Aviva Premiership - Round 8

by **Ozzy3213** Wed 30 Dec 2015, 12:44 pm

First topic message reminder :

Friday 1^st January 2016
Northampton Saints (5) vs. Exeter Chiefs (2)
Saints have been struggling for form and results recently, and although they’ll be happy to be back at Franklins Gardens, they’ll be less happy at facing an in form Exeter Chiefs. You would think that Saints will be out to prove a point after being the first AP side to lose to Irish this season, and I suspect they will up their game. Exeter won’t be easy to beat, but I fancy Saints to nick a tight one.

Saturday 2^nd January 2016
Gloucester (6) vs. London Irish (11)
Gloucester had a high scoring draw against Quins last week, but could be counting the cost with a couple of key men picking up injuries. Irish got on the board, and despite a 2nd row injury crisis didn’t pick up any fresh knocks in beating Saints. This game could tell us a fair amount about the respective sides. Irish will fancy this, and be looking to get a good run going. What they don’t want to do is get too fast and loose, with the scrum and maul both having worked well last week. They could be key tools in bagging back to back AP wins for the first time in a year!

Newcastle Falcons (12) vs. Bath Rugby (7)
Bath have not been firing on all cylinders, and Falcons are winless, despite what I am told was a decent showing last time out against Tigers. This for me is a tough game to call. If conditions are good, I fancy Bath to win a high scorer. If it’s wet and windy, I can see Falcons grinding this one out against a Bath pack that has failed to dominate this season.

Saracens (1) vs. Leicester Tigers (3)
Saracens look unbeatable at present. Whoever they rotate in, they are a well oiled machine, who do their basics well and get results. That said, Tigers, whilst not completely firing on all cylinders are getting results, and despite their recent record against Sarries not being great (whose is?), they are the one side that you just wouldn’t back against getting a result. I think this one will be close, and will depend on who both sides put out, but it’s impossible to predict a Saracens defeat right now, home win.

Sale Sharks (9) vs. Wasps (8)
Despite a couple of excellent performances and results, Wasps find themselves down in 8^th in the AP. Sale have yet to convince and after a bright start were distinctly 2^nd best against the Chiefs last time out. On paper I would say Wasps, but at home and with Steve Diamond chewing their backsides, I reckon Sale may well tough this one out for the win.

Sunday 3^rd January 2016
Worcester Warriors (10) vs. Harlequins (4)
Worcester have been in most of their games (Saracens excepted) and will fancy this at home. Quins appear to be rediscovering their mojo, which they had misplaced last season, but will be disappointed with their error count in the draw against Gloucester last week. I can see this being a bit of an open gunfight, which Worcester just lose out on, but it could be one of those losses where they pick up 2 bonus points on the way.

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:10 pm

Saracens are one oiled machine. Their coaching detail is excellent, best in the league.

They're not Kiwi level but their decision making is so deliberate.

by ChequeredJersey Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:11 pm

yappysnap wrote:Frak I am worried about Sarries visiting The Stoop next week!

Have hope. Basically, we might have a miracle, manage to play against Sarries, a team we always struggle with, at unstoppable tempo, or we will be thrashed. Got a game to get through first though

by **LondonTiger** Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:12 pm

Well that was as bad as I expected.

Sure Sarries push the margins all the time, and I was not happy with the way Itoje kept putting in sly digs (though in the end Barrow got one back).

However when you are eventually manshamed like that - you just have to shut up and say well done. So

"Well done"

by yappysnap Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:15 pm

ChequeredJersey wrote:
yappysnap wrote:Frak I am worried about Sarries visiting The Stoop next week!

Have hope. Basically, we might have a miracle, manage to play against Sarries, a team we always struggle with, at unstoppable tempo, or we will be thrashed. Got a game to get through first though

Yea Wuss will be good practice for Sarries. They'll look to bully us and try to ruin any tempo we have.

If we can bring our A game against Worcester and get the win then I'll be a bit more confident for that miracle next week!

Sarries could always have a terrible game couldn't they??

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:17 pm

formerly known as Sam wrote:
kingelderfield wrote:Thacker is to small.

Cockerell projecting his poor judgement across the tiggers. Really how he still dor is crazy. probably his last season.

Ref has not helped.

We did the same vs Chiefs away. Experimented and rested players as opposed to putting out the first fifteen.

He won't be leaving as DOR he has two more years left on his contract.

I know they won't, but they need to let him go. See what Diamond does on a relative shoestring.

by yappysnap Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:18 pm

LondonTiger wrote:Well that was as bad as I expected.

Sure Sarries push the margins all the time, and I was not happy with the way Itoje kept putting in sly digs (though in the end Barrow got one back).

However when you are eventually manshamed like that - you just have to shut up and say well done. So

"Well done"

I know that was painful LT.

I hope next week is Quins fans won't have to do the "well done" post. vomit

by yappysnap Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:19 pm

Any one find it quite ironic that Sanderson loves to get a moan every chance about the opposition cheating...

by nathan Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:21 pm

What did he say?

by BamBam Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:21 pm

king_carlos wrote:A really impressive second half performance by Sarries showing exactly how to play the conditions.

Both Vunipolas and Kruis were excellent in the forwards. Fraser and Itoje were busy as well. From the backs Goode impressed once again marshaling things well.

From a Tigers perspective I think the most enjoyable moment of the second half was watching Thacker match Ashton for pace chasing the ball down his wing...

Wonder if it's worse to be matched for pace by a hooker or a number 8..... Reckon we'll hear a word about it??

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:22 pm

yappysnap wrote:Frak I am worried about Sarries visiting The Stoop next week!

Quins are in a better place than tiggers. Parity up front and you have the backs and game to challenge.

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:26 pm

king_carlos wrote:A really impressive second half performance by Sarries showing exactly how to play the conditions.

Both Vunipolas and Kruis were excellent in the forwards. Fraser and Itoje were busy as well. From the backs Goode impressed once again marshaling things well.

From a Tigers perspective I think the most enjoyable moment of the second half was watching Thacker match Ashton for pace chasing the ball down his wing...

Maybe he's a 7 but he's too small for the scrum. It's bloody awful to point fingers (it was Cockerill's call to bring new props on 5 metres out........) but the truth should be faced.

by king_carlos Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:28 pm

BamBam wrote:
king_carlos wrote:A really impressive second half performance by Sarries showing exactly how to play the conditions.

Both Vunipolas and Kruis were excellent in the forwards. Fraser and Itoje were busy as well. From the backs Goode impressed once again marshaling things well.

From a Tigers perspective I think the most enjoyable moment of the second half was watching Thacker match Ashton for pace chasing the ball down his wing...

Wonder if it's worse to be matched for pace by a hooker or a number 8..... Reckon we'll hear a word about it??

Depends who the hooker and number 8 are I guess BamBam!

That was the sort of performance from Kruis that could play him into the EPS though. Absolutely everywhere all game.

by king_carlos Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:32 pm

kingelderfield wrote:
king_carlos wrote:A really impressive second half performance by Sarries showing exactly how to play the conditions.

Both Vunipolas and Kruis were excellent in the forwards. Fraser and Itoje were busy as well. From the backs Goode impressed once again marshaling things well.

From a Tigers perspective I think the most enjoyable moment of the second half was watching Thacker match Ashton for pace chasing the ball down his wing...

Maybe he's a 7 but he's too small for the scrum. It's bloody awful to point fingers (it was Cockerill's call to bring new props on 5 metres out........) but the truth should be faced.

I was hoping that Thacker would move to 7 as this season went on. With injuries at hooker and Youngs having played a lot of rugby he has featured at hooker a lot recently. He was impressive against Falcons last weekend and looked to be coping ok with Ayerza next to him today. When Marcos went off the scrum really fell apart though.

I agree that it was poor management from Cockers bringing both props on for a 5m scrum. Cole and Mulipola were warmed up and ready to go so he wouldn't have known it would be a 5 metre scrum, the decision to make changes was already made before the penalty was awarded and scrum chosen. Changing props in those situations is always asking for trouble though.

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:32 pm

yappysnap wrote:Any one find it quite ironic that Sanderson loves to get a moan every chance about the opposition cheating...

Indeed, very sporting.

I can handle players pushing the limits but coaches spewing is not the done thing.

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:33 pm

yappysnap wrote:Any one find it quite ironic that Sanderson loves to get a moan every chance about the opposition cheating...

Indeed, very sporting.

I can handle players pushing the limits but coaches spewing is not the done thing.

by ChequeredJersey Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:33 pm

kingelderfield wrote:
yappysnap wrote:Frak I am worried about Sarries visiting The Stoop next week!

Quins are in a better place than tiggers. Parity up front and you have the backs and game to challenge.

That's the biggy though. That and whether we can find a way to stop Sarries killing every inch of Care and Evans' space- the option of Roberts and Robshaw at 1st receiver and possibly some more carrying in the pack could help with that. And I imagine Jones has the nous to make life very hard for Mako

by Guest Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:36 pm

Still not such a bad weekend for Tigers. Losing at Allianz is always to be expected and both Exeter and Bath lost. If Wasps and Quins both somehow manage to lose it'll overall be a fantastic weekend.

A good win against Saints next weekend and I'll almost be able to forget about today's three penalty tries.

by nathan Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:37 pm

Think that's why it hurts so much, but I guess we'll be hoping for the better weather.

When have I ever said that as tigers fan

by ChequeredJersey Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:44 pm

Fuzzy Dunlop wrote:Still not such a bad weekend for Tigers. Losing at Allianz is always to be expected and both Exeter and Bath lost. If Wasps and Quins both somehow manage to lose it'll overall be a fantastic weekend.

A good win against Saints next weekend and I'll almost be able to forget about today's three penalty tries.

Sale sound like they are all over Wasps at the start of their match

by king_carlos Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:50 pm

Fuzzy Dunlop wrote:Still not such a bad weekend for Tigers. Losing at Allianz is always to be expected and both Exeter and Bath lost. If Wasps and Quins both somehow manage to lose it'll overall be a fantastic weekend.

A good win against Saints next weekend and I'll almost be able to forget about today's three penalty tries.

It was the complete domination of the scrum that really hurt.

Losing at Allianz is nothing to be ashamed of. Being dominated by Sarries outstanding defence whilst playing into the wind isn't a surprise either.

Watching our scrum get destroyed time and again the second half went on was painful and worrying though. Cole was dominated by both Manu and Gill which is something I wouldn't expect to see happen. Logo was only in his second game back from injury but he also struggled at scrum time.

It's going to be very interesting to see who starts at TH against Saints...

by HongKongCherry Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:51 pm

Glaws were atrocious in the first half. Whilst conditions were awful we just aimlessly box kicked throughout. Irish looked good when in possession and fully deserved the half time lead. A completely different Glaws side came out in the second half and proceeded to dominate winning the half 21-0. A very bizarre decision not to award a penalty try when Lewington was yellow carded and our driving maul went over the try line, nevertheless we didn't do enough to deserve a TBP. Kvesic was once again outstanding and must start for England.

On a side note the Kingsholm pitch is dreadful and our groundsman should be looking for a new job. The bog completely nullifies the speed of our backs.

Finally, as always one of the biggest cheers was reserved for hearing the Bath result! Wink

by king_carlos Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:52 pm

Both Sale and Wasps are trying to play a lot of rugby. Only Sale have something to show for it on the scoreboard with a single penalty though.

by yappysnap Sat 02 Jan 2016, 5:58 pm

Well done Falcons btw.

Can't wait to hear Fords thoughts on that loss...

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 6:10 pm

yappysnap wrote:Well done Falcons btw.

Can't wait to hear Fords thoughts on that loss...

Bath have definitely lost their pram, wheels off, toys out etc.

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 6:13 pm

We all know what a wonderful organisation the rfu are, so I think its only fair to acknowledge the bias, that said anyone care to take a punt on Beaumont featuring under EJ?

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 6:23 pm

Cipriani would get this Wasps team playing.

by Geordie Sat 02 Jan 2016, 6:43 pm

yappysnap wrote:Well done Falcons btw.

Can't wait to hear Fords thoughts on that loss...

Bath were poor...but we were doing our best to give them the win... picard

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 6:47 pm

Come on Sale, win this.

by Geordie Sat 02 Jan 2016, 6:55 pm

And i'll have to check how many times Micky Young our scrum half actually passed the ball. He kicked EVERYTHING ppftt

by ChequeredJersey Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:06 pm

kingelderfield wrote:Come on Sale, win this.

A draw would be lovely

by Geordie Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:16 pm

Cipriani with a drop goal

by Geordie Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:20 pm

Sale beat Wasps

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:22 pm

Not pretty but effective.

No Hughes massive, no Wade magic, a selfish closed 10 and Wasps are under performing.

by TightHEAD Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:22 pm

Bath are a shower of Poopie this year and M.Ford is on borrowed time.

by Heaf Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:23 pm

So far only Falcons have upset my Superbru predictions where I went for a narrow Bath win Sad

by king_carlos Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:25 pm

You're in a complimentary mood today aren't you king... Wink

by Heaf Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:28 pm

I think Wasps are missing Hughes a lot ... as would most teams tbh ...

by Geordie Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:29 pm

Heaf, Sale has just screwed my bets up.

I actually had us to beat Bath today...

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:30 pm

TightHEAD wrote:Bath are a shower of Poopie this year and M.Ford is on borrowed time.

Would be a disaster if they let him go, that said I think the Burgess thing has really got to him.

Hopefully the owner will be sensible and put his arm round his shoulder. Basically everyone is allowed to luck out from time to time and I think Ford is in credit, so do the right thing go down the pub, have a beer or 20 and get it out of your system.

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:31 pm

TightHEAD wrote:Bath are a shower of Poopie this year and M.Ford is on borrowed time.

Would be a disaster if they let him go, that said I think the Burgess thing has really got to him.

Hopefully the owner will be sensible and put his arm round his shoulder. Basically everyone is allowed to luck out from time to time and I think Ford is in credit, so do the right thing go down the pub, have a beer or 20 and get it out of your system.

by kingelderfield Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:34 pm

king_carlos wrote:You're in a complimentary mood today aren't you king...

As ever!

by Heaf Sat 02 Jan 2016, 7:36 pm

GeordieFalcon wrote:Heaf, Sale has just screwed my bets up.

I actually had us to beat Bath today...

I thought you might hence my narrow win prediction ... just thought Bath would step it up a bit after their recent poor showings.

I also had the Sale/Wasps game as a 50/50 but went with home advantage - if Hughes had been playing I would have gone with Wasps.

by formerly known as Sam Sat 02 Jan 2016, 9:12 pm

Why Gopperth is starting for Wasps baffles me. Their fall from form coincided with Gopperth being reinstated to the starting line up.

by Geordie Sat 02 Jan 2016, 9:14 pm

Agree...Gopperth shouldn't be starting

by Sgt_Pooly Sat 02 Jan 2016, 9:18 pm

I can't believe we won and I was on plane to Dubai with bloody football on. It's like missing an eclipse missing a Falcons win in the AP, they don't come along much.

The game against Irish is going to be huge.

by TightHEAD Sat 02 Jan 2016, 9:35 pm

kingelderfield wrote:
TightHEAD wrote:Bath are a shower of Poopie this year and M.Ford is on borrowed time.

so do the right thing go down the pub, have a beer or 20 and get it out of your system.

Sounds like a normal Tuesday Lunchtime. Wink

by Driver Sat 02 Jan 2016, 9:57 pm

GeordieFalcon wrote:We made it so hard for ourselves though. Bath were poor aside from their scrum.

I didn't think the Bath scrum was that great tbh. The ref handled it poorly, Bath pushed early and made the feed tough for young as he took ages to tell him to put it in but never penalised Bath for the early shove.

Priestland gets worse every time I see him play.

by yappysnap Sat 02 Jan 2016, 10:31 pm

Sgt_Pooly wrote:I can't believe we won and I was on plane to Dubai with bloody football on. It's like missing an eclipse missing a Falcons win in the AP, they don't come along much.

The game against Irish is going to be huge.

Yes it's just bizarre how he's got the shirt back, pretty much as he's perceived to be more reliable and a better kicker.

Sadly he's actually just crap

by formerly known as Sam Sat 02 Jan 2016, 10:43 pm

Will this Bath loss kill the theory that George Ford is the issue in the Bath team?

by Driver Sat 02 Jan 2016, 10:59 pm

I'm starting too think they might be a rift between players and coaches reading Mike Fords comments and looking at how uninterested Bath where today.

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