Aviva Premiership - Round 1

First topic message reminder :

Finally it is back. Welcome to the first Round thread for the 2015/16 premiership.

After a summer full of acrimony, threats and toys most definitely thrown out of prams, what can we expect from the new season. The launch will probably slip a little under the radar for the general public. Non-english rugby fans will be paying attention to the World Cup, while the casual follower within England will assume that rugby has gone into hibernation again for 4 years.

Most of the teams have seen a fair few comings and goings, with champions Saracens being the quietest in the “transfer” market and seemingly not using their second marquee signing. Pretty sure their lawyers will find a way to incorporate that allowance into their spend though.




Fixtures:

Fri 16th Oct 15
19:45 Harlequins  v   Wasps Twickenham Stoop
19:45 Worcester  v   Northampton Sixways BT Sport
20:00 Newcastle  v   Gloucester Kingston Park


Sat 17th Oct 15
14:00 Bath    v   Exeter   Recreation Ground BT Sport
14:00 Saracens  v   Sale Allianz Park


Sun 18th Oct 15
15:15 London Irish  v   Leicester Madejski Stadium




Major Movements:

Bath

In: Nikola Matawalu, Rhys Priestland
Out: Paul James, Olly Woodburn,  Micky Young, Dave Sisi, Peter Stringer, Carl Fearns


Exeter
In: Geoff Parling, Olly Woodburn, Michele Campagnaro, Julian Salvi, James Short
Out: Tom James, Greg Bateman, Dean Mumm, Fetu'u Vainikolo, Joel Conlon to England Saracens, James Scaysbrook


Gloucester
In:  Jeremy Thrush, Paul Doran-Jones, Tom Lindsay
Out:  Dan Robson, Tom Palmer, Shaun Knigh, Shane Monahan


Harlequins
In:  James Horwill, Adam Jones from Wales, Tim Visser, Winston Stanley, Jamie Roberts, Mat Luamanu
Out: Paul Doran-Jones, Joe Trayfoot, George Robson, Ugo Monye, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Darryl Marfo, Tom Williams, Tom Casson, Jordan Turner-Hall


Leicester
In:  Opeti Fonua, Mike Williams, Brendon O'Conno, Peter Betham, Michael Fitzgerald, Lachlan McCaffrey, Jono Kitto, Greg Bateman, Dominic Barrow
Out:  Jamie Gibson, Geoff Parling, Neil Briggs, Pablo Matera, Louis Deacon, Blaine Scully, Brad Thorn, Scott Hamilton, Robert Barbieri, Julian Salvi, David Mele, Anthony Allen


London Irish
In:  Ben Franks, Sean Maitland, Brendan McKibbin, Joe Trayfoot, Dominic Waldouck, Dave Sisi, Matt Symons, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Rob McCusker
Out:  Tomas O'Leary, Tom Home, Kieran Low, Eamonn Sheridan, Daniel Leo, Jamie Hagan, James Short, Michael Mayhew

Newcastle
In: Micky Young, Mike Delany, Marcus Watson, Sonatane Takulua, Taione Vea, Jon Welsh, Nili Latu, Giovanbattista Venditti, Mouritz Botha, Todd Clever
Out:  Kieran Brookes, Mike Blai, Andy Saull, Phil Godman, Chris York, Dominic Barrow, Rory Clegg, Oliver Tomaszczyk, Noah Cato, Jamie Helleur, Warren Fury


Northampton
In: JJ Hanrahan, Kieran Brookes, Jamie Gibson, Michael Paterson, Pat Howard, Paul Hill, Victor Matfield
Out:  Salesi Ma'afu, Samu Manoa, Phil Dowso, Dominic Waldouck, Tom Mercey


Sale
In:  Neil Briggs, Peter Stringe, Bryn Evans, Brian Mujati
Out:  Marc Jones, Mark Cueto, Michael Paterson, Will Cliff, Nathan Hines, Andy Forsyth, Alberto De Marchi , Luke McLean


Saracens
In:  Samuela Vunisa, Michael Rhodes, Joel Conlon
Out:  David Strettle, James Johnston, Nick de Jager


Wasps
In: Jimmy Gopperth, Dan Robson, Frank Hala, Brendan Macken, James Downey, George Smith, James Johnston, Charles Piutau
Out: Tom Varndel, William Helu, Charlie Davies, Tom Lindsay, Chris Bell, Andy Goode


Worcester

In: Andy Shor, Phil Dowson, Carl Kirwan, Tom Heathcote, Sam Lewis, Cooper Vuna, Na'ama Leleimalefaga, Bryce Heem, Donncha O'Callaghan, Tevita Cavubati, Africa Wynand Olivier
Out: Mike William, Agustin Creevy, Leonardo Senatore, Josh Drauniniu, James Percival, Ofa Fainga'anuku, Ignacio Mieres, Jonathan Thomas



Pre-Season Form

Bath: LLWL
Exeter: WWWW
Gloucester: LWLL
Harlequins: WWW
Leicester: LWWWW
London Irish: LLL
Newcastle: WLLLL
Northampton: WW
Sale: WWWL
Saracens: LLWL
Wasps: LWL
Worcester: LLL

Didn't realise but the Saints game is free on BT Sports

Rather hectic in this game.

Falcons getting pinged off the park first 10mins, some very dubious calls

Jesus man how many penalties

Scrum is getting hammered....not a good sign. Delany has a great boot anyway

Hard work by the Warriors results in a try. Holding their own at the moment.

More than we are. We've been pretty dreadful tbh. Ref has been very harsh at the breakdown but Gloucester defence very strong.

We are going backward in the scrum and getting obliterated in the breakdown....

We're making no grounds against their defence.

Woeful so far. Gloucester worth their lead.

What have they been doing all summer??? Only positive is Delany has a big boot. Kvesic has been superb, we've not been at the races at all

I like the bbc Coventry radio commentary. Not too partisan

ChequeredJersey wrote:I like the bbc Coventry radio commentary. Not too partisan

Worcester go in 4 points up. Defence massively improved. We'll see how Saints come out after the break.

Kvesic is serious quality.

I think Todd Clever wants to be a back cos he's barely been in the tight exchanges.

They're playing better now

Can't blame the ref for the scoreline but we are getting absolutley nothing. Shambolic performance bar Botha and Delany, Deano will be spitting.

Really hope this isn't a sign of things to come

Really is poor. men against boys.

Their pack look big and powerful. Stooke etc...

And twelvtrees is hitting anything he kicks.

Nick Evans is on form at the moment. That is the one thing, bar the win, that I wanted from this match

Well that was a pleasing half. Nothing fancy with outstanding defence and breakdown work and the scrum is looking pretty good too. Willi Heinz is having an outstanding game.

I've seen us throw leads like this away before so I'm not getting too carried away!

Better start than last season then HKC?

Worcester may let Saints off the hook here, but boy the away team have been poor. Hartley really not been good.

Saints lucky that Warriors' aren't landing all their penalties ...

HammerofThunor wrote:Better start than last season then HKC?

Infinitely!!

Gloucester have been superb.

Great try from Harris, seeing some lovely touches from Delany.

20-33 to Gloucester

Heaf wrote:Saints lucky that Warriors' aren't landing all their penalties ...

Four in a row now? All of them ones you would expect to be knocked over.

Worcester should be at least a converted score ahead by now. Could be costly.

Kicking' been pretty shocking.

LondonTiger wrote:

Heaf wrote:Saints lucky that Warriors' aren't landing all their penalties ...

Four in a row now? All of them ones you would expect to be knocked over.

Yep ... did I imagine it or didn't Pennell use to kick for them?

Delaney... Wow what a signing.

Bit Sgt have to say....Eric Fry has been immense since he came on. Just been everywhere in the rucks and mauls.

The other two front row lads have played their part aswell. Scott has been getting stuck in aswell.

Wow, Worcester just avoided throwing the game away.

And yes, Pennell took over the kicking when he waged his one man war on relegation.

Yay! Go Worcester!! What a match - it nearly kills me to watch them last couple of matches but so glad I do!!

Happy with that performance by Quins. Bad luck wasps, best of luck the rest of the season!

Pennell is such a star.

Why couldn't we play like that in the 1st half??? We've been pinged off the park (very harshly) at the breakdown.

We have them way too big a lead.

Some good things but way too many bad initially. Not the start I wanted.

But Delaney and botha are good signings.

Clever needs to stop prancing round like a fairy.

Plenty to work on. We lost our shape in the 2nd half but still composed when needed. Very dubious 3rd try but it made no difference. I'd have taken that result before the game and lots of promising signs for the rest of the season and with Galarza, Thrush, Moriarty, Laidlaw, Hook, Trinder and Marshall to come into the first team we're in a good position.

It's bad being an England fan.....then yiu remember your a falcons fan pah

What was the score in the other matches?

GeordieFalcon wrote:It's bad being an England fan.....then yiu remember your a falcons fan pah

Normally I'd share your pain. I was fully expecting us to throw that away at the end. Good luck for the rest of the season

Rubbish first half and bring it back in the 2nd, it's like last season never ended.

Some promising signs but Gloucester defence superb.

The scrum was appalling no change from last season.

And what's with the kicking. Constantly just hoofing it straight to the opposition fb or wing. Don't they practice kicking to space???!!!!!

Lots on the unoffy lambasting the ref. you can say what you want about the ref but it means diddly squat when we're that bad.

The ref was poor at the breakdown. If he was consistent then ok but he was giving turnovers for Kvesic when his hands were on the deck then pinging us.

No complaints about the result though as Gloucester took their foot off the gas. If the ref was consistent it would have been closer but still an away win.

Vickers is past it, need Fry and Harris in until Welsh returns.

watched the Worcs-Saints game (free on BT, how cool is that )

Thought Worcester were excellent, bar the place kicking. Created a few opportunities, and ferocious in defense. Glad they got the win, fully deserved. Saints were pretty ordinary, unimaginative with the ball, and seemed to expect to be able to just bully Worcester, which, except at the scrum, they were completely unable to do.

Pleased Heathcote got the winning drop goal, would have been a shame for his missed kicks to be responsible for a defeat, given that he played pretty well throughout I thought, and created the only try of the match with a nice dummy.

At the very least we're set for a tighter relegation battle this year you'd think. Obviously didn't see the Falcons match, but going on the result, they may have cause to be worried? (sorry GF and Sgt_P...)

Agreed on Heathcote Mad for Chelsae - would not have been fair for his earlier missed kicks to be the difference. Also agree that it's going to be tight in the Prem this year. Looking forward to it.

Being back in the Jeff I would be very happy to see Pennell push into the EPS and pressure Brown for the FB spot until Watson and/or Nowell are ready.

His basics are so strong plus he has that great ability to break the first tackle more often than not and make yards when most needed.

king_carlos wrote:Being back in the Jeff I would be very happy to see Pennell push into the EPS and pressure Brown for the FB spot until Watson and/or Nowell are ready.

His basics are so strong plus he has that great ability to break the first tackle more often than not and make yards when most needed.

I agree, would like to see him involved more, and I always think competition for places is good

Well Sale are behind 27-3 , to Sarries. The same as we were last night.

Jamie George has shown why he should have had more time in the WC.

Well we're not bottom...thank you Sale.

George was excellent, Fraser looked decent when he came on too. Strong performance from Sarries, Sale were blew away by their pack.

George Ford MOTM v Exeter

Exeter completely blew that game. Lack of composure in the Bath 22 proved really costly.

The botched attempt at the last minute drop goal sums up the Chiefs composure when attacking the Bath line. The Chiefs back line lacked a little fluidity and their scrum looked a little light weight.

Bath had no line out and clearly no outside centre. Joseph will be brought back pretty quick I reckon.