Gallagher Premiership 2020/21

First topic message reminder :

That's not a high tackle. Heyes initial contact is the chest. If you're going to review it, review it properly. It's a legal tackle.

How did the assistant miss that the LI player knocks the ball out of JVP's hands and into touch before the Joseph break. It was right in front of him FFS. Lineout Tigers.

Anyway, Tigers blow what should have been a straightforward win and only get 4 instead of 5 points. LI manage to snatch 2 league points with a TBP at the death. Probably a fair result as LI were the better side in the first half but didn't really show up in the second. Hassell-Collins is looking like a really classy player, shame Parton went off.

No 7&1/2 wrote:2nd disallowed try, a knock over the line, one held up over the line and now Gloucester down to 13. 20 mins gone.

Much more entertaining by the sounds of it

All though there has been some good rugby in fits and starts...

Gloucester are in a lot of trouble. A red card inside 20 minutes against Bristol is going to make it a very tough afternoon.

Glawster glawster glawster....

Luv it.

Bloody hell this game. Bristol how they are not 50 points up i don't know.

Showboating gets what it deserves.

Nice to see all the loyal Brizzle fans turned up like they used to at the memorial ground. About the same numbers.

Paul hill scores a try jinking over the ljne

Penny off for a HIA ...hope he comes back hes one of our contenders for player of the season.

And meanwhile Carl Fearns comes on....

Yes get in Radders!!! Well taken finish

And Connon hits the conversion from the touchline...

10-10

Oooh bad mistake by Grayson. Rejects the posts then kicks it out the end zone rather than touch...

And another try chalked off for a forward pass. 13 7. Should be about 107 7 by now.

7th try chalked off.

Falcons try...

Smashed the saints scrumnin to pieces ball spin out then young Academy back Obonna scores in the corner...

15-10

Fearns just leveled someone in a tackle then 30 seconds later won the turnover...

Good signing...

GeordieFalcon wrote:Fearns just leveled someone in a tackle then 30 seconds later won the turnover...

Good signing...

He's a bit bloke that hits things hard. Not complicated but sometimes you don't need to be.

Now Grayson misses a penalty....costly mistakes

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Fearns just leveled someone in a tackle then 30 seconds later won the turnover...

Good signing...

He's a bit bloke that hits things hard. Not complicated but sometimes you don't need to be.

It's like we said the other say Sam, how do I feel signing him over the academy. Fearns just brings something we haven't got....sheer size and physicality...hes just smashing things in defence and with the ball....

Mind Mark Wilson has been outstanding tonight...as has your pal Ludlum....been impressive

Blamire gets a turnover that should win us the game.

Connon converts 18-10

Falcons win

I have never seen so many disallowed tries in a game. What is it now 10?

Despite the issue with not taking chances in the 22....I thought this was a better performance than last week...

Bristol have their bonus try finally.

No 7&1/2 wrote:I have never seen so many disallowed tries in a game. What is it now 10?

9 or 10 and they still got 30 odd points on the board. Imagine of they'd scored then all and not ballsed so many up. Could have been a record points score.

Dave Walder has asked why there was no England representation at our game last night..

Valid point i think.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Dave Walder has asked why there was no England representation at our game last night..

Valid point i think.

England coaches present? Come on now Geordie there's only three coaches left they can't be everywhere.

If they were watching the game they may well have switched over to Bristol Gloucester after the opening quarter of the game. I certainly did.

On a slightly more serious note Radwan will probably be in Eddie's plans as he looks for a younger speedster to replace May who's not getting any younger. Wilson has long been a favourite but is now probably over the hill. Dunn's red card might open up a place for one of the Falcons hookers though.

Well with all the young talent on display from both sides...id have been keen to be at the game...

He knows what Bristol have...

Nah if Eddie actually went to a Saints game he'd realise Furbank can't catch which would then mean he couldn't select him over the range of other quality fullbacks about. Some of the Saints players may also be released he wasn't in attendance.

Might pick at Fly Half....

I still think Furbank is a really good 15 who's performances warranted England selection, he just fell short against international class opposition which happens. I was glad he got the opportunity his performances warranted though.

I feel slightly similar about Malins to be honest. Whilst I think he has weaknesses in his game that will see him be no more consistent defensively than Daly is at fullback in international rugby I also think his Premiership performances have warranted selection to prove me wrong. Given how electric he is in attack I'd be delighted to eat my words.

When Furbank got selected most of us (myself included) and many pundits were screaming for him to get a go as he looked a much more natural fullback than Daly and the RWC final was fresh in the memory. After Furbank's poor showings in the same areas that Daly struggled I've heard the some of the same fans, posters here and pundits who wanted Furbank to get a shot use him as an example of Jones being unable to select a decent fullback.

International selection really is a damned if you do damned if you don't type of area. If Simmonds tears it up with the Lions then it will be a stick to beat Jones with for instance but if he struggles against the physicality of the Boks forwards then the pundits such as Goodey who have dined out on column inches and airtime about Simmonds over the last couple of years will quietly move onto Dombrandt, Barbeary, Tom Willis, the next England U20 to make an impact next season, etc without a word about it!

It's one of the toughest things to balance in international selection I think. Where's that line between giving chances to someone who's performances have absolutely demanded a chance whilst not using up minutes on players that a coach doesn't see as a long term part of the plan. 2 tests this summer, 2021 AIs, 2022 Six Nations, 2022 summer tour, 2022 AIs, 2023 Six Nations. That's probably just over 20 Tests between now and the 2023 RWC warm-up games.

Internationals and international selection is very unforgiving and unkind, especially given the number of players waiting for an opportunity. Harrison looked lost when he got on the pitch. Underhill, Curry - both looked as if it was their natural habitat from day one. Goode was often (ironically) bad in his opportunities although he did have some skills. Daly did some very good stuff but can be shown up. Furbank was very ... meh. Didn't look like he had the skill set. Didn't have the power to make up for that.

I know this is territory we have gone over before, but I still think England missed a huge opportunity last year in the Autumn Nations Cup by not trying out more younger players.  And even the Six Nations this year, though my main beef, like a lot of us, was picking players out of shape.  The ANC was a rare opportunity to give the young'uns a go, and (almost) no one would have complained.

king_carlos wrote:I still think Furbank is a really good 15 who's performances warranted England selection, he just fell short against international class opposition which happens. I was glad he got the opportunity his performances warranted though.

My opinion is based on what I've seen for Northampton more than the England caps. I didn't see much of him pre call up but what I've seen since suggests that he's a good footballer with a rugby brain but he's not got the poise for fullback and not physical enough to play centre nor quick enough to play wing. He's talented but where he fits is the conundrum currently. When I've seen him at 15 for Saints you always suspect there's an error in there somewhere.

Anyone watching the Irish - Exeter game? O’Flaherty just got a yellow for taking out Parton in the air - but tipped him past half way with no realistic chance of winning the ball, and Parton landed face first on the turf.

How is that not a red? Reckless contact in the air, high degree of danger, past horizontal, head first landing. Every box ticked.

Did he get mitigation for trying to jump? He was slightly airborne.

Cuthbert was more than a touch lucky not to see a card for the high shot on Parton as well.

Think he lands on his arm first...but just. They didn't have too many views before the decision though.

He did not land on head or neck, which is the criteria for a red.

A poorly timrd challenge and a YC the right csll in my opinion

Cuthbert should have seen yellow ...

Glad I don't have to make a decision on that. Watched it several times and I'm not sure.

BigGee wrote:He did not land on head or neck, which is the criteria for a red.

A poorly timrd challenge and a YC the right csll in my opinion

I disagree - from the replays I saw his knees and forehead hit the ground at the same time. It’s certainly not a safe landing.

Very unimpressed by Ridley tonight - didn’t even check on Cuthbert, which should have been a Yellow, and tried very hard to give O’Flaherty a try he knocked on.

I think his arms did hit the ground marginally before his head but he still hit his head on the ground with some force so level of danger you could make a case for red but I can also see why it was yellow. To not even consider a yellow for Cuthbert when he hit Parton in the head/neck with force is bewildering in the current environment.

I like Chiefs but I also wonder when they will start getting pinged for either putting hands on the ground or flying off their feet at every ruck.

That never did NZ any harm when they were the best in the world.

Heaf wrote:I think his arms did hit the ground marginally before his head but he still hit his head on the ground with some force so level of danger you could make a case for red but I can also see why it was yellow.  To not even consider a yellow for Cuthbert when he hit Parton in the head/neck with force is bewildering in the current environment.

I like Chiefs but I also wonder when they will start getting pinged for either putting hands on the ground or flying off their feet at every ruck.

Every team do that now, it really annoys me, no ref picks it up. The other on that annoys me is the old support runner(s) latching onto the ball carrier before contact, it flies in the face of the current climate of player safety.

Theo Brophy Clews retires due to concussion at the age of 24. Not good but lets just hope hes stopping early enough to avoid any long term issues.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/57206299

Manu back on the bench for Sale i see

Massive changes for Falcons v Exeter....we must be targeting Worcester next week

15 Joel Hodgson
14 Alex Tait
13 George Wacokecoke
12 Pete Lucock
11 Chidera Obonna
10 Toby Flood (captain)
9 Sam Stuart

1 Kyle Cooper
2 Robbie Smith
3 Rodney Ah You
4 Toby Salmon
5 Rob Farrar
6 Gary Graham
7 John Hardie
8 Carl Fearns

Replacements

16 Charlie Maddison
17 Sam Lockwood
18 Mark Tampin
19 Will Montgomery
20 Tom Marshall
21 Louis Schreuder
22 Will Haydon-Wood
23 Zach Kerr

Exeter team, they’ve gone full strength pretty much. Hopefully we can keep it under 50.

15 FACUNDO CORDERO
14 ALEX CUTHBERT
13 HENRY SLADE
12 OLLIE DEVOTO
11 TOM O’FLAHERTY
10 JOE SIMMONDS (CAPT)
9 JACK MAUNDER
1 ALEC HEPBURN
2 LUKE COWAN-DICKIE
3 HARRY WILLIAMS
4 JANNES KIRSTEN
5 SAM SKINNER
6 DAVE EWERS
7 JACQUES VERMEULEN
8 SAM SIMMONDS

16 JACK YEANDLE
17 BEN MOON
18 TOMAS FRANCIS
19 JONNY HILL
20 SEAN LONSDALE
21 STU TOWNSEND
22 HARVEY SKINNER
23 STUART HOGG

GF I think there's a good third of the Exeter first team missing from the first XV. Unfortunately for you several of those are on the bench.

Tigers are shuffling the pack a bit for this one. Some younger guys getting the chance to lay down a marker.

TIGERS XV:
15 Zack Henry [24]
14 Kobus Van Wyk [12]
13 Matt Scott [22]
12 Dan Kelly [18]
11 Nemani Nadolo [13]
10 Johnny McPhillips [18]
9 Ben Youngs (c) [261]
1 Ellis Genge [86]
2 Charlie Clare [32]
3 Joe Heyes [68]
4 Harry Wells [121]
5 Cameron Henderson [14]
6 Hanro Liebenberg [33]
7 Tommy Reffell [45]
8 Jasper Wiese [17]
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Tom Youngs [213]
17 James Whitcombe [5]
18 Dan Cole [261]
19 Tomás Lavanini [34]
20 George Martin [14]
21 Jack Van Poortvliet [19]
22 Kini Murimurivalu [20]
23 Harry Potter [13]
Worcester Warriors: 15 Jamie Shillcock, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Harri Doel, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Francois Hougaard, 1 Marc Thomas, 2 Niall Annett, 3 Jay Tyack, 4 Andrew Kitchener, 5 Justin Clegg, 6 Ted Hill (C), 7 Sam Lewis, 8 Matt Kvesic. Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Callum Black, 18 Scott Andrews, 19 Joe Batley, 20 Kyle Hatherell, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Noah Heward.