. Eamonn Sheridan

by Bathman_in_London Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:20 pm

Bath team for the weekend.

15 Luke Arscott
14 Semesa Rokoduguni
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Matt Banahan
10 George Ford
9 Chris Cook
1 Paul James
2 Rob Webber
3 David Wilson
4 Stuart Hooper (c)
5 Dave Attwood
6 Carl Fearns
7 Guy Mercer
8 Leroy Houston

Replacements

16 Tom Dunn
17 Nick Auterac
18 Henry Thomas
19 Dominic Day
20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva
21 Peter Stringer
22 Ollie Devoto
23 Olly Woodburn

Sadly it looks like Watson didn't make it, hopefully he won't be out for long.

by Jimpy Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:21 pm

Leicester team is up:

Leicester Tigers (v Bath Rugby, Recreation Ground, Saturday 3.15pm)
15 Mathew Tait
14 Niall Morris
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Freddie Burns
9 Ben Youngs (c)
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini
3 Fraser Balmain
4 Graham Kitchener
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Croft
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane

Replacements
16 Tom Youngs
17 Riccardo Brugnara
18 Tiziano Pasquali
19 Sebastian De Chaves
20 Robert Barbieri
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Matt Smith

Croft and Crane return, with Kitchener on form, Bath are going to find it a long afternoon at the line-out office. Bath's only real strength is in the front row.

Thorne will be fit for the home fixture v LI.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:22 pm

Saracens starting XV to face London Irish:
15. Alex Goode; 14. Chris Ashton, 13. Tim Streather, 12. Brad Barritt, 11. Chris Wyles; 10. Owen Farrell, 9. Richard Wigglesworth; 1. Rhys Gill, 2. Jamie George, 3. Kieran Longbottom, 4. Jim Hamilton, 5. Alistair Hargreaves ©, 6. Ernst Joubert, 7. Jacques Burger, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Replacements; 16. Scott Spurling, 17. Richard Barrington, 18. James Johnston, 19. Mouritz Botha, 20. Jackson Wray, 21. Neil de Kock, 22. Charlie Hodgson, 23. Duncan Taylor.

Shame that fraser is rotated out. Wanted to see if he could put in consecutive performances. Overall rather a lot of changes for Sarries

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:24 pm

Croft, Parling and Kitch will put real pressure on Webber's often wobbly throwing. From a Tiger perspective I want him to struggle, from an England one I would like him to pass the test.

by Jimpy Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:27 pm

LondonTiger wrote:Croft, Parling and Kitch will put real pressure on Webber's often wobbly throwing. From a Tiger perspective I want him to struggle, from an England one I would like him to pass the test.

The predictions are for a close match, but i'd be dissappointed if Tigers didn't get the five points.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:31 pm

Jimpy wrote:
LondonTiger wrote:Croft, Parling and Kitch will put real pressure on Webber's often wobbly throwing. From a Tiger perspective I want him to struggle, from an England one I would like him to pass the test.

The predictions are for a close match, but i'd be dissappointed if Tigers didn't get the five points.

I would be surprised if we got 5pts, but hopeful for 4.

by Jimpy Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:33 pm

LondonTiger wrote:
Jimpy wrote:
LondonTiger wrote:Croft, Parling and Kitch will put real pressure on Webber's often wobbly throwing. From a Tiger perspective I want him to struggle, from an England one I would like him to pass the test.

The predictions are for a close match, but i'd be dissappointed if Tigers didn't get the five points.

I would be surprised if we got 5pts, but hopeful for 4.

That's the least pessimistic i think you've ever been LT, well done that man!

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:36 pm

Nah, I said we would beat Saints in AP Semi - and look where that got me.

by Bathman_in_London Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:37 pm

The Bath lineout was pretty dodgy last week, so hopefully they have been working on that.

Burns vs Ford at FH will be interesting and a real test for Cook to come up against Youngs, looking forward to seeing how it pans out, it will be a close one I think.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:39 pm

Newcastle Falcons vs Northampton Saints 1st XV: Backs: 15. Simon Hammersley, 14. Noah Cato, 13. Adam Powell, 12. Juan Pablo Socino, 11. Alex Tuilagi, 10. Phil Godman, 9. Mike Blair; Forwards: 1. Kieran Brookes, 2. Scott Lawson, 3. Scott Wilson, 4. Calum Green, 5. Dom Barrow, 6. Josh Furno, 7. Will Welch (c), 8. Ally Hogg.

Replacements: 16. Rob Hawkins, 17. Alex Rogers, 18. Oliver Tomaszczyk, 19. Mark Wilson, 20. Richard Mayhew, 21. Warren Fury, 22. Gonzalo Tiesi, 23. Sinoti SInoti.

Some of the changes GF etc have been demanding. Brookes at LH suggests injury woes while Fury on bench will induce palpitations in Falcons fans.

by BigTrevsbigmac Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:40 pm

Wasps team to play Harlequins
15. Andrea Masi
14. Christian Wade
13. Elliot Daly
12. Chris Bell
11. Tom Varndell
10. Andy Goode
9. Joe Simpson
1. Matt Mullan
2. Tom Lindsay
3. Lorenzo Cittadini
4. Joe Launchbury
5. Kearnan Myall
6. James Haskell (c)
7. Guy Thompson
8. Nathan Hughes

16. Ashley Johnson
17. John Yapp
18. Jake Cooper-Woolley
19. James Gaskell
20. Thomas Young
21. Charlie Davies
22. Rob Miller
23. Alapati Leiua

Christian Wade back starting & Alapati on the bench. Looks like Ash will stand in as hooker cover as we have 2 injured hookers. That will be interesting...

Harlequins team
15. Mike Brown
14. Marland Yarde
13. Harry Sloan
12. Jordan Turner-Hall
11. Aseli Tikoirotuma
10. Ben Botica
9. Danny Care
1. Joe Marler©
2. Dave Ward
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Charlie Matthews
5. George Robson
6. Luke Wallace
7. Chris Robshaw
8. Nick Easter

16. Rob Buchanan
17. Mark Lambert
18. Will Collier
19. George Merrick
20. Jack Clifford
21. Karl Dickson
22. Louis Grimoldby
23. Ollie Lindsay-Hague

by Jimpy Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:40 pm

Bathman_in_London wrote:The Bath lineout was pretty dodgy last week, so hopefully they have been working on that.

Burns vs Ford at FH will be interesting and a real test for Cook to come up against Youngs, looking forward to seeing how it pans out, it will be a close one I think.

Kitchener was imperious against Exeter, which made the Chiefs' decision to keep kicking for the corner all the more baffling.

Tigers' defence isn't exactly water-tight, but they diddn't concede 4 tries against the worst team in the league either.

It will probably be close, its always a great fixture.

Good luck to both teams.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 12:41 pm

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY NEWCASTLE
Aviva Premiership R3
Kingston Park
Sunday, September 21st, 2014
Kick off 2:00pm

15 Ben FODEN
14 Ken PISI
13 George PISI
12 Luther BURRELL
11 George NORTH
10 Will HOOLEY
9 Kahn FOTUALI’I
1 Alex WALLER
2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt)
3 Salesi MA’AFU
4 Courtney LAWES
5 Christian DAY
6 Calum CLARK
7 Tom WOOD
8 Samu MANOA

Replacements
16 Ross MCMILLAN
17 Alex CORBISIERO
18 Gareth DENMAN
19 James CRAIG
20 Jon FISHER
21 Lee DICKSON
22 Dom WALDOUCK
23 James WILSON

by Bathite Fri 19 Sep 2014, 1:31 pm

LondonTiger wrote:Croft, Parling and Kitch will put real pressure on Webber's often wobbly throwing. From a Tiger perspective I want him to struggle, from an England one I would like him to pass the test.

Lineout really struggled last week against modest opposition, I fear for the worst tomorrow

by Scrumpy Fri 19 Sep 2014, 2:01 pm

Tigers all the way.

by Welly Fri 19 Sep 2014, 2:02 pm

Bath to win by 7/8

by Scrumpy Fri 19 Sep 2014, 2:11 pm

Tigers by more than 10

by **LondonTiger** Fri 19 Sep 2014, 2:13 pm

Scrumpy wrote:Tigers by more than 10

I will take that now, and we can give the players a week off?

by Welly Fri 19 Sep 2014, 2:28 pm

Scrumpy wrote:Tigers by more than 10

Bath by more than 11

by Scrumpy Fri 19 Sep 2014, 2:31 pm

Banners is playing, Tigers by 18+

by HongKongCherry Fri 19 Sep 2014, 3:01 pm

For us neutrals I think we'd take a 0-0 draw... Wink

by Welly Fri 19 Sep 2014, 3:42 pm

Scrumpy wrote:Banners is playing, Tigers by 18+

Tigers without Cole Bath by +25

by Guest Fri 19 Sep 2014, 6:34 pm

Yeah nice try Bath lot but the Tigers fans are in a different league when it comes to claiming underdog status. Come back when you've perfected the art of moaning about injuries while playing down in importance of the other team's injury list.

As for the match, unfortunately Tigs are suffering too many injuries to compete with this much improved Bath side. Bath to win by 20.

by yappysnap Fri 19 Sep 2014, 7:20 pm

Interesting Quins team. Ward comes straight in and starts ahead of Gray who I guess is injured and Buchanan who can feel a little hard done by, Wallace still gets to keep his place but is in last chance saloon at the moment, lots of people saying that Trayfoot should be at 6 to add more power to our carrying.

Botica gets his first start of the season in Nev's absence, although I wonder if poor form and playing less games meant that Nev may have gone to the bench for this one anyway. Sloan at 13 is an exciting option, very good at age grade rugby but will really struggle if JTH can't up his own game. Good to see Tiks start on the other wing for us, gives us two very powerful and quick winger options, interesting foils to Wasps wingers.

by HammerofThunor Fri 19 Sep 2014, 7:20 pm

For some reason I think of Hibbard as a character being played by Seann William Scott rather than a real person.

by formerly known as Sam Fri 19 Sep 2014, 7:54 pm

That's a harsh card for Whitten. Penalty at the very most.

by HammerofThunor Fri 19 Sep 2014, 8:11 pm

The refs have a directive. If one of the players doesn't jump and the other falls bad it's yellow minimum.

by formerly known as Sam Fri 19 Sep 2014, 8:14 pm

I knew the directive was to come down harsh but I think Whitten's feet did leave the floor he just didn't get as high. There's a duty of care but it's also a physical game.

by HammerofThunor Fri 19 Sep 2014, 8:30 pm

I thought he jumped a touch too. I agree with Baxter and Kay. It makes it very difficult to know whT to do.

by formerly known as Sam Fri 19 Sep 2014, 8:41 pm

I think it's a dangerous directive. More likely to make players hesitate who have In those situations is more dangerous than 100% commitment.

by HammerofThunor Fri 19 Sep 2014, 8:54 pm

Gloucester's scrum is getting mashed (in a good, under pressure not just collapsing and being penalised)

by Welly Fri 19 Sep 2014, 9:01 pm

Interesting call don't fully agree with it.

by HammerofThunor Fri 19 Sep 2014, 9:02 pm

Two 'technical' yellows for 'dangerous' play. At least they even out. Slade playing well.

by doctor_grey Fri 19 Sep 2014, 9:08 pm

Why did Gloucs not go for 5 points? Makes no sense to me......

by formerly known as Sam Fri 19 Sep 2014, 10:03 pm

Nor me. Not one of them backed themselves for a drop goal late on either.

by Heaf Fri 19 Sep 2014, 10:15 pm

Odd decision not to kick to the corner when they had the chance considering the catch & drive earlier

by TJ Sat 20 Sep 2014, 10:44 am

Anyone who watched the Gloucester game how did Laidlaw do?

by formerly known as Sam Sat 20 Sep 2014, 11:07 am

He was composed but not particularly creative. Kicked well off the tee but young Robson seemed to add more impetus when came on. I would be surprised to see Laidlaw move to 10 and Hook to further out in the backline.

by kingelderfield Sat 20 Sep 2014, 11:09 am

Really looking forward to Ford versus Burns - plus will be interesting to see Farrell's game as he lines up in the starting 15 for the first time this season.

Wade versus Yarde is also one to watch out for - May had a good game last night....in his own unique way.

Other asides; hoping Tuilagi shows up a bit more today, I was really impressed with Barrington and Fraser first time out for Sarries, Charlie is still drinking the alixir and one for the diary as messers Williams and Burgess face off for probably their last league encounter, in next weekends nrl semi final eliminator, before both switching codes.

by formerly known as Sam Sat 20 Sep 2014, 11:48 am

Manu is a bit underwhelming ball in hand at the minute but he is distributing the ball a lot better and looking for the offload more often. Jut need him to get a bit more stuck in today, don't think he's smashed anybody yet so hopefully we see him make his presence felt.

by BigTrevsbigmac Sat 20 Sep 2014, 11:49 am

Slade and Hill are going to be good to watch this season. They are very good now and will only get better. Also good to see Nowell back in the first team.

Glaws still haven't got their scrum functioning properly & will be interesting to see if they can pick up their performances as the season progresses.

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