Gallagher Premiership 2019/20

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Table

Pos	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Pts Difference	Bonus	Points
1	Northampton Saints	7	5	2	0	194	146	48	3	23
2	Exeter Chiefs	6	4	2	0	142	97	45	4	20
3	Gloucester Rugby	7	3	4	0	149	121	28	6	18
4	Bristol Bears	7	3	3	1	157	165	-8	4	18
5	Bath Rugby	7	4	3	0	139	145	-6	1	17
6	Worcester Warriors	7	4	3	0	122	144	-22	1	17
7	Sale Sharks	7	3	4	0	144	105	39	5	17
8	Harlequins	7	3	3	1	158	169	-11	3	17
9	London Irish	7	2	4	1	128	179	-51	2	12
10	Wasps	7	2	5	0	134	191	-57	3	11
11	Leicester Tigers	7	1	5	1	118	191	-76	0	6
12	Saracens	6	5	1	0	158	87	71	-32	-13

Bath
Last Season - 6th

Players in: Lewis Boyce (Prop), Christian Judge (Prop), Will Stuart (Prop), Mike Williams (Utility Forward), Josh McNally (Second Row), Ollie Fox (Scrum Half)
Promoted from Academy: Miles Reid, Will Vaughan, Sam Nixon, Tom de Glanville, Will Britton, Jack Davies, Tom Doughty, Levi Davis promoted (X Factor permitting)

Players Out: Dave Attwood (Second Row), Paul Grant (Back Row), Luke Charteris (Second Row), James Wilson (Utility Back), Kahn Fotuali'i (Scrum Half), Jacques van Rooyen (Prop), Jack Wilson (Wing), Cooper Vuna (Wing), Anthony Perenise (Prop), Michael van Vuuren (Hooker), Max Lahiff (Prop)


Bristol Bears
Last Season - 9th

Players in: Dave Attwood (Second Row), Nathan Hughes (Back Row), Nicky Thomas (Prop), Max Lahiff (Prop), Tyrese Johnson-Fisher (Wing)
Promoted from Academy: Sam Bedlow, John Hawkins, Toby Fricker

Players out: Nick Haining (Back Row), George Smith (Back Row), Nick Fenton-Wells (Back Row), Joe Latta (Second Row), Tusi Pisi (Fly Half), Sione Faletau (Prop), Jack Lam (Back Row)


Exeter Chiefs
Last Season: Runners Up

Players in: Stuart Hogg (Full Back), Will Witty (Second Row), Tom Price (Second Row), Stan South (Utility Forward), Jannes Kirsten (Utility Forward), Jacques Vermeulen (Utility Forward)

Players out: Santiago Cordero (Wing/FB), Tom Lawday (Back Row), Moray Low (Prop), Ollie Atkins (Second Row), Mitch Lees (Second Row)


Gloucester
Last Season: 3rd

Players in: Joe Simpson (Scrum Half), Jamal Ford-Robinson (Prop), Chris Harris (Centre), Corne Fourie (Prop)
Promoted from Academy: Charlie Chapman, Alex Seville, Alex Craig, Ciaran Knight, Tom Seabrook, Henry Walker

Players out: Paddy McAllister (Prop), Gareth Denman (Prop), Kyle Traynor (Prop) Tom Savage (Second Row), Gareth Evans (Back Row), Ben Vellacott (Scrum Half), Henry Purdy (Centre/Wing)


Harlequins
Last Season 4th

Players in: Santiago Garcias Botta (Prop), Martin Landajo (Scrum Half), Michele Campagnaro (Centre), Scott Baldwin (Hooker), Stephan Lewies (Second Row), Glen Young (Second Row), Will Evans (Flanker), Simon Kerrod (Prop), Tom Lawday (Back Row), Travis Ismaiel (Wing), Veriniki Goneva (Wing), Tevita Cavubati (Second Row)

Players out: Alofa Alofa (Utility Back), George Merrick (Second Row), Lewis Boyce (Prop), James Horwill (Second Row), Josh Ibuanokpe (Prop), Tim Visser (Wing), Charlie Walker(Wing), Demitir Catrakilis (Fly Half), Mat Luamanu (Back Row), Luke Wallace (Flanker), Stan South (Second Row), Dave Ward (Hooker), Dave Lewis (Scrum Half), Ben Glynn (Second Row)


Leicester Tigers
Last season 11th

Players in: Jordan Taufua (Back Row), Noel Reid (Fly Half/Centre), Calum Green (Second Row), Jaco Taute (Centre), Tomas Lavanini (Second Row), Nephi Leatigaga (Prop), Charlie Clare (Hooker), Joe Thomas (Centre), Johnny McPhillips (Fly Half), EW Viljoen (Utility Back), Hanro Liebenberg (Back Row), Jordan Coghlan (Back Row)
Promoted from Academy: Tom Hardwicke, Joe Heyes, Sam Lewis, Jordan Olowefela, Tommy Reffell, Sam Aspland Robinson, Harry Simmons, Ben White

Players out: Matt Toomua (Centre), Mike Williams (Utility Forward), Graham Kitchener (Second Row), Mathew Tait (Utility Back), Will Evans (Flanker), Tom Varndell (Winger), James Voss (Second Row), Matt Smith (Centre), Gareth Owen (Centre), Michael Fitzgerald (Second Row), Brendon O'Connor (Back Row), Valentino Mapapalangi (Back Row), Fred Tuilagi (Back Row), Leonardo Sarto (Wing),  Joe Ford (Fly Half), David Feao (Prop), David Denton (Back Row), Ross McMillan (Hooker), Campese Ma'afu (Prop), Charlie Thacker (Centre)


London Irish
Last Season: Promoted

Players in: Allan Dell (Prop), Nick Phipps (Scrum Half), Curtis Rona (Wing), Sean O'Brien (Back Row), Sekope Kepu (Prop), Paddy Jackson (Fly Half), Waisake Naholo (Wing), Adam Coleman (Second Row), Ruan Botha (Second Row), Steve Mafi (Utility Forward), George Nott (Utility Forward)

Players Out: Josh McNally (Second Row), Ian Keatley (Fly Half), Brendan McKibbin (Centre), Mike Coman (Back Row), Tommy Bell (Utility Back), Topsy Ojo (Wing), Fergus Mulchrone (Centre), Luke McLean (Full Back), Sebastian de Chaves (Second Row), Ofisa Treviranus (Back Row), Greig Tonks (Utility Back),  Napolioni Nalaga (Wing), Sam Twomey (Second Row), Filo Paulo (Second Row), Manasa Saulo (Prop)


Northampton Saints
Last Season: 4th

Players in: Matt Proctor (Utility back), Owen Franks (Prop), Ryan Olowofela (Wing), Henry Taylor (Scrum Half), Michael van Vuuren (Hooker)
Promoted from Academy: Ehren Painter, Fraser Dingwall,  James Grayson,  Alex Mitchell,  Alex Moon

Players Out: Luther Burrell (Centre), Jamal Ford-Robinson (Prop), James Craig (Utility Forward), James Haskell (Back Row), Dominic Barrow (Second Row), Nafi Tuitavake (Wing), Ken Pisi (Centre)


Sale Sharks
Last Season: 7th

Players in: Jake Cooper-Woolley (Prop), Robert du Preez (Fly Half), Akker van der Merwe (Hooker), Lood de Jager (Second Row), Coenie Oosthuizen (Prop), Dan du Preez (Utility Forward), Jean-Luc du Preez (Back Row), Simon Hammersley (Full Back), Mark Wilson (Back Row)

Players Out: Andrei Ostrikov (Second Row), Mark Jennings (Centre), Alexandru Țăruș (Prop), Johnny Leota (Centre),  Paolo Odogwu (Wing), James O'Connor (Utility Back), Josh Strauss (Back Row), George Nott (Utility Forward)


Saracens
Last Season: Champions

Players in: Elliot Daly (Utility back), Rhys Carré (Prop), Jack Singleton (Hooker), Josh Ibuanokpe (Prop)
Promoted from Academy: Alistair Crossdale, Dominic Morris

Players out: Christopher Tolofua (Hooker), Sione Vailanu (Back Row), Hayden Thompson-Stringer (Prop), David Strettle (Wing), Henry Taylor (Scrum Half) Dominic Day (Second Row), Marcelo Bosch (Centre), Schalk Burger (Back Row)


Wasps
Last Season: 8th

Players in: Malakai Fekitoa (Centre), Jeffery Toomaga-Allen (Prop), Ben Vellacott (Scrum Half), Matteo Minozzi (Utility back), Sione Vailanu (Back row), Biyi Alo (Prop), Paolo Odogwu (Wing), Zach Kibirige (wing)
Promoted from academy:  Will Porter,  Callum Sirker,  Sam Spink,  Tom Willis,  Tim Cardall,  Gabriel Oghre,  Owain James, Jacob Umaga

Players out: Jake Cooper-Woolley (Prop), Nathan Hughes (Back row), Will Stuart (Prop), Elliot Daly (Centre), Joe Simpson (Scrum half), Willie le Roux (Full Back), Michele Campagnaro (Centre), Kearnan Myall (Second Row), Gabiriele Lovobalavu (Centre), Matt Mullan (Prop)


Worcester Warriors
Last Season 10th

Players in: Graham Kitchener (Second Row), Jono Kitto (Scrum Half), Melani Nanai (Wing), Ed Fidow (Wing)
Promoted from Academy: Andrew Kitchener,  Ted Hill

Players out:  Bryce Heem (Wing), Josh Adams (Wing), Darren Barry (Second Row), Wynand Olivier (Centre), Dewald Potgieter (Back row), Jack Singleton (Hooker), Jonny Arr (Scrum half), Carl Kirwan (Back row), Luke Baldwin (Scrum Half), Ben Te'o (Centre), Alafoti Fa'osiliva (Back row)

We looked dire all over the pitch though not just the backline. Eastmond and Taute seem to be developing a good centre combination and with Owolfela and hopefully soon Holmes back the back three should look tasty. Hardwick will have to step up at flyhalf but he did well Vs Cardiff in the cup.

Front row will be badly hit but we'll still have Kalamafoni, Lavanini and Taufua behind them with hopefully Liebenburg and Spencer back soon as well. Backup props should at least hold their own.

We play Bath before the 6N where they will be massively weakened but despite their attacking talents they aren't scoring many tries we'll have to somehow counteract that backrow. Wasps score a lot of tries but their front five is shocking and their defence little better. During the 6N period will make that game a lot tougher as otherwise you'd expect our scrum to decimate as they did Vs Quins and squeeze us something from the game.

Gooseberry wrote:I'd have Irish favourites for the drop now. Theres still a lot of the season to go and with Tigers finally getting their lives together there does seem to be a bit of a momentum shift in the league.
The 6 nations could hit both fairly hard, and of course Saracens will suffer more than anyone, but the big clubs just have more depth and ability to pull in additional cover to get through those raw spells.
Losing a game where the opposition has shipped two yellows by a big margin is the sign of a team in trouble.

Theres certainly no indication that Saracens wont stop chewing up their deduction and reach safety. Anyone from 8th up would have to have a real slide to get overhauled though, and with 3 other clubs below them should have done just enough early season to feel fairly comfortable, even Worcs. Quins and Bath will have more of an eye on the playoff spots being 5 points away than Tigers who are 6 behind them.

To me Irosh look like Irish are the side most likely to have a horrid run and sink into a more they cant escape from. Most recent seasons have seen a weak club fold late season and end up a way adrift even if some bigger names have struggled and given them hope for a time.

With the playoffs being near impossible for Saracens the title seems to be between Exeter and Northampton, other two playoff spots being wide open. If Northampton dont progress in Europe that coupled with less players being subjected tonthe rigours of the 6 nations might just leave them fresher at season end to take the title.

It may be a bit of a stretch but arguably LI could be 5th on 19 points at the moment but for a couple of officiating bungles ... the appalling penalty at the end of the Sarries match denied them the draw (+1 point) or maybe even a win had the penalty been given the right way (+3 points). Plus the red card in the Bristol match for shoulder to head, which the disciplinary panel subsequentally agreed was actually shoulder to shoulder, so probably should have been a yellow not red - even though it was monumentally stupid. LI got a draw with 3 tries after playing the 2nd half with 14 so it may well have been a TBP win but for the red (+3 points). I know it's lots of ifs and buts but this shows it's all fine margins so with a bit of luck LI could still survive. I think a lot depends on getting some of the key players back from injury and being able to put out a stable team for a while - the defence at the start of the season was much better than it has been of late. And they can score tries as they showed on Sunday, not many teams get TBPs against Chiefs - the frustrating part was they didn't score after Chiefs went down to 13 and maybe pick up the LBP as well.

Heaf to be fair we could have lost at Wasps on the opening day and no guarantee we would have won with 15 v Bristol?

For sure - and I did say it was ifs and buts and a bit of a stretch - the main point was small things going either way can make a big difference so with a bit of luck who knows ...

LondonTiger wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Any updates about Fatialofa?

Stable in intensive care.

http://warriors.co.uk/2020/01/06/michael-fatialofa-undergoes-surgery/

Heaf wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:I'd have Irish favourites for the drop now. Theres still a lot of the season to go and with Tigers finally getting their lives together there does seem to be a bit of a momentum shift in the league.
The 6 nations could hit both fairly hard, and of course Saracens will suffer more than anyone, but the big clubs just have more depth and ability to pull in additional cover to get through those raw spells.
Losing a game where the opposition has shipped two yellows by a big margin is the sign of a team in trouble.

Theres certainly no indication that Saracens wont stop chewing up their deduction and reach safety. Anyone from 8th up would have to have a real slide to get overhauled though, and with 3 other clubs below them should have done just enough early season to feel fairly comfortable, even Worcs. Quins and Bath will have more of an eye on the playoff spots being 5 points away than Tigers who are 6 behind them.

To me Irosh look like Irish are the side most likely to have a horrid run and sink into a more they cant escape from. Most recent seasons have seen a weak club fold late season and end up a way adrift even if some bigger names have struggled and given them hope for a time.

With the playoffs being near impossible for Saracens the title seems to be between Exeter and Northampton, other two playoff spots being wide open. If Northampton dont progress in Europe that coupled with less players being subjected tonthe rigours of the 6 nations might just leave them fresher at season end to take the title.

It may be a bit of a stretch but arguably LI could be 5th on 19 points at the moment but for a couple of officiating bungles ... the appalling penalty at the end of the Sarries match denied them the draw (+1 point) or maybe even a win had the penalty been given the right way (+3 points).  Plus the red card in the Bristol match for shoulder to head, which the disciplinary panel subsequentally agreed was actually shoulder to shoulder, so probably should have been a yellow not red - even though it was monumentally stupid.  LI got a draw with 3 tries after playing the 2nd half with 14 so it may well have been a TBP win but for the red (+3 points).  I know it's lots of ifs and buts but this shows it's all fine margins so with a bit of luck LI could still survive.   I think a lot depends on getting some of the key players back from injury and being able to put out a stable team for a while - the defence at the start of the season was much better than it has been of late.  And they can score tries as they showed on Sunday, not many teams get TBPs against Chiefs - the frustrating part was they didn't score after Chiefs went down to 13 and maybe pick up the LBP as well.

I swear every season LI are in the Prem we hear about how they've been robbed by refs more then any other team.

Must be true then

Yappy that is because we lose more games than anyone so have more to moan about!

[quote="king_carlos"]

stnick88 wrote:6 Nations...Wasps won't lose many but Launchbury is so important for them. Minozzi and Robson would also be big blows.

Yep, Launch is huge for us, and the fact he withdrew before KO on Sunday weakened us significantly.

I'd argue that Robson's form for us is so bad at the moment that we'd probably benefit from an enforced change (hands in the Minozzi try on Sunday aside). We box kick from 9 too often, and it's too long or directed poorly (and don't get me started on the quality of the chase!). For some reason we're not building the awful caterpillar rucks like *everyone else*, so he's always under pressure - led directly to Tom Wood's try.

Minozzi has shown flashes so far, but nothing to suggest he'd be a big miss. Rob Miller would be a more than adequate replacement.

We play both Tigers and Saracens during the 6N, and comparatively we're significantly less worse off than either of those. We need to capitalise.

Some positive news about Fatialofa.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/51014248

I feared the worst for Fatialofa, but then I remembered Lydiate had a serious neck injury early in his career which he successfully returned from (after a year or two out). I hope it's the same for MF.

Good news. Hopefully there is further improvement soon.

At this point I'm just hoping to see the poor bloke up and walking around, playing with his kids etc. Rugby is a secondary issue compared to long term health.

Heaf wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:I'd have Irish favourites for the drop now. Theres still a lot of the season to go and with Tigers finally getting their lives together there does seem to be a bit of a momentum shift in the league.
The 6 nations could hit both fairly hard, and of course Saracens will suffer more than anyone, but the big clubs just have more depth and ability to pull in additional cover to get through those raw spells.
Losing a game where the opposition has shipped two yellows by a big margin is the sign of a team in trouble.

Theres certainly no indication that Saracens wont stop chewing up their deduction and reach safety. Anyone from 8th up would have to have a real slide to get overhauled though, and with 3 other clubs below them should have done just enough early season to feel fairly comfortable, even Worcs. Quins and Bath will have more of an eye on the playoff spots being 5 points away than Tigers who are 6 behind them.

To me Irosh look like Irish are the side most likely to have a horrid run and sink into a more they cant escape from. Most recent seasons have seen a weak club fold late season and end up a way adrift even if some bigger names have struggled and given them hope for a time.

With the playoffs being near impossible for Saracens the title seems to be between Exeter and Northampton, other two playoff spots being wide open. If Northampton dont progress in Europe that coupled with less players being subjected tonthe rigours of the 6 nations might just leave them fresher at season end to take the title.

It may be a bit of a stretch................................ the frustrating part was they didn't score after Chiefs went down to 13 and maybe pick up the LBP as well.

You got that right - any team that can't take advantage of a two man advantage for that period of time during a match is going to struggle over the course of a season.

It might have already been said, but LI are always being 'robbed' by the referee according to their supporters.

formerly known as Sam wrote:At this point I'm just hoping to see the poor bloke up and walking around, playing with his kids etc. Rugby is a secondary issue compared to long term health.

The smart action from all concerned prevented what could have very easily been a severed spinal cord. With this type of injury the sensible option will be to take the insurance payment. It just is not worth the risk.

LondonTiger wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:At this point I'm just hoping to see the poor bloke up and walking around, playing with his kids etc. Rugby is a secondary issue compared to long term health.

The smart action from all concerned prevented what could have very easily been a severed spinal cord. With this type of injury the sensible option will be to take the insurance payment. It just is not worth the risk.

100% take the cash and move on with your life. Don't risk losing everything again.

Khouli Khan wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:I'd have Irish favourites for the drop now. Theres still a lot of the season to go and with Tigers finally getting their lives together there does seem to be a bit of a momentum shift in the league.
The 6 nations could hit both fairly hard, and of course Saracens will suffer more than anyone, but the big clubs just have more depth and ability to pull in additional cover to get through those raw spells.
Losing a game where the opposition has shipped two yellows by a big margin is the sign of a team in trouble.

Theres certainly no indication that Saracens wont stop chewing up their deduction and reach safety. Anyone from 8th up would have to have a real slide to get overhauled though, and with 3 other clubs below them should have done just enough early season to feel fairly comfortable, even Worcs. Quins and Bath will have more of an eye on the playoff spots being 5 points away than Tigers who are 6 behind them.

To me Irosh look like Irish are the side most likely to have a horrid run and sink into a more they cant escape from. Most recent seasons have seen a weak club fold late season and end up a way adrift even if some bigger names have struggled and given them hope for a time.

With the playoffs being near impossible for Saracens the title seems to be between Exeter and Northampton, other two playoff spots being wide open. If Northampton dont progress in Europe that coupled with less players being subjected tonthe rigours of the 6 nations might just leave them fresher at season end to take the title.

It may be a bit of a stretch................................ the frustrating part was they didn't score after Chiefs went down to 13 and maybe pick up the LBP as well.

You got that right - any team that can't take advantage of a two man advantage for that period of time during a match is going to struggle over the course of a season.

It might have already been said, but LI are always being 'robbed' by the referee according to their supporters.

Actually I 'mis-spoke' - they did score a try after the 2nd yellow to get the TBP and had about 8 minutes with a 2 man advantage so it was disappointing they didn't score again. Wasps actually had a bigger advantage in their match and ended up conceding a try to lose the match with a longer advantage after a red and a yellow. I don't think you can look at one match and draw those sorts of conclusions as the team on other days will be quite different depending on injuries and some new players yet to start. Who knows, Tigers could have another slump during the 6N - LI managed to beat them easily without the benefit of any cards - so as I said you can't take one match and extrapolate that to the whole season. Not saying you're wrong about LI being favourites for the drop but I don't think you can look at one period of one match and draw any major conclusions from it, after all they did score 3 tries against Chiefs who are normally very good in defence when they still had 15 on the pitch and Chiefs got the 2 yellows for deliberate knock-ons in try scoring positions, so maybe if they hadn't offended LI would still have got the TBP without the benefit of any cards.

Heaf wrote:

Khouli Khan wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:I'd have Irish favourites for the drop now. Theres still a lot of the season to go and with Tigers finally getting their lives together there does seem to be a bit of a momentum shift in the league.
The 6 nations could hit both fairly hard, and of course Saracens will suffer more than anyone, but the big clubs just have more depth and ability to pull in additional cover to get through those raw spells.
Losing a game where the opposition has shipped two yellows by a big margin is the sign of a team in trouble.

Theres certainly no indication that Saracens wont stop chewing up their deduction and reach safety. Anyone from 8th up would have to have a real slide to get overhauled though, and with 3 other clubs below them should have done just enough early season to feel fairly comfortable, even Worcs. Quins and Bath will have more of an eye on the playoff spots being 5 points away than Tigers who are 6 behind them.

To me Irosh look like Irish are the side most likely to have a horrid run and sink into a more they cant escape from. Most recent seasons have seen a weak club fold late season and end up a way adrift even if some bigger names have struggled and given them hope for a time.

With the playoffs being near impossible for Saracens the title seems to be between Exeter and Northampton, other two playoff spots being wide open. If Northampton dont progress in Europe that coupled with less players being subjected tonthe rigours of the 6 nations might just leave them fresher at season end to take the title.

It may be a bit of a stretch................................ the frustrating part was they didn't score after Chiefs went down to 13 and maybe pick up the LBP as well.

You got that right - any team that can't take advantage of a two man advantage for that period of time during a match is going to struggle over the course of a season.

It might have already been said, but LI are always being 'robbed' by the referee according to their supporters.

Actually I 'mis-spoke' - they did score a try after the 2nd yellow to get the TBP and had about 8 minutes with a 2 man advantage so it was disappointing they didn't score again.  Wasps actually had a bigger advantage in their match and ended up conceding a try to lose the match with a longer advantage after a red and a yellow.  I don't think you can look at one match and draw those sorts of conclusions as the team on other days will be quite different depending on injuries and some new players yet to start.  Who knows, Tigers could have another slump during the 6N - LI managed to beat them easily without the benefit of any cards - so as I said you can't take one match and extrapolate that to the whole season.  Not saying you're wrong about LI being favourites for the drop but I don't think you can look at one period of one match and draw any major conclusions from it, after all they did score 3 tries against Chiefs who are normally very good in defence when they still had 15 on the pitch and Chiefs got the 2 yellows for deliberate knock-ons in try scoring positions, so maybe if they hadn't offended LI would still have got the TBP without the benefit of any cards.

All ifs, buts and maybes.....

LI might have scored 4 tries, but lets be honest, Chiefs had already mullered them by then, gone down to 13 men and still posted a sizeable winning margin.....

I didn't say they were favourites for the drop (somebody else did I think) - I said they were going to struggle - and it looks like they already are.

I said myself it was a lot of ifs buts and maybes ... and to be honest they were always going to struggle - most sides do when they come up from the championship - and whilst they can put out a pretty strong match day squad if everyone is available they don't have the depth needed to cope with lots of injuries - which is what we're seeing at the moment.  That plus some shocking discipline leading to lots of cards.

But I still think you're putting too much emphasis on the Chiefs match.  Wasps for example lost by twice that margin against Chiefs.  Worcester only scored one try against LI when they were down to 14 for about 50 minutes and 13 for 10.  Bristol only managed a draw at home against LI when they were playing the entire 2nd half with 14 men.  Tigers lost by 25 to LI, 8 more than the margin LI lost to Chief by.

LI are struggling for sure at the moment with players missing through injuries, suspensions, paternity leave etc, but so are other teams IMO and as I said a lot will be down to luck with injuries and being able to get some stability in selections from week to week.  And this is where the big risk for LI is as I don't think they have the depth other teams have to cope with losing key players - if they can get most of their best players available for the 6N period it could be their best chance to pick up points and avoid the drop - assuming there is still a drop this season as there seem to be more rumours floating around about ring fencing, although that may be wishful thinking.

Leicester Tigers (v Bath Rugby, The Recreation Ground, Saturday 3.00pm)

15 Telusa Veainu
14 Jonah Holmes
13 Jaco Taute
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Jordan Olowofela
10 Tom Hardwick
9 Ben White
1 Facundo Gigena
2 Tom Youngs (c)
3 Dan Cole
4 Tomás Lavanini
5 Will Spencer
6 Harry Wells
7 Jordan Taufua
8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau
17 Greg Bateman
18 Joe Heyes
19 Ifereimi Boladau
20 Tommy Reffell
21 Harry Simmons
22 Noel Reid
23 George Worth

Bath Rugby: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Wright, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland (c), 9 Chris Cook; 1 Beno Obano, 2 Jack Walker, 3 Christian Judge, 4 Josh McNally, 5 Elliott Stooke, 6 Mike Williams, 7 Josh Bayliss, 8 Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Sam Nixon, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Josh Matavesi.

LondonTiger wrote:Leicester Tigers (v Bath Rugby, The Recreation Ground, Saturday 3.00pm)

15 Telusa Veainu
14 Jonah Holmes
13 Jaco Taute
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Jordan Olowofela
10 Tom Hardwick
9 Ben White
1 Facundo Gigena
2 Tom Youngs (c)
3 Dan Cole
4 Tomás Lavanini
5 Will Spencer
6 Harry Wells
7 Jordan Taufua
8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau
17 Greg Bateman
18 Joe Heyes
19 Ifereimi Boladau
20 Tommy Reffell
21 Harry Simmons
22 Noel Reid
23 George Worth

Bath Rugby: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Wright, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland (c), 9 Chris Cook; 1 Beno Obano, 2 Jack Walker, 3 Christian Judge, 4 Josh McNally, 5 Elliott Stooke, 6 Mike Williams, 7 Josh Bayliss, 8 Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Sam Nixon, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Josh Matavesi.

They're televising Bristol v Glaws strangely... would have thought it would be either this match or Chiefs v Sale.

LondonTiger wrote:Leicester Tigers (v Bath Rugby, The Recreation Ground, Saturday 3.00pm)

15 Telusa Veainu
14 Jonah Holmes
13 Jaco Taute
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Jordan Olowofela
10 Tom Hardwick
9 Ben White
1 Facundo Gigena
2 Tom Youngs (c)
3 Dan Cole
4 Tomás Lavanini
5 Will Spencer
6 Harry Wells
7 Jordan Taufua
8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau
17 Greg Bateman
18 Joe Heyes
19 Ifereimi Boladau
20 Tommy Reffell
21 Harry Simmons
22 Noel Reid
23 George Worth

Bath Rugby: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Wright, 12 Jackson Willison, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland (c), 9 Chris Cook; 1 Beno Obano, 2 Jack Walker, 3 Christian Judge, 4 Josh McNally, 5 Elliott Stooke, 6 Mike Williams, 7 Josh Bayliss, 8 Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Sam Nixon, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Josh Matavesi.

Adding Lavanini and Taufua in the pack makes Tigers a much stronger side during the 6 Nations than we have been for a few seasons. Reid and Taute should hopefully do similar for the backs given how weak our centre options have been without Manu. We are yet to see the best of Reid or much of Taute though.

I'd prefer Reffell in the back row instead of Wells but overall I'm pleased with that side. It's a shame that Kerr isn't getting opportunities. He was good off the bench last weekend.

Genge, Youngs, Ford, Manu, May vs Dunn, Stuart, Ewels, Underhill, Joseph, Watson

A lot of key players missing to England duty for both sides. Add in injuries to Cokanasiga and Mercer, Bath are the worse off for absentees. It's a game Tigers should be able to target for an away win.

As a Tigers fan I'm much happier to see Cook starting that Chudley. No slight meant on Cook but Chudley is the sort of scrum-half that could put Tigers under a lot of pressure without Youngs and Ford. White and Hardwick are talented (and would definitely be my choice starters for this game) but their game management still needs developing when playing from their own half.

I suppose Bristol Vs Glaws is a bit of a rivalry but Bath vs Tigers is very much a game that's normally ding dong plenty to talk about and bags of history attached.

Looking at the sides I think Bath edge it. The England call ups look to have hit Tigers harder and Bath keeping hold of Faletau is a huge bonus for them. If Tigers can stay in it and rough up the Bath front row there is nowhere for them to go as the replacements on the bench look a bit raw. Sadly I think Bath's far more experienced half backs are likely to take control of proceedings. Each side is packing some really big lads up front so there's going to be some monstrous collisions.

Saracens team to take on Harlequins at The Stoop on Sunday 26thJanuary (KO 15H00):
15 Matt Gallagher (44)
14 Alex Lewington (42)
13 Alex Lozowski (104)
12 Brad Barritt (254)
11 Rotimi Segun (25)
10 Manu Vunipola (17)
9 Richard Wigglesworth (243)
1 Richard Barrington (184)
2 Jack Singleton (9)
3 Vincent Koch (76)
4 Callum Hunter-Hill (9)
5 Joel Kpoku (24)
6 Nick Isiekwe (80)
7 Calum Clark (47)
8 Jackson Wray (241)
Replacements
16 Tom Woolstencroft (28)
17 Titi Lamositele (88)
18 Josh Ibuanokpe (7)
19 Andy Christie (5)
20 Sean Reffell (14)
21 Ben Spencer (169)
22 Dom Morris (13)
23 Elliott Obatoyinbo (7)

Harlequins Starting XV:
1 Santiago Garcia Botta (11)
2 Elia Elia (50)
3 Will Collier (165)
4 Stephan Lewies (12)
5 Matt Symons (36)
6 James Chisholm (83)
7 Chris Robshaw (288) (C)
8 Alex Dombrandt (38)
9 Danny Care (270)
10 Marcus Smith (73)
11 Gabriel Ibitoye (34)
12 Paul Lasike (16)
13 Cadan Murley (27)
14 Ross Chisholm (117)
15 Aaron Morris (39)

Game Changers:
16 Jack Musk (9)
17 Nick Auterac (20)
18 Simon Kerrod (14)
19 Tevita Cavubati (11)
20 Semi Kunatani (19)
21 Martin Landajo (12)
22 Brett Herron (7)
23 Tom Penny (1)

Not available due to injury:
Rob Buchanan
Scott Baldwin
Max Crumpton
George Head
Mark Lambert
Jack Clifford
Will Evans
Tom Lawday
Dino Lamb
James Lang
Ben Tapuai
Francis Saili
Luke Northmore
Michele Campagnaro
Nathan Earle
Travis Ismaiel
Mike Brown

Not Available
Joe Marchant

Guinness Six Nations 
Joe Marler
Kyle Sinckler

Sarries blooding their academy in preparation for next season already, only 2 automatic starters, Barritt and Koch.

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:Sarries blooding their academy in preparation for next season already, only 2 automatic starters, Barritt and Koch.

Mako, Itoje, Kruis, Farrell, Daly with England.

Billy, Goode, Williams, Figallo and I presume Maitland injured.

Skelton and Carre suspended.

Watching the Saints vs. Irish last night, you have to question whether some players have mince between their ears. All of the cards were avoidable. Why aren't players leaning that shots to the head will see you ride the pine?

I mean you can probably just about understand if there are collisions at speed, but to get yourself red carded for a high shot at a ruck is just dumb.

Indeed - all 3 cards were plain stupid ...

I was watching Bath v Leicester but just noticed Sale are leading 5-22 against Exeter...switching games now...

Fantastic result from Sale. They certainly have big performances in the locker they haven't been able to find them consistently this season.

Disappointing end for Tigers Vs Bath conceding a soft try having controlled most of the second half until that point. Burns at fullback for Bath wasn't intended but ended up to be a key factor in their victory with him kicking extremely well from deep. Tigers young half backs struggled to counter the more experienced Bath tacticians.

Exeter seemed to have all the ball in the second half but Sale held them out for ages before they could get their second try. The clock was against Exeter after that, and I'm not sure their third try was actually scored. I see Wasps came back agaisnts Worcester, That sounds like it might have been a good match.

Yep the Warriors v Wasps match was tit for tat all the way through ...

Quins leading Saracens 31-7 at the Stoop. Think they'll be enjoying that.

Sarries getting humped.

I do wonder what they have to play for now. The answer is probably pride, but that usually can only be sustained short term - could be a long few months.

Why is Marcus Smith not in the England squad?

Surely he has the march on Umaga in terms of experience, he has played really well, as has Dombrandt, even allowing for Sarries looking all at sea

I think EJ just likes to not pick these guys to show he's the overlord. Dombrandt should be England's starting 8. As long as they realise that after the Scotland game!

BigGee wrote:Why is Marcus Smith not in the England squad?

Surely he has the march on Umaga in terms of experience, he has played really well, as has Dombrandt, even allowing for Sarries looking all at sea

Umaga won't play though. He's there so that the England staff can get a look at his character and give him guidance for what the want him to work on and whether his conditioning is sufficient etc. The only chance of a cap will be to keep him out of the hands of Samoa who are always desperate for a quality 10.

RDW wrote:Sarries getting humped.

I do wonder what they have to play for now. The answer is probably pride, but that usually can only be sustained short term - could be a long few months.

They'll be looking to give experience to the players they'll need next season. Get them up to speed for senior rugby now so they can take the Championship by storm.

RDW wrote:Sarries getting humped.

I do wonder what they have to play for now. The answer is probably pride, but that usually can only be sustained short term - could be a long few months.

Probably the same as almost any other team that isn't Exeter really. Most teams aren't guaranteed play off spots and have to play for a host of things.

Great win for Quins, incredibly satisfying, if tbh i am feeling a bit sorry for the Sarries players left to clear up after this fiasco.

Interesting call by the ref to tell Wray to do one, and then promote their no 10 to captain for the last few mins. Apparently its happened a few times this season.

Great to see Dombrandt, Smith and Care all play so well, all had points to prove.

yappysnap wrote:Great win for Quins, incredibly satisfying, if tbh i am feeling a bit sorry for the Sarries players left to clear up after this fiasco.

Interesting call by the ref to tell Wray to do one, and then promote their no 10 to captain for the last few mins. Apparently its happened a few times this season.

Great to see Dombrandt, Smith and Care all play so well, all had points to prove.

With the squad players in particular I share that view to an extent. Only Koch and Isiekwe from today are starters at full strength. Lozowski is borderline in a tight position. Wigglesworth and Spencer rotate, both were in the 23.

You do have wonder how the side today will have felt about heading out for the away game when strong sides will likely still be picked at Allianz. For all the 'wolfpack' rhetoric I do wonder how those squad players and backroom staff who could lose their jobs will be feeling about the situation.

Particularly when most the talk surrounding relegation has been about how it will affect Sarries highly paid stars who realistically have no employment worries. Mako and Billy for instance may well feel put out but when push comes to shove they can both warrant approx £500k/pa by moving elsewhere if needs be.

On the game itself. Dombrandt was fantastic again. I can only think that Jones is wanting to test Earl due to how we were physically battered by South Africa. Earl is a very physical player with a huge work rate and he's quick.

Jones game plan seems set on using very quick ball to unleash dangerous outside backs. Hence Daly being pushed to 15 where he's good in attack albeit weak in defence. Cokanasiga being fast tracked as a weapon on the wing. May quickly established as a first choice for his raw pace. Manu picked almost immediately once fit and available.

Sinkler, Mako and Curry have all shown deft hands as first receiver perhaps making that side of Dombrandt's game seem less vital. Maybe Jones is set on using the forwards to give the half-backs quick ball then just let the outside backs play.

How Earl is used in the 6 Nations will be interesting.

Indeed. The starting pack could well have three 7s in it, which is certainly better than having three 4s (as has been tried in the past). It might work, it might not.

Dombrandt hardly lacks for pace as he showed today, and adds the same kind of power and variation that Easter did. But if the requirement is for him to work on having 80 minute fitness at international pace, them that's a fair development point. His time will come, I suspect.

On today's showing, though, Smith is looking ready for his chance.

On social media, one of the pro analysts for BT (I think) posted a table of results that showed that Dombrandt clearly lead the way for carries and dominant collisions won amongst all his peers. The only think he seems to be lacking is defense IIRC he had one of the worst missed tackle stats. In the collision though he is a beast, and if Jones does want a dynamic power player then at the moment he's better then Vunipola (who was also in there and really surprisingly poor).

king_carlos wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Great win for Quins, incredibly satisfying, if tbh i am feeling a bit sorry for the Sarries players left to clear up after this fiasco.

Interesting call by the ref to tell Wray to do one, and then promote their no 10 to captain for the last few mins. Apparently its happened a few times this season.

Great to see Dombrandt, Smith and Care all play so well, all had points to prove.

With the squad players in particular I share that view to an extent. Only Koch and Isiekwe from today are starters at full strength. Lozowski is borderline in a tight position. Wigglesworth and Spencer rotate, both were in the 23.

You do have wonder how the side today will have felt about heading out for the away game when strong sides will likely still be picked at Allianz. For all the 'wolfpack' rhetoric I do wonder how those squad players and backroom staff who could lose their jobs will be feeling about the situation.

Particularly when most the talk surrounding relegation has been about how it will affect Sarries highly paid stars who realistically have no employment worries. Mako and Billy for instance may well feel put out but when push comes to shove they can both warrant approx £500k/pa by moving elsewhere if needs be.

Totally agree with this, a lot of the squad players have given years to Sarries to then be pretty poorly managed in all honesty. Reminds me of when the SA cartel took over years back and blokes were brought in for a quick interview and then given their marching ordres

Dombrandt was awesome yesterday. Right from the get go he showed his intent- the immediate turnover followed by the bruising run and deft offload and interplay with Care to send him over. Simply brilliant. He always seems to be involved and available for the offload. 

It was mentioned on Eggchasers that apparently EJ is planning a squad overhaul at some point during the 6N. You'd have thought that if this is true, Dombrandt would be the first name on the squad list.

Saints were poor Friday, the quicker Vass gets to work on the midfield defense the better. LI punched holes at will.

The 7 players on international call up were really missed and having Francis off with yet another head injury after a only a short time did not help.

Some very strange officiating, Ratuniyarawa's red was in my view dubious,the clear out was unnecessary but the first contact was with a forearm at chest level, followed by a should which looked to me to make contact with the shoulder. There was absolutely no contact with the head, it didn't move. If 19 stone of shoulder hit my head when I was stationary, I am pretty sure my head would rock back.

The yellow card for Meehan was a red all the way, the whistle had gone, Reinach was stationary not doing anything and suddenly Meehan picks him up, beyond the horizontal and dumps him on the floor in such a manner that his head hit the post, albeit padded.

It was not a tackle as play had stopped, therefore it was foul play and dangerous. If Reinach's head had not hit the post he would probably have landed on it.

The TMO was trying to get Reinach sent off for a dangerous high tackle, he had one hand on a shoulder from behind when he wrapped up the LI player and dislodged the ball. Ref rightly gave him as much as an admonishment as he could, words to teh effect of " a hand on the shoulder is not a high tackle to me".

You have to give LI credit though they kept at it and eventually got the points they needed, Saints were very poor. Boyd is going ballistic.

bluestonevedder wrote:

It was mentioned on Eggchasers that apparently EJ is planning a squad overhaul at some point during the 6N. You'd have thought that if this is true, Dombrandt would be the first name on the squad list.

Im wondering how much of that is based on seeing where certain Sarries players end up contracts wise. Hes not going to want to spend time with players who are f'ing off to France or Japan but maybe has sent a strong message to MVP to find a premiership contract.

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:Saints were poor Friday, the quicker Vass gets to work on the midfield defense the better. LI punched holes at will.

The 7 players on international call up were really missed and having Francis off with yet another head injury after a only a short time did not help.

Some very strange officiating, Ratuniyarawa's red was in my view dubious,the clear out was unnecessary but the first contact was with a forearm at chest level, followed by a should which looked to me to make contact with the shoulder. There was absolutely no contact with the head, it didn't move. If 19 stone of shoulder hit my head when I was stationary, I am pretty sure my head would rock back.

The yellow card for Meehan was a red all the way, the whistle had gone, Reinach was stationary not doing anything and suddenly Meehan picks him up, beyond the horizontal and dumps him on the floor in such a manner that his head hit the post, albeit padded.

It was not a tackle as play had stopped, therefore it was foul play and dangerous. If Reinach's head had not hit the post he would probably have landed on it.

The TMO was trying to get Reinach sent off for a dangerous high tackle, he had one hand on a shoulder from behind when he wrapped up the LI player and dislodged the ball. Ref rightly gave him as much as an admonishment as he could, words to teh effect of " a hand on the shoulder is not a high tackle to me".

You have to give LI credit though they kept at it and eventually got the points they needed, Saints were very poor. Boyd is going ballistic.

I really thought that the ref had a shocker. He failed to referee the offside line which LI capitalised on and let them lie on the ball all match long. And yes Meehan should have been permanently removed from the game.

I didn't want to look like it was sour grapes, but I agree with the offside and slowing down bit. Coleman was well offside when he charged down Taylor's kick for their third try, I was jumping up and down that he didn't even look when BT were showing it over and over again.

Whats your take on the Reinach tackle LT, apart from just amazing.