Gloucester 2015/16

I've come up with a novel and unique idea to start a thread on my club! So here's everything to do with Glaws for the forthcoming season:

2015/16 Squad

LH:
Nick Wood, Dan Murphy, Yann Thomas, Paddy McAllister

Hooker:
Richard Hibbard, Darren Dawiduik, Tom Lindsay

TH:
John Afoa, Paul Doran-Jones, Nicky Thomas, James Gibbons (A)

Lock:
Jeremy Thrush, Tom Savage, Mariano Galarza, Elliott Stooke, James Hudson, Tom Hicks

Backrow:
Ross Moriarty, Sione Kalamafoni, Matt Kvesic, Jacob Rowan, Ben Morgan, Gareth Evans, Dan Thomas (A), Lewis Ludlow (A)

SH:
Greig Laidlaw, Willi Heinz, Callum Braley

FH:
James Hook, Billy Burns, Mat Protheroe, Lloyd Evans (A)

Centre:
Bill Twelvetrees, Henry Trinder, Tom Marshall, Mark Atkinson, Bill Meakes, Ollie Thorley (A)

Wing:
Jonny May, Charlie Sharples, Henry Purdy, David Halaifonua, Steph Reynolds

FB:
Rob Cook, Stevie McColl


New Signings

Paddy McAllister (Aurillac), Paul Doran-Jones (Quins), Nicky Thomas (Ospreys), Tom Lindsay (Wasps), Jeremy Thrush (Hurricanes), Willi Heinz (Crusaders), Mat Protheroe (Hartpury), Tom Marshall (Chiefs)


Expectations:
As expected it took the team a while to gel last season, but from January the team started to show its potential and we are unbeaten at Kingsholm in 2015. Whilst Nigel Davies took us to a real low, his building blocks are starting to deliver and the scrum has gone from a farcical embarrassment to the 3rd most effective scrum in the Jeff. However, strength in depth at prop and hooker remains an issue. Nick Wood is still an able player, but not a top flight LH any more. Paddy McAllister has huge potential, but also has a dreadful injury record. Whilst the scrum is no longer a laughing stock, we still are due to the signing of PDJ; if he can return to the form of when he was last here I'll be delighted, but sadly he is more likely to be the player Saints and Quins had. At hooker, Tom Lindsay is another player who has not fulfilled his potential; he is a very strong scrummager and ball carrier, however, his accuracy at the lineout has been woeful at times for Wasps. Lock has now become an area of real strength and in Thrush and Galarza we have 2 outstanding players. Given Galarza's injury woes last season he will be like a new signing this year. Nevertheless, it's going to be pretty hard to displace Tom Savage from the boiler room. he backrow is settled and another area of strength. Moriarty plays with such intensity and Mike Teague heralds him as bringing the Glawster Dawg back, which is high praise, although can go too far and he is likely to displace Kalamafoni for the starting 6 this year. Matt Kvesic was outstanding last year and won Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year and Players Player of the Year! England's lack of focus at the breakdown is Glaws' gain. He has clearly benefited from working with Laurie Fisher and I expect him to really push on this season. Morgan had his best season for Glaws last year, however, his previous years have been indifferent.

In the backs we have players who have the ability to create genuine moments of genius, but also can be wildly inconsistent! Laidlaw, however, is Mr Consistent; an 80%+ goal kicker, accurate pass and has learnt to break round the sides of the breakdown. He is as good a SH as I have seen for Glaws. Willi Heinz is a very able back up and has the added benefit of being an EQP via his Mother's goldfish. Hook has finally learnt how to play flat and I feel this will be a big year for him as he is finally settled at FH, although he needs to work on his positional kicking as he doesn't make the yards you'd expect. It will be interesting to see Protheroe play, he is described as a wonder kid who pretty much the whole of the Jeff offered, so hopefully the signing is the coup we are led to believe! The centres are very mixed; on their day 36 and Trinder are as good as any, yet 36 had a poor season last year and Trinder appears to have the Glaws injury curse. Anyone who watches Super Rugby will know in Tom Marshall we have an excellent player, the only difficulty will be where will he play 12,13,14 or 15?! The back 3 are as good as any; May and Sharples are clearly benefiting from the training of Marlon Devonish and they are both slower than Steph Reynolds who can do the 100m in 10.4s! This is the first season without Sinbad on the roster and he is still sorely missed. One area of concern in the wings is the lack of bulk and with Monahan leaving for Munster we no longer have the option of an effective crash ball. Rob Cook is a good club FB and his counter attacking is as good as any. I do feel his defensive work and high ball accuracy are not as good as they could be and we may well see Marshall settle as a 15.

John Muggleton has moved on but vastly improved our first phase defence and tackle percentage, however, we still leaked an enormous number of points last year. The appointment of Johnny Bell from Ulster as the new Defence Coach will hopefully shore up a notable area of concern, but this isn't going to happen overnight and I don't expect the defence to be up to scratch until the New Year.

We have made some strong signings this year and I expect us to continue to improve. We will benefit from being in the Amlin again, as with no LV the top 6 are going to struggle to rest players, whereas we can afford to rest throughout Europe. Nevertheless, the Jeff is immensely competitive and whilst I feel we will finish in the top 6, displacing one of Sarries, Saints, Bath, Wasps, Tigers and Exeter is going to be a very tough ask and that doesn't even take note of the likes of Quins and Irish notably strengthening. It's going to be a very difficult season, but I'm betting we'll finish 6th...

https://www.606v2.com/t60323-welcome-to-the-new-aviva-pro-12-season-your-help-needed

A not to all you Gloucester fans....

I have three spare tickets going for the Scotland v Japan game @£40 each if anyone wants to join in with the WC fever!!

Let me know if you're interested.

Cheers!

Tattie, the best place to drum up interest for the tickets is on the Glaws forum Shewdweb, www.rugb.co.uk

Enjoy the game and the trip to Castle Grim

Cheers Cherry, will give it a bash