Season 8 Homepage II

by Fluxy Sun 09 Aug 2015, 1:25 pm

First topic message reminder :

Breaking News: London Wasps regain their crown following playoff final victory.

Season 8 Homepage II - Page 8 Aviva-Premiership-Trophy-e1306508139154

2014/2015 – London Wasps

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	Bath Rugby	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Exeter Chiefs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Gloucester	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Harlequins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Leicester Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	London Irish	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	London Wasps	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Newcastle Falcons	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Northampton Saints	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Sale Sharks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	Saracens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Worcester Warriors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Links

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

Welcome to Season 8 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 23 players. Players who are in the academy must be born on or after 1st September 1993.

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. Worcester Warriors & London Wasps will receive two additional bids to be used exclusively on academy age players. These players must be bid for on the National League Bidding page, and each bid will be considered by the RFU 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 the RFU 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.
Player Draft
Worcester Warriors & London Wasps will participate in a player draft beginning the week of June 22nd. Both sides will be allowed to draft two players each. The draft picks will go as follows; 1. Worcester 2. Wasps 3. Wasps 4. Worcester.

Round Bidding
There will be two rounds of bidding. The first window will run the week starting June 29th and the second the week starting July 3rd. All sides will be allowed to sign one player each during the window. These bids are not protected if you do not have the funds in place to bid during the window you will lose the bid.

Open Bidding
From July 13th the foreign market will be open to all bids similar to previous seasons. Due to the world cup the window will remain open till the end of September.

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 20:00 hours on Sunday. Managers will pm 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
Bonuses will be awarded on a scaled basis i.e. 2m for 5 games, 1.6m for 4 games and so on
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 BamBam Wed 26 Aug 2015, 2:18 pm

This week's threads are up guys, teams in by tomorrow evening then I'll update the thread on Friday

Predictions still to SJE

by Steven_Sharks Wed 26 Aug 2015, 2:47 pm

If anyone fancies getting wound up by a Wales Online

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/only-four-england-players-would-9926332

by dammit_chris Wed 26 Aug 2015, 2:50 pm

That's not bad to get 4 players selected in their team - usually we wouldn't have a single player in an entire world cup selection squad.

by prop_lyd Wed 26 Aug 2015, 3:46 pm

Count yourself lucky we even gave you four spaces Wink

by dammit_chris Wed 26 Aug 2015, 3:51 pm

Quite a good article re Burrell and Burgess

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/11824700/Rugby-World-Cup-2015-Stuart-Lancaster-should-pick-Sam-Burgess-in-his-England-squad-he-brings-the-X-Factor.html

Feel sorry for Cipriani - what was the point of playing him at all last weekend if no matter how well he performed he wouldn't have made it - might as well have picked Slade on the bench.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 26 Aug 2015, 5:23 pm

If the x-factor is having no positional awareness and not understanding the rules of rugby union, he has it in abundance.

by dammit_chris Wed 26 Aug 2015, 5:45 pm

Is a good article though, think I'd take a punt on him given the way Lancaster wants England to play and by now the other centres should have nailed a place and never let Burgess be in consideration.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 26 Aug 2015, 5:49 pm

He's not a centre though.

He plays like a 6 playing centre. Watch him when it's not set piece ball, he has idea where to stand so just stands next to ruck. Yes he can straight up tackle and is a decent carrier, he's got no idea of how to be a centre though.

by Sgt_Pooly Wed 26 Aug 2015, 5:56 pm

No great surprise on Cipriani. He's not a great starting FH with his kicking not strong and not as good as Ford/Farrell.

by dammit_chris Wed 26 Aug 2015, 6:55 pm

Personally thought he had a pretty good debut for someone that most people wrote off and is remarkable that he's on the fringes of a WC squad. Fair play to him.

Centres I'd have taken would have included him as would have gone Barritt, Slade, Joseph and Daly and think Lancaster has made a serious balls up by not playing Slade at no12 during 6Nations.

Think we will see Barritt, Burgess, Slade and Joseph picked by Lancaster tomorrow.

by Guest Wed 26 Aug 2015, 9:49 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:No great surprise on Cipriani. He's not a great starting FH with his kicking not strong and not as good as Ford/Farrell.

Argument from all pundits is his tactical kicking is better than both other candidates. My opinion is they are all better goal kickers than cips. Farrell and cips equal tactical kicking and ford awful at it. However it's to Say as england tactical kicking and also kick chase been poor for ages.

Ford not helped by Not having another kicker outside so it puts pressure on. Brown needs to step up but in all honesty is not the best kicker so a little pointless.

NZ have an interesting decision in that they miss dagg's kicking massively but he has not been at races yet smith is a poor tactical kicker.

Could see dagg left at home and pitua taken on form but imagine the hope
Of dagg being fit and his kicking will see him in.

Like burger carter etc he has so many niggles but carter and burger both back in fine form. Players need a run of games

by Steven_Sharks Wed 26 Aug 2015, 9:52 pm

Ford is the best out of hand kicker I've seen. He kicks behind the opposition back 3 as well as anyone. Shocked you've said that

by Guest Wed 26 Aug 2015, 9:55 pm

Steven_Sharks wrote:Ford is the best out of hand kicker I've seen. He kicks behind the opposition back 3 as well as anyone. Shocked you've said that

Steve I missed off the bit that said under pressure . Ford for bath is great out of hand but under pressure for
England it goes awry. Read that back and it does
Not read right.

I am huge ford fan and think he is the number 1 but i worry whether it's too early for him generally.

I know you learn from mistakes but like wilko did the meltdowns need managing.

by Guest Wed 26 Aug 2015, 9:58 pm

If our
Front row scrummages like that again you could have any 10
And still lose.

Slimani split marler and youngs so easily and arous slaughtered Cole. When you watch it a second time its even worse

by Guest Wed 26 Aug 2015, 10:08 pm

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/aug/25/england-henry-slade-danny-ciprinai-2015-rugby-world-cup-squad-stuart-lancaster

Great article on passing. If slade omitted would be bad news

by Guest Wed 26 Aug 2015, 11:49 pm

Telegraph have Easter ousting Morgan for 8 spot and Kruis in squad. No call on slade burgess Burrell debate

For me barritt Joseph start and I would rather slade off bench. Can't see what Burrell will offer so would rather burgess as last centre.

I
Agree with pooly his positioning is poor but in all honesty Farrell would be picked at 12 ahead of burrell and Burgess imo so rather burgess for a bit of impact off bench in a game. essentially I don't understand why we don't take less centres ie barritt, Joseph, Slade with Farrell covering 12 and both may and no well playing 13 as they have done in Ap.

Theoretically It allows you to have either cips or player like wade,Daly for games against lesser teams .

I believe the games against lesser nations could be key and not having a daly, simpson type could hurt us

If you don't have good centres why pick lots of them?

by ChequeredJersey Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:17 am

anonmattyt wrote:If our
Front row scrummages like that again you could have any 10
And still lose.

Slimani split marler and youngs so easily and arous slaughtered Cole. When you watch it a second time its even worse

I thought largely we collapsed a lot because the ground was as secure as a promise made by the current government about the NHS?

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 9:57 am

CJ, that's exactly what I thought. It was the worst pitch I've seen for a long time and neither side could scrum correctly. We got pinged s bit more but it was pretty obvious it wasn't a contest.

Cipriani a better tactical kicker than Ford??? I can't agree with that at all.

by Steven_Sharks Thu 27 Aug 2015, 10:06 am

I'll state this now.

I think Henry Slade is a poor selection. Especially as a centre. He shouldn't be in there. He is not like for like with JJ and I don't see what he offers as a centre.

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 10:12 am

I kind of agree Steve, I don't think he offers a running game which is needed at 13. He has other skills but I think he needs a strong carrying option at 12 which we don't really have.

by BamBam Thu 27 Aug 2015, 10:17 am

I'll disagree with you there, I think he can offer the second option from the centres, and is much more like JJ than any of our other options would be if he plays at 13.

If he plays with Barritt, i'd trust Barritt to make the hard carries and tie in the defenders, he may not have any pace but he does run a good line, and quick ball out with Ford and Slade either side would be tough to defend against.

Added to that he can kick long goals and has a good kicking game in open play, definitely offers something different to the rest

by Steven_Sharks Thu 27 Aug 2015, 10:21 am

No defence is worried about the threat of a Barritt/Slade midfield. Slade doesn't really have the the ability to beat a man at this level.

Make no mistake, I think he is a superb player and will push Ford and Farrell very close at 10, but I don't think he is a international 13.

by ChequeredJersey Thu 27 Aug 2015, 10:34 am

Except sometimes it's better to make space for others to score, which Slade does. I'll admit he doesn't seem like he's work that well with Barritt though, I still think he'd make a good 12

by prop_lyd Thu 27 Aug 2015, 12:35 pm

Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon); Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), George North (Northampton Saints); Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Webb (Ospreys); Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, capt), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).

Replacements: Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Paul James (Ospreys), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), James King (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons).

Pretty happy with this line up, guessing Warburton has taken a knock and will play against Italy but still strong with Tips in. Possibly look at swapping Cuthbert with either Amos, Walker or Williams when fit. Bench looks handy and interested to see how Francis gets on.

by Guest Thu 27 Aug 2015, 12:57 pm

Burgess in and Morgan official now

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 12:58 pm

Strongest pack bar Warbs Prop?

Scrum should be much stronger with Davies/Francis involved.

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 12:59 pm

Burgess.....desperation....

by dammit_chris Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:10 pm

Yeah saw that Mat - if that's the case I'm not really surprised at all with Lancaster's selection as can see the game they want to play and the influence of Farrell in selection.

Huge gamble on Burgess, seems the sort that will rise to the challenge and not let anyone down but unsure on his attack, but clearly isn't going to be first choice no12 and if he sucks in defenders to free up Joseph and other backs then its worth it - thought he formed a very good partnership with Slade.

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:13 pm

Hopefully Burgess will never get on the park against the better sides or we could be struggle. When you're getting told where to stand by the other players you really shouldn't be playing Int rugby.

by dammit_chris Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:22 pm

Slade had a few issues with positioning as well, especially around the rucks and breakdowns as he gets sucked in and then goes guard as opposed to getting out and defending in the backline.

Think they will both be fine - amazed we've only got one out and out specialist no13 though, such an important position and agree with Steve that Slade is more a 10/12. Great player though.

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:28 pm

I'm not sold on Slade either but at least he knows the rules of union. The Burgess selection is an absolute joke

by prop_lyd Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:38 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Strongest pack bar Warbs Prop?

Scrum should be much stronger with Davies/Francis involved.

Id say so pooly, would be between Francis and lee depending on how Francis gets on at international level. Baldwin and Owens are pretty interchangeable too.

by dammit_chris Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:43 pm

Would have been if another centre had really put his hand up and secured his place, but that didn't happen. England shot themselves in the foot when they didnt pick Tuilagi and then failed to test out midfield combinations - pretty sure Slade and Burgess have played more minutes together in internationals than Barritt and Joseph have done (sure they haven't played a game together).

Bit of a worry.

by prop_lyd Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:44 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Strongest pack bar Warbs Prop?

Scrum should be much stronger with Davies/Francis involved.

Id say so pooly, would be between Francis and lee depending on how Francis gets on at international level. Baldwin and Owens are pretty interchangeable too.

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 1:47 pm

Be interesting to see if Francis can step up. He's a huge scrummager but got caught out with a lack of fitness last season. He could be a huge asset, gutted we didn't get him on board.

by prop_lyd Thu 27 Aug 2015, 2:06 pm

I know gatland is big on fitness and performing round the pitch hence why he took jones off a few years ago, think Francis must have shown something in the pre season to warrant being cotton wooled till this game

by Guest Thu 27 Aug 2015, 2:37 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Strongest pack bar Warbs Prop?

Scrum should be much stronger with Davies/Francis involved.

How can an unproven tight head who has not played be considered first choice. Assume lee would be first choice ?

I think the way wood dismantled him suggests that as fine a prospect he is still needs work.

Wales will not do well with him as first choice th. in a few years time he may progress but th a key position and you worry about using a debut person there this close to World Cup. Same
As moriarty

by Guest Thu 27 Aug 2015, 2:39 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Be interesting to see if Francis can step up. He's a huge scrummager but got caught out with a lack of fitness last season. He could be a huge asset, gutted we didn't get him on board.

He looks a heap fitter after camp photos. Always be a fat lad but looks to have lost quite a bit.
Lee a huge loss if out all tournament as Jarvis is not great

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 2:52 pm

I didn't see Wood "dismantle" anyone tbh, I just seen him struggle most of the season.

It was Francis's first season of top flight rugby at 22/23 and he smashed many a top props. The lad is a genuine destructive scrummager, a bit of work and he'll be a top option for Wales.

Pretty sure Lee is injured so I didn't include him in their strongest line up.

by Guest Thu 27 Aug 2015, 2:56 pm

Prop do you think Wales have enough carriers? I always worry about that backrow with faletau and lydiate.

Davies is a decent enough 4 though and their best option but with neither Jenkins or francis doing much carrying think it leaves you really short

by Guest Thu 27 Aug 2015, 2:58 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:I didn't see Wood "dismantle" anyone tbh, I just seen him struggle most of the season.

It was Francis's first season of top flight rugby at 22/23 and he smashed many a top props. The lad is a genuine destructive scrummager, a bit of work and he'll be a top option for Wales.

Pretty sure Lee is injured so I didn't include him in their strongest line up.

They had to take Francis off due to wood being all over him winning penalties galore.it was the game after Francis hammered an off colour corbs. It says he is not fit enough as he is a pup in prop terms hence up and down.

Francis himself said he is a novice in games played and struggles for consistency

by Sgt_Pooly Thu 27 Aug 2015, 3:01 pm

Find it hard to believe Wood hammered anyone, he's been awful for a while.

by prop_lyd Thu 27 Aug 2015, 4:22 pm

anonmattyt wrote:Prop do you think Wales have enough carriers? I always worry about that backrow with faletau and lydiate.

Davies is a decent enough 4 though and their best option but with neither Jenkins or francis doing much carrying think it leaves you really short

I think with Owens, awj, Davies and faletai we are ok noticed faletau carrying more in the last game, also tips can normally make good yards if called on and we then have Baldwin off the bench too so think we will be ok. Should get much better ball at the breakdown compared to the last warmup too!

by Guest Fri 28 Aug 2015, 11:12 pm

Great article re intricacies of scrum. Also like the way they highlight role of 8 in it. My opinion they overstate the role of 8 and the whole unit is the key:

That said the nonsense about scrummaging on the pitch last week vs France annoys me.

As Fitzpatrick said both teams had to scrummage on the same park and France were better and did not have the same issues suggests they were much better

by Guest Fri 28 Aug 2015, 11:13 pm

http://www.the42.ie/ireland-wales-scrum-analysis-2262140-Aug2015/?utm_source=twitter_self

The article I forgot to post

by Sgt_Pooly Sat 29 Aug 2015, 8:44 am

SA squad:

http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/rugby-union/south-africa/rugby-world-cup/news/meyer-unveils-south-africa-world-cup-team_242519.html

No Coetzee, Brussow, Steyn.

Morne Steyn & oosthuizen sneak in.

by SirJohnnyEnglish Sat 29 Aug 2015, 8:53 am

Kolisis over Coetzee a bad call. Coetzee always been impressive for the Boks. Always surprises me how Kirchner still makes these squads now with some of the back three talent the Boks have

by Sgt_Pooly Sat 29 Aug 2015, 9:00 am

I thought Brussow & Coetzee were more impressive than Kolisis personally, although Brussow was more of a Cipriani (appease the public) selection.

Kirchner is a real random call, they must see something we don't.

by dammit_chris Sat 29 Aug 2015, 9:12 am

Was surprised that Paige was selected over Reinarch, who I thought had done pretty well for the Boks when he's played. Was glad though as was really struggling for a second no9 during the WC!

Amazed Coetzee didnt make it.

by **Ozzy3213** Sat 29 Aug 2015, 9:24 am

Don't forget this is South Africa. I suspect that Kolisi, as good as he is, is a quota pick, likewise Kirchner.

by Sponsored content