Season 7 Homepage VII

by SirJohnnyEnglish Sun Feb 22, 2015 4:59 pm

First topic message reminder :

Breaking News: Famous win for Wasps at Franklins Garden sees Saints fall off top spot for the first time this season while the battle for Champions Cup qualification intensifies with important wins for Saracens, Bath & Falcons

Season 7 Homepage VII - Page 17 Aviva-Premiership-Trophy-e1306508139154

2013/2014 – London Wasps
2012/2013 – Leicester Tigers
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	Sale Sharks *	18	14	0	4	501	445	56	56	40	6	4	65
2	London Wasps *	18	14	1	3	512	461	51	55	42	6	2	65
3	Northampton Saints	18	13	0	5	495	451	44	51	42	7	5	64
4	Harlequins *	18	10	2	6	499	454	45	50	42	3	6	52
5	Leicester Tigers	18	9	1	8	444	442	2	37	39	0	8	46
6	Exeter Chiefs *	18	7	4	7	435	454	-19	36	40	0	7	42
7	Bath Rugby *	18	8	1	9	459	468	-9	44	44	1	9	39
8	Gloucester *	18	7	1	10	468	466	2	44	42	1	10	39
9	Newcastle Falcons *	18	7	1	10	449	472	-23	41	42	2	8	39
10	Saracens	18	7	1	10	443	476	-33	38	45	0	9	38
11	London Welsh	18	4	0	14	418	481	-63	34	49	0	9	25
12	London Irish	18	2	2	14	431	488	-57	36	52	1	12	23

Links

Fixture List
Released/Championship/National League/Academy Bidding
Foreign Transfers
Budgets
European Homepage
Anglo Welsh Homepage

Welcome to Season 7 of the Aviva Premiership fantasy 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 (SJE) 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 (SJE) will remove players at its 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 match day 23'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 an academy squad of 20 players. Players who are in the academy must be born on or after 1st September 1992.

Any player, who is at any Premiership club in real life, either in their senior, academy or AASE squads, can be bid for on the domestic bidding page. Players who are at your own club in real life and are coming through the academy system must be bid for if you want them in your own academy.

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 5 players from the Championship or the National Leagues. These players must be bid for on the National League Bidding page, and each bid will be considered by me on its 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.

There will be a summer foreign transfer window, which will run as follows.

Open Window

Open transfer window, teams have unlimited bids provided they have the financial resources to cover them. Teams may only bid for one player at a time.

The window will open from the 9th of June but only to those sides that finish 8th and below at first. They will have a week to make one signing each before the window is open to all.

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

All released players will be deemed to have joined a Championship side and can be bid for on the National League Bidding page.

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 European Rugby Champions Cup, European Rugby Challenge Cup and Anglo Welsh Cup matches. These games will take place once a week. A match thread will be put up every Monday. Home teams must be named by midnight on Tuesday. Away teams must be named by midnight on Wednesday. Failure to meet these deadlines is punishable by the addition of three match points to the oppositions final score, unless both sides fail to do so. Both teams must provide tactics by midnight on Thursday. Predictions will be open from 00:01 hours on Friday and remain open until 15:00 hours on Sunday. 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.

Managers are asked to provide detail as to why they have predicted a result. To be considered a descriptive prediction this must be a full 3 lines long when entered into the text box.

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:-

For domestic competition at least 8 England qualified players in your match day 23, and at least 4 of those must be in your starting XV.

For European competition at least 8 England qualified players in your match day 23, and at least 6 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 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.

Financial Rewards wrote:
There will be no rewards for the result of an individual match, instead the managers will receive cash for predicting.

£2m 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 upto a maximum of £5m per fine.

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 (SJE) will step in and players from within your squad will be released for the relevant financial compensation (foreign transfer value) in order to bring your budget back above minus £10 million.

by Guest Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:43 pm

For me not a red but can see why

by dammit_chris Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:23 pm

Lol Pooly flogging a dead horse much on this? Healy's choice of motm between Wood, Hartley and Dickson - 2 of the 3 played last week.

by Guest Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:46 pm

Who would you have ?

On second half wood?
Hartley had an average 6n but his line out went well. He is best 2 we have. When Youngs came on we lost lineouts in key positions and he let us down. He can't be in England squad as
He can't throw. Webber must be reserve. The telegraph and times in articles I posted had LCD as 3rd hooker as he is a good mix
Of Hartley and Youngs.

by Guest Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:49 pm

For me not a red card but With the laws now a red

This is one report

this despite the fact Hughes appeared to strike the Welshman in the head, and accidentally or not, left little choice for the referee who issued the red card.

He deserves a 1 game ban no more.
It was stupid rather than malicious. Maybe Haskell advised him lol

by **Ozzy3213** Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:51 pm

Youngs never let England down at all this 6 Nations. He provided good impact from the bench and scrummed and threw ok. Lineouts is an easy stick to beat him with, but generally his lineout work has been decent over the past 12 months. To criticise him on his darts amd then throw Webber up as his replacement is strange call, as Webbers darts are not exactly 100% reliable either.

by prop_lyd Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:56 pm

North's now been concussed twice in England game and now tonight, may have to have a layoff due to 3 in quick succession

by dammit_chris Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:53 am

Think you're right there Prop, got to be so careful with head injuries these days. Just not worth the risk.

Anyone see what happened to Patchall tonight? Heard a very nasty injury and 10 mins treatment after being taken out by an Ulster player I'm a ruck.

Is one area that needs fixing as players are flying in these days, taken guys out well away from the ball and is getting pretty dangerous.

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:55 am

Ozzy3213 wrote:Youngs never let England down at all this 6 Nations. He provided good impact from the bench and scrummed and threw ok. Lineouts is an easy stick to beat him with, but generally his lineout work has been decent over the past 12 months. To criticise him on his darts amd then throw Webber up as his replacement is strange call, as Webbers darts are not exactly 100% reliable either.

Against France he came on and
Missed 2/3 lineouts deep in
Their half. He self destructs in pressure situations. Most
Leicester fans will
Agree.

His impact ball in hand and around the park
Is great when he comes
On. Agree
Webber not greatest darts either but Youngs has buckled under pressure so
Would rather see someone else tried

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:57 am

Scrum wise he is improved and could not choose between him
And Hartley.

However when Hartley plays we win most of out lineouts when Youngs is on we
Don't

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 1:08 am

Pete this sums it up on hooker.

Hard to select who will be first choice. I agree Hartley has been muted. I had not thought about the disciplinary issues holding him back

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/11498160/Who-should-Stuart-Lancaster-pick-in-Englands-problem-positions-ahead-of-the-Rugby-World-Cup.html

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 6:21 am

anonmattyt wrote:
Ozzy3213 wrote:Youngs never let England down at all this 6 Nations. He provided good impact from the bench and scrummed and threw ok. Lineouts is an easy stick to beat him with, but generally his lineout work has been decent over the past 12 months. To criticise him on his darts amd then throw Webber up as his replacement is strange call, as Webbers darts are not exactly 100% reliable either.

Against France he came on and
Missed 2/3 lineouts deep in
Their half. He self destructs in pressure situations. Most
Leicester fans will
Agree.

His impact ball in hand and around the park
Is great when he comes
On. Agree
Webber not greatest darts either but Youngs has buckled under pressure so
Would rather see someone else tried

You'll find no Leicester fans agree as I've had this discussion on the main board.

One thing is for sure, LCD is nowhere near 3rd choice despite you constantly bigging him up. His darts are much worse than Youngs, he's not even 1st choice at Exeter.

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 6:54 am

Driver wrote:Talk that the All Blacks will play warm up game at Kingston Park?

It's Georgia....

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/63789

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 8:18 am

No idea how Highlanders are winning this one. Stormers scrum going well and plenty of ball but Highlanders have so much gas in the backs.

Stormers pack is great but they have a pretty average backline.

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 8:21 am

Has anyone got Naholo? Jesus that boy is good!

Highlanders are fantastic when the game loosens up, they've got some amazing backs.

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:11 am

That naholo bosh was phenomenal

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:15 am

Surprised the FB got up, wiped him!

by Steven_Sharks Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:20 am

Been a fine game. Been impressed with Carr and Kolisi. looking forward to blues v tahs

by Steven_Sharks Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:28 am

Got a possible discussion point. How far away is Israel Folau from being the best player in the world? I think he's pretty close.

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:37 am

Yea they were good Steve.

Best player in the world is a hard thing to judge. He's a top player, little quiet this season in parts though.

by Steven_Sharks Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:41 am

On form he's right up there. No real out and out at the minute. He has all the attributes and is near unplayable with ball in hand. Perhaps his kicking weaker area. Cooper had a good game yesterday

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:46 am

Cooper had some nice touches Steve.

Yea his kicking is non existent but makes up for it in other ways, top player.

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:55 am

His kicking game is very average but he plays the game
In a different way. Started the season slowly but exploded back in to it. He was unplayable last week.

For me Savea is the best player in the world by quite a distance. He Is a freak

by BamBam Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:12 am

Folau and Savea both unreal players, but if you were building a team from scratch and had first pick of any player in the world, would you pick a back 3 player?

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:14 am

Good point Bam.

Read or BdP for me if I had first pick.

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:25 am

BDP has been out of form for a long time. He has been second best
To ntubeni Strauss etc when up against them this year.

Read is the other person I would have up there with Savea and maybe parrisse

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:30 am

BdP out of form is still the best hooker in rugby for me, nobody really comes close. He's a unique player, I'd always have him on a team sheet as first or second choice.

by Fluxy Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:32 am

Not because he's my player, but POC would be my first choice right now. Closely followed by Read, Retallick and then Murray

by Fluxy Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:34 am

Pooly you might appreciate this slice of banter from the Saints Wasps game last night...

Season 7 Homepage VII - Page 17 Image11

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:40 am

Haha, love that. They had a good old scrap at one point. To be fair Dickson has a point, he's a class above Simpson.

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:50 am

Fluxy how do you post images on here ?

by Steven_Sharks Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:54 am

My first pick would be Michael Hooper.

If I could pick any XV (not necesarrily the best in the world but players who I really rate and think would work well in a team) would be

1. Joe Marler
2. Stephen Moore
3. Dan Cole
4. Brodie Retalick
5. Sam Whitelock
6. Willem Alberts
7. Michael Hooper
8. Sergio Parisse
9. Ruan Pienaar
10. Dan Carter
11. Julian Savea
12. Jean De Villiers
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Ben Smith
15. Israel Folau

16. BDP 17. Cian Healy 18. Owen Franks 19. Will Skelton 20. Duane Vermaulen 21. Aaron Smith 22. Quade Cooper 23. Sonny Bill Williams

All good ball players up front but the set piece wouldn't suffer. Strong carriers in lose and tight as well as blend of physicality and creativity in the backs marshalled by two clever tacticians at half back. That would be my perfect side on here.

by **Ozzy3213** Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:55 am

Dickson, along with Hartley was a disgrace last night. if he spent as much time playing as he did trying to referee the game, he'd potentially be higher up the England pecking order himself. They took the urine with an inexperienced referee last night.

by Fluxy Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:58 am

It's one of the tab buttons above the box you type in mate.

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:09 am

Good team Steve, not sure of the half backs mind.

Hartley was back to his idiot self, loads of cheap shots etc

by dammit_chris Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:26 am

Sorry but if a ref can get influenced like that then he shouldn't be a referee. He had a shocking performance, swayed by the fans completely but what's he doing out there in a big game, give him time as a touch judge. Wasps should have done the same.

Simpson had a good game last night, as per Healy's comments and to suggest Dickson is on a different level is just amusing. Lost a lot of respect for Dickson with what he said to Simpson, not exactly like he's first choice for England is it!!!

Hartleys cheap shots? Not seen a single wasp fan complain about anything Hartley did, as a team we are still very naive and lack leaders, which is the opposite to Saints who are looking very good. Corbs was great last night.

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:29 am

Steven_Sharks wrote:My first pick would be Michael Hooper.

If I could pick any XV (not necesarrily the best in the world but players who I really rate and think would work well in a team) would be

1. Joe Marler
2. Stephen Moore
3. Dan Cole
4. Brodie Retalick
5. Sam Whitelock
6. Willem Alberts
7. Michael Hooper
8. Sergio Parisse
9. Ruan Pienaar
10. Dan Carter
11. Julian Savea
12. Jean De Villiers
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Ben Smith
15. Israel Folau

16. BDP 17. Cian Healy 18. Owen Franks 19. Will Skelton 20. Duane Vermaulen 21. Aaron Smith 22. Quade Cooper 23. Sonny Bill Williams

All good ball players up front but the set piece wouldn't suffer. Strong carriers in lose and tight as well as blend of physicality and creativity in the backs marshalled by two clever tacticians at half back. That would be my perfect side on here.

Steve you would have liked an article I saw the other day in an Aussie publication saying that Hooper May not get in World Cup squad. Talked of his inability at the brrakdown and how teams have swamped the blues due to this.
I thought the article was absolute tosh as I think hooper is world class.

by Sgt_Pooly Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:04 pm

Chris, sorry but I just rate Simpson at all. Amusing or not, Dickson is a better player imo.

by **Ozzy3213** Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:10 pm

http://blog.rugbyunited.info/2015/03/jeff-powells-mail-article/

This is brilliant!

by Guest Sat Mar 28, 2015 11:58 pm

Pete how does this happen ??

by **Ozzy3213** Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:08 am

anonmattyt wrote:Pete how does this happen ??

???
How does what happen Mat?

by Guest Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:02 am

Ozzy3213 wrote:
anonmattyt wrote:Pete how does this happen ??

???
How does what happen Mat?

Sorry Pete it was a bit cryptic my response. I meant how did the original article happen.

When at the game last weekend the best invention is every row in twickenham now is they have a screen to see replays. Meant everyone saw the tackle.

Lawes hit was just on time. A millisecond later and its a yellow.

Last night the Hughes red not a red for me but many see it as reckless and a red but with no malice. For me it was something he could of pulled out of but not malicious

by Sgt_Pooly Sun Mar 29, 2015 6:02 am

Ozzy3213 wrote:http://blog.rugbyunited.info/2015/03/jeff-powells-mail-article/

This is brilliant!

That's a good read. That Mail article is one of the worst I've seen, the guy is idiotic.

by BamBam Sun Mar 29, 2015 12:52 pm

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/32105042

Tuilagi out for the season

by Driver Sun Mar 29, 2015 1:26 pm

PSA to take over at Lyon after RWC with a rumoured budget of £23m due to no salary restrictions in D2

by Sgt_Pooly Sun Mar 29, 2015 2:27 pm

They've already signed Bonnaire

by dammit_chris Sun Mar 29, 2015 2:55 pm

Could be a blessing in disguise for the England at the WC with Tuilagi being injured, will be fresh for the WC. He's got a piece in the Rugby Paper today saying he wants to play at no12 so he can partner JJ in midfield.

Same for Launchbury.

Was a great response to the article there Pete! Liked Lawes response on Twitter too!!!

by Sgt_Pooly Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:39 pm

What did Lawes say?

Not so sure about a blessing, Tuilagi has hardly played in a year. He needs a good run of games.

by dammit_chris Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:13 pm

It's on the link Pete sent through, quite near the bottom - saying thanks to the journo for letting him know that if he ever stamps on someone he will apologise like Gerrard.

Tuilagi got a really simple style, so shouldn't take him too long - reckon it will be him or Farrell lining up at no12 come WC.

Thought Slade could be the answer but he still looks a little too inexperienced and got shown up by Tigers big time yesterday. Burns is in great form now!

by Sgt_Pooly Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:35 pm

There's fresh as in played a few games and then there's fresh having not played any. It always takes Tuilagi a while to get up to speed. He played up at our place after a lay off and was dreadful, I think we have to start thinking he may not make it tbh.

by Sgt_Pooly Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:44 pm

Gloucester have been dreadful

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