Aviva Premiership - Round 2

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Table:




Fixtures:

Friday 9th September

19:45 Worcester Warriors v Gloucester Rugby   BT Sport
20:15 Sale Sharks v Harlequins  

Saturday 10th September

15:00 Bath Rugby v Newcastle Falcons    
15:00 Leicester Tigers v Wasps    BT Sport


Sunday 11th September

15:00 Bristol Rugby v Northampton Saints
15:00 Exeter Chiefs v Saracens    BT Sport



Previews

Yet again Gloucester feature in the Friday night televised fixture. Having capitulated last week, after playing so well for 50 minutes, they will be seeking an 80 minute performance as they take the short trip to near neighbours Worcester. The Warrioirs were game gainst a misfiring Saracens at twickenham last week, but never really threatened and like their visitors ran out of steam in the last 30 minutes. With their absence list unlikely to recede any, the home team will have to rely on spirit and determination against a side with more class - but a fragile core. Gloucester should have too much ability for the Warriors, but it is easy to foresee another implosion. If Warriors can keep this tight they can prey on Glaws nerves - but do they have the firepower to score the points when needed?

Friday evening concludes in Salford as two sides have been castigated by either the coaches or the fans for poor performances meet. Main difference of course is that Sale lost while Harlequins won. Friday nights at home usually see Sale fired up and usually victorious. It will need a much better performance than they saw last week from the forwards, but there is every chance that they will be too organised for a Quins team that seemed strangely lethargic. Quins fans will want to see much more from their backs, starting with skipper Care showing the verve they are used to.

Saturday starts at the wreck where hosts Bath entertain a Falcons team who also won last week. Both teams struggled for attacking fluency last week, and both sides could see major changes in personnel. Todd Blackadder will be looking at the physio's room with some trepidation due to the volume of injuries suffered last week, while Dean Richards is almost famous now for rotating his team for away fixtures. Even short of certain players, and with their issues at 12, on 2015 form Bath would win this game with some ease. That form has not been seen for a while though and Falcons fans will believe they can cause an upset. In the end it coudl well come down to which team has the individual who creates something from nothing. Sinotti v Roku, Joseph v Goneva if you will.

The M69 derby (less sniggering from Saints fans at the back please) will see both teams looking for more of the good stuff they showed last week, and much less of the bad and the ugly.  Leicester spent 50 minutes showing all the frailties of execution that bedeviled them in the big games last season. Not wanting to take anything away from Gloucester who showed exemplary hands and support running in that spell, it could be argued that Tigers gifted 3 of the tries with two interceptions (Tait and Betham) and Manu's crass attempts to charge out of the line. Defence coach Scott Hansen will be drilling the big man all week it is to be hoped. Meanwhile Wasps showed some good invention in the backs but looked a little light of firepower up front, especially at the breakdown. They will need to see a big improvement in that area if they are not to be over-run by tigers, while the home team will need to improve their support running and just play with a little more nous rather than trying to force everything.

On Sunday we will see what may be the first AP match at Ashton Gate, the lastest groundshare for premiership new boys Bristol. Having played about as well as they could have hoped at Twickenham, yet lost, they host a Saints team smarting from a home defeat in Round 1. Unlike Bristol, it would be hard for anyone to say Northampton played well, yet they still managed to secure the LBP and their defence was strong. Saints fans will hope that DoR Mallinder gives them the midfield they desire and that the pack fronts up. They were seriously poor last week. Saints will need to put in a big performance this week and if they play anything close to their ability they will be too strong. Come up short on that though and Bristol will look for the upset.

Sunday's televised game gives us a repeat of last seasons Premiership Final. Exeter looked strong up front at the Ricoh, but seemed to struggle for fluency in the backs. Everything seemed very direct and was meat and drink for the Wasps defence. Chiefs certainly have the forwards to put the champions under pressure, but may need to play a more territorial game if they want their first win of the season. Despite being some way under par against Worcester, Saracens still won easily, demonstrating their strength and overall class across the pitch. Even if Exeter can gain the upper-hand up front they have that fearsome defence that will force errors from even the best teams and enough players who can thrive on the counter-attack to score the tries needed for victory. Exeter will look to use their driving lineout which has worked so well against ?Saracens in the past, Saracens will try and make Exeter run from deep.



Predictions:

Gloucester by 7
Sale by 5
Bath by 10
Wasps by 30
Saints by 7+
Sarries by 6

Being a supporter of Glaws is a bit like being a Medieval monk into self-flagulation!

Well Sale deserved that despite not really doing anything.

Quins Pros

Forwards in general solid. Won the breakdown, solid scrum, lineout.

Cons

Kicking absolutely awful
No chasing kicks
All 'star' players making stupid handling errors
3 cards, should have been 4

Next game for me : Walker for Visser. Jackson for Evans. Brown for Chisholm. Ward for Buchanan. Spend the next week doing non stop handling drills.

Recwatcher16 wrote:Very harsh red card at Worcester on the ex Bath player.

Fully expect the Bath forwards in this pack in the match against Falcons to play a tight lineout and mauling game simply due to a lack of breakdown specialists.
If the ball is spun out wide, Banahan and Roko will be doing a fair bit of clear out work along with young Clark, who is not exactly small either.

Newcastle played a smart pressure game last season and Bath were lucky to scrape a win. Looking close again this time.

Thought the red was harsh too..

HongKongCherry wrote:Being a supporter of Glaws is a bit like being a Medieval monk into self-flagulation!

I know what you mean..

Well that was a pile of Poopie.

Still the only way is up right? Right?

This season appears to have got off to quite a brutal start, perhaps we need an Aviva Injury thread to keep everyone up to speed but also to help us understand if anything is changing.

There were some very interesting comments from Baxter, Youngs and McCall on the BBC (Matt Dawson radio) season preview regarding concussion.

HongKongCherry wrote:Being a supporter of Glaws is a bit like being a Medieval monk into self-flagulation!

Four points from the opening two games though, not too bad a return.

Quins now have Sarries, Exeter and tigers coming up, oh goody.

LondonTiger wrote:SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY BRISTOL
Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 2
Ashton Gate
Sunday, September 11th, 2016
Kick off 3pm

15 Ahsee Tuala
14 Ken Pisi
13 George Pisi
12 Luther Burrell
11 George North
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Alex Waller
2 Dylan Hartley
3 Kieran Brookes
4 Courtney Lawes
5 Michael Paterson
6 Tom Wood (capt)
7 Teimana Harrison
8 Louis Picamoles

16 Mikey Haywood
17 Campese Ma’afu
18 Paul Hill
19 Sam Dickinson
20 Jamie Gibson
21 Nic Groom
22 Harry Mallinder
23 Ben Foden

I just cannot understand what Mallinder is doing, a Myler, Burrell, Pisi midfield is a known and well tried failure, it didn't work last season; it didn't work last week.

A Myler, Mallinder, Burrell midfield is a known success, it worked last season and it worked last week when Foden went off. It give kicking options either side of the scrum and a massive boot for taking penalties into touch, Myler makes good ground, Mallinder has a very accurate howitzer of a boot and will generally make 15-20m more. That is a big factor when putting sides under pressure pinning them back into their own half.

It seems that Mallinder Snr. does not trust his son to play 12 and views him as a utility back.

Good that Harrison is back, he made instant ground last week, something that was missing for the first 60 minutes.

I assume Foden is still recovering from his knock and that is why he is benched.

I cannot believe that Paterson is playing on marks out of 10, last week he was about a 2. Craig or Dickinson are much better options.

Nic Groom can count himself unlucky, he brought pace and direction to the play last week hen he came on and scored two tries, what else goes he have to do to get a starting berth.

I am beginning to think we are in for a very mediocre season already, just more of the muddled thinking we had last year. If so I think we need to be looking for a new DoR next year, if not sooner.

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:
I am beginning to think we are in for a very mediocre season already, just more of the muddled thinking we had last year. If so I think we need to be looking for a new DoR next year, if not sooner.

I asked last season if Jim had reached the end of his shelf life. It happens to all coaches in all sports, eventually the players have heard it all. People like Alex Ferguson would change their assistant manager every two or three years to shake things up, but the Mallinder/West combo have been there a long time now. The one change they made, Alex King, seems to have co-incided with a real tough time - but how much say does he have?


It is too early to talk about sackings etc, but it is always easy to see after the event thatthe coach stayed too long (see COS at Quins). Thing is their past acheivements buy them so much credit that there is always the belief they will turn things round (see Wenger at Arsenal)

formerly known as Sam wrote:

HongKongCherry wrote:Being a supporter of Glaws is a bit like being a Medieval monk into self-flagulation!

Four points from the opening two games though, not too bad a return.

True, and I'd largely expected this number of points after 2 games. The frustration lies with the continued inconsistency seeing us fluctuate from sublime to ridiculous rugby. We really should be on 9 points by now.

At least you get the sublime!! All we get is the ridiculous followed by the poopie!

I'd give anything to see Quins score a try or two like Glos did these last 2 games, even just a few phases like you've had.

HongKongCherry wrote:Being a supporter of Glaws is a bit like being a Medieval monk into self-flagulation!

Is that some type of auto-eroticism?

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY BRISTOL
Aviva Premiership Rugby Round 2
Ashton Gate
Sunday, September 11th, 2016
Kick off 3pm

15 Ahsee Tuala
14 Ken Pisi
13 George Pisi
12 Luther Burrell
11 George North
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Alex Waller
2 Dylan Hartley
3 Kieran Brookes
4 Courtney Lawes
5 Michael Paterson
6 Tom Wood (capt)
7 Teimana Harrison
8 Louis Picamoles

16 Mikey Haywood
17 Campese Ma’afu
18 Paul Hill
19 Sam Dickinson
20 Jamie Gibson
21 Nic Groom
22 Harry Mallinder
23 Ben Foden

I just cannot understand what Mallinder is doing, a Myler, Burrell, Pisi midfield is a known and well tried failure, it didn't work last season; it didn't work last week.

A Myler, Mallinder, Burrell midfield is a known success, it worked last season and it worked last week when Foden went off. It give kicking options either side of the scrum and a massive boot for taking penalties into touch, Myler makes good ground, Mallinder has a very accurate howitzer of a boot and will generally make 15-20m more. That is a big factor when putting sides under pressure pinning them back into their own half.

It seems that Mallinder Snr. does not trust his son to play 12 and views him as a utility back.

Good that Harrison is back, he made instant ground last week, something that was missing for the first 60 minutes.

I assume Foden is still recovering from his knock and that is why he is benched.

I cannot believe that Paterson is playing on marks out of 10, last week he was about a 2. Craig or Dickinson are much better options.

Nic Groom can count himself unlucky, he brought pace and direction to the play last week hen he came on and scored two tries, what else goes he have to do to get a starting berth.

I am beginning to think we are in for a very mediocre season already, just more of the muddled thinking we had last year. If so I think we need to be looking for a new DoR next year, if not sooner.

Head up. Only one game and the line-up for another. Let's see how things develop. The Burrell-Pisi axis of mediocrity will not last. Jim has done well for us and let's give him some slack. Maybe Prince Harry (he is still only a lad, mind) picked up a bit of a knock last week and needs a little reduced workload this week.

Maybe Burrell will come good as a 12. Maybe Pisi will recapture the fountain of youth. Maybe we will see real dynamic attacking Rugby tomorrow. OK.......maybe we will see the tooth fairy.

Groin tightness for Manu again

Positive start for Bath...

But what a great first scrum by us!!!!

High tackle by George Ford!!! Seen it all now ...on Sinotti ...first chance to us.

Missed by Delayney...cant afford to miss those!!!

Typical Falcons....LOADS of possession then come away with nothing!!!! PAH!!!

And now Chris Harris is off injured....wonderful!

First blood bath - 3-0

We've been a bit Poopie so far

Agh, Tait

For gods sake man!!!! We're rushing things, not sticking to the plan...unstructured!!!

Not driving square in the scrum???? Really ref??

Pffffft, wade is in. We are useless again

On this form Rokoduguni must be in the England side...let alone squad! The guy is insanely good

What about Homer tackling Goneva with out the ball REF!!!!!

And a F*&king penalty try are you kidding me REF!!!!!!!

SH*TE!!!

Game over already!!!

Banahan in...so easy....

You're starting to sound like me when watching a game falcon haha

ANd another for Roko.....men v boys!

nathan wrote:You're starting to sound like me when watching a game falcon haha

Nothing I can say mate....we started badly...rushing things etc...but after that Bath have just taken over and are a million miles away from us!

They're on another level!.

Another for ROko .....try bonus before half time....

Sh*TE!!!!

GeordieFalcon wrote:Another for ROko .....try bonus before half time....

Sh*TE!!!!

Could be a game of two halfs?

Half time......

This is going to be an absolute hammering! It already is so god knows what will happen after another 40 mins!

Would bring Williams or Kitchener on for Slater.

also bring Genge on for a strong ball carrier option soonish.

Kitch was great last weekend, agree he should be on. Burns hasn't really done much. Would have williams and youngs on

And the second half starts as the first ended Bath have 5 tries now.

Tigers creeping back into it but we're still not consistent

Good game Tigers vs Wasps 19 - 27, but Tigers have the momentum

Attwood gets his second try....

I had thought this would be far closer, I haven't been watching but sounds pretty one sided? A real surprise!

McGuigan having a shocker. Miss throws a couple of lineouts and the takes out Simpson to concede a penalty.

Referee is allowing Gaskell to close the gap at the lineout and then let's half the pack come around and block off the Tigers pack from the jumper.

Moronic yellow card for Genge. He's walked straight into that one and allowed Gaskell to milk out the penalty and the yellow. Great take from Gaskell who's looked excellent at the lineout as well.

Get in....Bath have made all their subs and we have finally scored against their 3rd team...

Wooooohhhooooooo

This is tense, though Henge is about to go Yellow. This boys got loads of potential, I can see why he went south in the summer.

Burns is my mom as things stand.

Wasps miss their 3rd pen in succession.

Tigers down to 14 for the rest of time

How far offside do Wasps have to be at the lineout? Johnson is through the Tigers line when the ball hasn't reached Kitchener. That forces the error and now Tigers look likely to get a yellow for a deliberate knock on.

58 - 5 final score to Bath

Embarrassing