Premiership Round 5

Fri Oct 15, 2021
7:45pm Sale-Harlequins

Sat Oct 16, 2021

3:00pm Worcester-Leicester
3:00pm Newcastle-Bristol
3:00pm Wasps-Exeter Chiefs

Sun Oct 17, 2021

3:00pm London Irish-Gloucester
3:00pm Bath-Saracens

Can't see a thread so here goes. Teams for Friday (BBC so blame them for any mistake):

Sale: Hammersley; Solomona, S James, Tuilagi, McGuigan; Wilkinson, Quirke; Rodd, Langdon, Schonert, Wiese, JL du Preez, Ross (capt), T Curry, D du Preez.

Replacements: Taylor, Harrison, Oosthuizen, JP du Preez, Nield, Warr, Curtis, L James.

Harlequins: Green; Marchant, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care; Marler, Walker, Kerrod, Symons, Lamb, Chisholm, Kenningham, Dombrandt (capt).

Replacements: Riley, Baxter, Collier, Tizard, Lawday, Steele, Jones, Lynagh.

Referee: Tom Foley (RFU).


Looks like the experiment with Solomona at full back is over, he looks an out and out winger and one who burned defensive bridges with Jones. Have to say I was surprised that Lynagh was hooked early last week and now starts on the bench...did I miss something on that?

Could be a long day at the office for Bath....i think that could be a big score in favour of Saracens.

As to us....i just hope Bristol suddenly dont find their "pomp". Hopefully even if they do, we'll still give them a good game.

Care and Smith will need to turn up in this one. Make life tough for the young Sale pairing and take the big Sale pack out of the equation. Sale do fade in games whilst Quins finish strongly so this one could get somewhat one sided after 60 minutes.

I'm guessing Lynagh is benched so Marchant and Northmore can close down the Sale midfield. Manu and James are a physical combination of they start breaking through the Sale wings will cause havoc.

I'm hoping Worcester don't decide to turn up and Tigers can put victory number 5 on the board.

Make it past 20 mins no more than 30 down and you're in with a chance against Bristol at the moment. Type of game you hope Radwan is going to get plenty of ball. Played well last week in positioning and tackling but was spectacularly underused, should get a bit more space this week you'd think.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Care and Smith will need to turn up in this one. Make life tough for the young Sale pairing and take the big Sale pack out of the equation. Sale do fade in games whilst Quins finish strongly so this one could get somewhat one sided after 60 minutes.

I'm guessing Lynagh is benched so Marchant and Northmore can close down the Sale midfield. Manu and James are a physical combination of they start breaking through the Sale wings will cause havoc.

I'm hoping Worcester don't decide to turn up and Tigers can put victory number 5 on the board.

Thats exactly what i thought.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Make it past 20 mins no more than 30 down and you're in with a chance against Bristol at the moment. Type of game you hope Radwan is going to get plenty of ball. Played well last week in positioning and tackling but was spectacularly underused, should get a bit more space this week you'd think.

Very true.

I hope Stephens starts again on the wing, rather than Earle. Stephens just looked so sharp, with electric pace....and he's aggressive.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Care and Smith will need to turn up in this one. Make life tough for the young Sale pairing and take the big Sale pack out of the equation. Sale do fade in games whilst Quins finish strongly so this one could get somewhat one sided after 60 minutes.

I'm guessing Lynagh is benched so Marchant and Northmore can close down the Sale midfield. Manu and James are a physical combination of they start breaking through the Sale wings will cause havoc.

I'm hoping Worcester don't decide to turn up and Tigers can put victory number 5 on the board.

Don't underestimate the Quins pack - they are one of the best scrummaging packs around, and Kenningham, Chisholm and Dombrandt is a very physical back row. Marler is also one of the best defensive players in the NH. There are others with a higher tackle count, but his ability to put in an absolutely crunching legal hit on a back who gets ideas is a big part of Quins' ability to control games. Lineout is still wobbly, but I am expecting that Quins will be trying to keep the ball in play.

I agree with you on the centres, though. Andre vs Manu is going to be a real physical clash, and Northmore brings a bit more heft than Marchant (who's equally adept on the wing anyway). If Quins can tire Sale out, then a fresh Lynagh can wreak havoc at the right time.

I think it may come down to possession. If Wilkinson can create enough to keep the Sale attack moving forward they will make it hard for Quins. If the Quins rush defence can take away his options then it swings the other way. Flip side is, if Smith has enough time with the ball in hand, he will create chances and the question will be whether Sale can get defenders there faster than Quins can get support players.

The Enya game (Sale Away) is always a tough ask, especially on a Friday night, but I am looking forward to it as the first real test of whether Quins can cope with the power game teams. An LBP would be a decent enough return from the match at this stage of the season, but if Quins are still in the game at 60 minutes, I'll be hoping for a win.

Whats the crack with Kenningham?

He looks quite lean and tall. What does he bring to the quins side, which is getting rave reviews?

Poorfour wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Care and Smith will need to turn up in this one. Make life tough for the young Sale pairing and take the big Sale pack out of the equation. Sale do fade in games whilst Quins finish strongly so this one could get somewhat one sided after 60 minutes.

I'm guessing Lynagh is benched so Marchant and Northmore can close down the Sale midfield. Manu and James are a physical combination of they start breaking through the Sale wings will cause havoc.

I'm hoping Worcester don't decide to turn up and Tigers can put victory number 5 on the board.

Don't underestimate the Quins pack - they are one of the best scrummaging packs around, and Kenningham, Chisholm and Dombrandt is a very physical back row. Marler is also one of the best defensive players in the NH. There are others with a higher tackle count, but his ability to put in an absolutely crunching legal hit on a back who gets ideas is a big part of Quins' ability to control games. Lineout is still wobbly, but I am expecting that Quins will be trying to keep the ball in play.

Not underestimating Quins pack but Sale's big and mobile pack took them to the playoffs last season. My point was that an experienced half back combination should keep them in the their own half and attacking from deep isn't really what you want with a big pack because they tend to run out of gas. What Quins won't want is a lot of Sales phases in their half, wave after wave of heavy duty Sale attacks will be a bruising and Quins forward options on the bench are a serious step down from the starting ones. The youngsters have bags of potential but Sale have more grunt and if it's an arm wrestle that won't help Quins.

The Quins tactics should be keep Sale pinned back and then counter attack from the Sale kicking game or look for turnovers as Sale try to play out from their half. They should be able to pick Sale apart like that, Sale's defence isn't that great and Quins backline is pretty exceptional.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Whats the crack with Kenningham?

He looks quite lean and tall. What does he bring to the quins side, which is getting rave reviews?

Chop tackles, jackles and lineout jumper. He's pretty mobile and a passable link man. Think he could be a really good blindside eventually a Robshaw Mark 2.

I have heard Kenningham described as a (youthful and in-form Tom Wood). Which is probably a good comparison at the moment.

Away to Sale is normally quite a niggly game, I would be more worried if Faf and McGinty were playing, but still am not expecting Quins to cut away in quite the same way as more recent results.

Quins fans tend to think of Kenningham as standing in relation to Robshaw much as Dombrandt stands to Easter: same skill set and physical attributes but much, much faster.

Will Greenwood has said he reminds him of Lewis Moody, which I think is a good comparison physically and in terms of commitment, but underplays how good his decision making is (especially for such a young player).

As to the match, I agree with Sam on tactics but not that our bench forwards are a big step down from the starters. Riley’s unproven but all our hookers are flaky anyway. Baxter is inexperienced but from watching him at U20s he’s like a more sensible version of Marler (who will in any case probably insist on playing 70+ minutes). Collier is finally in great form after a long period carrying injuries. Tizard and Lawday have both had a decent amount of starting XV time. I think Sale’s forwards replacements are probably a little better, but Quins don’t lose anything like as much with those replacements as they have in previous seasons.

The key for Quins is not to let Sale settle into phase play, I suspect. Anything they can do to disrupt play and upset Sanderson’s patterns, even at the risk of conceding tries, is good for the game. That’s essentially what they did against Exeter in the final, and it’s likely to be the key when playing against the more structured sides.

The key for Sale will probably be to be patient, keep hold of the ball even at the cost of being static or forced backwards and look for the holes in the defensive line. But I’ll be hoping that their halfbacks aren’t experienced enough to take full advantage.

What potentially will stand Kenningham out over his competition in the back row (thinking with my England cap on) ?

And theres an awful lot of competition...

GeordieFalcon wrote:What potentially will stand Kenningham out over his competition in the back row (thinking with my England cap on) ?

And theres an awful lot of competition...

I think Kenningham for England could become the ideal option for Eddie at 6. Mobile, loves a chop tackle and turnover but can link. Very similar to the flankers Eddie likes. What sometimes Eddie doesn't like is the lack of a jumper in the backrow but at 6ft3 and seemingly with a decent jump the Kenningham could tick that box, if he develops it to a real strength then it becomes a very significant USP in terms of selection.

PourFour in relation to the Quins bench I know Riley and Baxter were excellent in the under 20s and both look likely to be future internationals but there's a big difference between age grade and playing against Oosthuizen and Langdon who have senior caps. Tizard might be a hand club man but up against man mountain JP du Preez you'd only pick one and it's not the Quins man. My point was you want to keep the likes of Marler and Symons as fresh as possible, make the Sale pack work hard so you can make the Marler change on 70 mins and not earlier in the game because he's made 15 tackles after 50 mini and all were high impact as well as 10 scrums and a dozen rolling mauls near the Quins line.

Quins beat Chiefs because of a) an amazing intensity that you can't expect every week because the players will be dead before Christmas and b) Chiefs tactical suicide. I'd firmly pigeon hole that game as a one off crunch epic as opposed to the template for regular season games especially pre Christmas. I certainly agree on the disrupt the patterns approach though, nothing is going to make it tougher on the young halfbacks then not being able to go to the moves they've been running in training all week.

I think Kenningham's point of difference is that he does everything well and does a lot of it. His workrate is enormous - up there at Pocock-like levels, he learns fast and he's got few weaknesses. I am guessing that Eddie sees him as good cover for Curry. I doubt he'll get many starts early in his career, but I can see him being used on the bench a lot.

Re: Sale, I think Sam that we are violently agreeing. Sale's forward bench is better, but I think Quins' is good enough. Quins likely won't match the intensity of a knock out round - but neither will Sale. It comes down to whether Sale can impose their gameplan enough to drag Quins into a phase play game and build a lead at 60 minutes - because I expect Quins to score late tries. They have conditioned me to expect it over the last year.

Falcons v Bristol

15 Mike Brown,
14 Adam Radwan,
13 Ben Stevenson,
12 Max Wright,
11 Mateo Carreras,
10 Brett Connon,
9 Louis Schreuder;

1 Adam Brocklebank,
2 George McGuigan,
3 Trevor Davison,
4 Greg Peterson,
5 George Merrick,
6 Callum Chick,
7 Will Welch (captain),
8 Carl Fearns.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Will Montgomery, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 George Wacokecoke.

Bristol Team:

15. Ioan Lloyd (45 apps);
14. Toby Fricker (17 apps),
13. Jack Bates (7 apps),
12. Antoine Frisch (0 apps),
11. Alapati Leiua (85 apps);
10. Callum Sheedy (111 apps),
9. Harry Randall (70 apps);

1. Yann Thomas (72 apps),
2. Jake Kerr (6 apps),
3. Kyle Sinckler (24 caps),
4. Dave Attwood (c) (60 apps),
5. Joe Joyce (128 apps),
6. Sam Jeffries (34 apps),
7. Dan Thomas (90 apps),
8. Fitz Harding (11 apps).

System players: 16. Harry Thacker (56 apps), 17. Max Lahiff (31 apps), 18. John Afoa (71 apps), 19. John Hawkins (21 apps), 20. Jake Heenan (57 apps), 21. Andy Uren (118 apps), 22. Tom Whiteley (0 apps), 23. Charlie Powell (14 apps).

[size=39]Team News | Tigers side to play Warriors[/size]

Steve Borthwick has named the Leicester Tigers matchday squad for the Gallagher Premiership Round 5 fixture against Worcester Warriors.
Julián Montoya, who returned to action in Round 4, starts at hooker alongside club captain Ellis Genge and Dan Cole in the front row.
Nic Dolly, Nephi Leatigaga and Joe Heyes are the front-row replacements.
Harry Wells and Eli Snyman are the second-row pairing in the Tigers pack, with Cameron Henderson and Ollie Chessum named on the Tigers bench.
In a new-look back row, Jasper Wiese is included for the first time this season after returning from international duty with South Africa.
Wiese starts at No8, with vice-captain Hanro Liebenberg and Marco van Staden the flankers.

Jack van Poortvliet is the starting scrum-half this week, partnering George Ford as the starting half-backs, with Richard Wigglesworth and Freddie Burns included among the replacements.
Matt Scott, who started last weekend’s away win over London Irish at outside-centre, shifts to inside-centre and is joined in the Lending out the replacements is Kini Murimurivalu who, if used, will make his first appearance of the season from the bench.
Previewing the game, Borthwick said: “Worcester are at a similar stage in their own journey to us at Leicester Tigers, with Jonathan Thomas clearly making the Worcester playing squad and coaching team his own.
“He has recruited some world class talent for this season, including two members of the British & Irish Lions touring squad.
“They are a side capable of scoring points, averaging more than 23 per game so far this season, and will be out to put in a big performance in front of their home crowd on Saturday afternoon.”
STARTING XV
15 Freddie Steward [39]
14 Harry Potter [18]
13 Matías Moroni [17] *
12 Matt Scott [28]
11 Nemani Nadolo [19]
10 George Ford [109]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [24]
1 Ellis Genge (c) [93]
2 Julián Montoya [7]
3 Dan Cole [268]
4 Harry Wells [128]
5 Eli Snyman [3]
6 Hanro Liebenberg (vc) [40]
7 Marco van Staden [1]
8 Jasper Wiese [20] *
REPLACEMENTS
16 Nic Dolly [6]
17 Nephi Leatigaga [45]
18 Joe Heyes [74]
19 Cameron Henderson [18]
20 Ollie Chessum [11]
21 Richard Wigglesworth [16]
22 Freddie Burns [79]
23 Kini Murimurivalu [23] *
* denotes first appearance of 21/22 season
WORCESTER WARRIORS: 15 Harri Doel, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Francois Venter (CC), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Will Chudley; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Scott Baldwin (CC), 3 Christian Judge, 4 Andrew Kitchener, 5 Justin Clegg, 6 Kyle Hatherell, 7 Sam Lewis, 8 Sione Vailanu
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Jay Tyack, 19 Joe Batley, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Oli Morris

You can take this to the bank, guaranteed:  Saints will not lose this weekend.

We are still in the (relatively) early days in the Premiership season and I am still not so sure about a lot of teams.  So many could still go either way, up or down, including my Saints, who likely are in need of a new coaching set-up.  The only things seemingly returning to form this early are Worcester being poor, Quins attack is something, Saints can dominate like nobody's business then mess up adding 1+1, and Saracens can still play.  For the rest we have plenty of time to see if teams keep their form or find their real level. This does make the season more fun....

Wow. That's a strong starting XV named by Tigers. Certainly optimistic about a 5th win with that side.

It shows how far the back row has come from being a glaring weakness to now that we can rotate out Martin and Reffell after being prominent in four wins on the trot but still name that back row.

Really happy to see Heyes and Murimurivalu back into the 23.

I rate Justin Clegg really highly so will be interested to see how Snyman goes running the lineout against him.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Bristol Team:

15. Ioan Lloyd (45 apps);
14. Toby Fricker (17 apps),
13. Jack Bates (7 apps),
12. Antoine Frisch (0 apps),
11. Alapati Leiua (85 apps);
10. Callum Sheedy (111 apps),
9. Harry Randall (70 apps);

1. Yann Thomas (72 apps),
2. Jake Kerr (6 apps),
3. Kyle Sinckler (24 caps),
4. Dave Attwood (c) (60 apps),
5. Joe Joyce (128 apps),
6. Sam Jeffries (34 apps),
7. Dan Thomas (90 apps),
8. Fitz Harding (11 apps).

System players: 16. Harry Thacker (56 apps), 17. Max Lahiff (31 apps), 18. John Afoa (71 apps), 19. John Hawkins (21 apps), 20. Jake Heenan (57 apps), 21. Andy Uren (118 apps), 22. Tom Whiteley (0 apps), 23. Charlie Powell (14 apps).

Unavailable: Bryan Byrne, Jake Woolmore, Mitch Eadie, Chris Vui, Steven Luatua, Semi Radradra, Piers O’Conor, Sam Bedlow, Henry Purdy, Siva Naulago, Luke Morahan.

A good time to play Bristol. O'Conor and Radrada are one of the best centre pairings you'll see in the Premiership but that's one of the weakest.

Two scrum-halves on the bench just to get bodies out I'd presume!

Steward has already played 39 times for Tigers? Hes gaining alot of experience for such a young age...

GeordieFalcon wrote:Steward has already played 39 times for Tigers? Hes gaining alot of experience for such a young age...

Geordan Murphy was thrown a hospital pass of a squad with far too little coaching experience but one thing he did do well was bring back a policy of trusting the youngsters.

Reffell won his fifty cap a couple of weeks ago. Martin already has 20 caps. Joe Heyes has 74 as a 22-year-old tighthead.

The squads in a good place if we can keep hold of the youngsters coming through.

It's also noticeable that several of the overseas players signed are young enough to be around for years. Liebenberg (26), Wiese (25) and van Staden (26) could be with Tigers for the prime of their careers.

Liebenberg is already well on the way to having the type of impact that Jono Ross had at Sale or Jacques Burger at Sarries. Starts practically every game, adds a primary lineout jumper in the back row, tackles everything that moves, wins turnovers, carries strongly and a very good leader. Some player.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Steward has already played 39 times for Tigers? Hes gaining alot of experience for such a young age...

For a team desperately searching for stability having Steward at the back was a life saver. Murphy actually bothered to pay attention to who was coming out the academy and put development pathways into place so could accomplish what KC said.

Steward could be one of those that earns a ridiculous number of caps for Tigers considering his age. Just needs to stay fit and ideally sign a really long term deal. Could get a lot of England caps in the right backline as well.

I think Newcastle will be targeting a win against a Bristol side that’s missing a lot of players in the back line. Bristol’s best chance may be to control the game through the forwards, but their pack is built more for fast action than arm wrestling.

That Tigers side should take a comfortable away win against Worcester, and I can’t see past Sarries winning at Bath (much as I would like to).

You’d fancy Wasps at home against an Exeter side that haven’t found their form properly, but it could go either way. And I’d guess that London Irish will score a lot of points but somehow contrive to give Gloucester a chance to win, which for once they may be able to take.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Falcons v Bristol

15 Mike Brown,
14 Adam Radwan,
13 Ben Stevenson,
12 Max Wright,
11 Mateo Carreras,
10 Brett Connon,
9 Louis Schreuder;

1 Adam Brocklebank,
2 George McGuigan,
3 Trevor Davison,
4 Greg Peterson,
5 George Merrick,
6 Callum Chick,
7 Will Welch (captain),
8 Carl Fearns.

Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Will Montgomery, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 George Wacokecoke.

Max Wright could be a really shrewd signing for Falcons I reckon. That's a well balanced back line with three really talent players to launch from the bench.

Do you have injuries at lock GF? Robinson and Fuser are noticeable absentees. Especially with Wilson already out as well.

I'm not aware of any injuries to the locks KC, but that's nothing new..Dean doesn't release any Info

I just think we have a very good stable and Dean likes to rotate and give them all gametime.  Merrick is a very good prem player, and getting his first start for us. Peterson has been superb for us since he joined and is getting better.

Montgomery on the bench is a young version of Robinson coming though...an Ahletic young lock. He'll have to go some to match Robinson mind, who i think is outstanding but there's high hope for him. So we shall see how he develops.

Also of note...young Iwan Stephens who looked so good in the first few games is starting for local Club Blaydon tomorrow.

We have some very good wing options. Too many!

Although Stwphens is very much a full back for the future.

I bet the Welsh are keeping a very close eye on him!

Watching the vid pre game Quirke has a lot of strapping on his knee. That's not a good sign, hope he's not needing it for the actual game tonight.

Since I have time to kill on a nice sunny 80°F afternoon, I looked at the matches and thought I would make iron clad predictions.  Otherwise I have to go out and cut the grass....

ROUND 5
FRI, OCT 15, 14:45 EDT
Sale Sharks-Harlequins
No Faf or McGinty vs. Care and Smith????  Without Faf and McGinty (whose value to the team I really undervalued), Sale are doomed unless Quins bus gets a flat tire or two.  

SAT, OCT 16, 10:00 EDT
Newcastle Falcons-Bristol Bears
This is the time to get Bristol.  With only a few glimpses of quality this season, they went out and laid a huge stinky egg last week.  I am sure their training was not enjoyable this week.  Falcons have to give themselves a reasonable shot, especially attacking wide.  This is where we find out what Bristol see when they dig deep.  I think Pat Lam should suit up and play 8.  Can't do worse.  Hard to call but I pick Nuke by a converted try.

SAT OCT 16, 10:00 EDT
Wasps-Exeter Chiefs
I think this will be interesting until halftime.  Last week showed what Exe can do when they get their dander up, even without all their returning players.  I think Wasps will be coated with Exeter dander by the end.  Severely.

SAT, OCT 16, 10:00 EDT
Worcester Warriors-Leicester Tigers
Tigers improving and show signs of real development.  Worcester do not.  
If Worcs were playing Quins, they would lose by 50.  Instead they lose by only 25.

SUN, OCT 17, 10:00 EDT
Bath Rugby-Saracens
This a bad joke, right?  
Salary Cap Manipulators win by a lot to a little.

SUN, OCT 17, 10:00 EDT
London Irish-Gloucester Rugby
A dead rubber in October!  I like London Irish here simply because their new stadium rocks.  Unfortunately neither team does.  
Final score will be something like 3-0, 6-3, maybe 7-5.

Quins under lots of pressure early doors all stemming from Carr's first shanked box kick. His forwards incredible defensive effort saving his blushes.

Forward pass?

Duty281 wrote:Forward pass?

I presume the TMO checked it.

I wonder how good under the air Green would be without the Quins players being allowed to form a shield in front of him. Quirke's box kicks are very nice maybe Care should take notes.

Speaking of Care that tap and go try was textbook Danny Care wasn't it.

Yes typical Care, reminded me of his effort v Wales in 2014.

Some player Green mind isn't he.

Langdon won't want to see that one back. Lovely finish from Green, he really is electric. Maybe Gustard was on to something with not renewing Brown's contract.

The Sale error count is far to high. Can't keep giving Quins chances to get back into the game. Sale are actually winning the tactical kicking battle but a mixture of the ferocious Quins defence the Sale errors are giving them chances which they are taking.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Langdon won't want to see that one back. Lovely finish from Green, he really is electric. Maybe Gustard was on to something with not renewing Brown's contract.

Definitely. Hes a cracker.

Actually I think our young lad Stephens is a very similar player...full back also. Apparently Stephens was asked to go to a recent England U20s training camp but was unable to attend due to his falcons first team duties...

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Langdon won't want to see that one back. Lovely finish from Green, he really is electric. Maybe Gustard was on to something with not renewing Brown's contract.

Definitely.  Hes a cracker.

Actually I think our young lad Stephens is a very similar player...full back also. Apparently Stephens was asked to go to a recent England U20s training camp but was unable to attend due to his falcons first team duties...

Wouldn't be the first son of a Welsh international to play for England under 20s then go to play for the land of his father later on.

What was I saying about Sale errors...

Great tackle by Green there. He suits this Quins side perfectly.

Well played Sale - they managed to contain Quins and finished strongly.

I said ahead of the game that a bonus point would be a good result. I wish I hadn’t been right - but there will be a lot of teams that go up to the AJ Bell on a Friday night and come away with nowt.

MoTM , 2 tries by Quirke in front of Eddie.

Good shout for the Ebgland squad on Monday.

He's a strong little fella isn't he....

Poorfour wrote:Well played Sale - they managed to contain Quins and finished strongly.

I said ahead of the game that a bonus point would be a good result. I wish I hadn’t been right - but there will be a lot of teams that go up to the AJ Bell on a Friday night and come away with nowt.

They'll come away with a physical beating....

GeordieFalcon wrote:Great tackle by Green there. He suits this Quins side perfectly.

His first few months at Quins he didn't seem to be going anywhere and then when Brown got suspended he just took off.

Quirke man of the match is well deserved, I've not seen a better scrum half performance this season so far. Kicking was great, passing good and then ball in hand really good. Young lad did the lot.

Really disappointed by Care and Smith they were never in control of the game. Their far more inexperienced opposition used their kicking far better, Quirke really dominated Care in the box kicking battle. The Quins boys can have all the swagger they like but if the opposition bring the physicality then you've got to be able use your skills to make things easier for your forwards, the Quins forwards looked cream crackered at the death they had to do so much hard defending.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

Poorfour wrote:Well played Sale - they managed to contain Quins and finished strongly.

I said ahead of the game that a bonus point would be a good result. I wish I hadn’t been right - but there will be a lot of teams that go up to the AJ Bell on a Friday night and come away with nowt.

They'll come away with a physical beating....

That's the truth. That Sale team are no pushovers, quite the opposite.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Great tackle by Green there. He suits this Quins side perfectly.

His first few months at Quins he didn't seem to be going anywhere and then when Brown got suspended he just took off.

Quirke man of the match is well deserved, I've not seen a better scrum half performance this season so far. Kicking was great, passing good and then ball in hand really good. Young lad did the lot.

Really disappointed by Care and Smith they were never in control of the game. Their far more inexperienced opposition used their kicking far better, Quirke really dominated Care in the box kicking battle. The Quins boys can have all the swagger they like but if the opposition bring the physicality then you've got to be able use your skills to make things easier for your forwards, the Quins forwards looked cream crackered at the death they had to do so much hard defending.

Just looking at the write up and it seems that Marler and the hooker Walker did the full 80. More than one reason they were done by the end.

lostinwales wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Great tackle by Green there. He suits this Quins side perfectly.

His first few months at Quins he didn't seem to be going anywhere and then when Brown got suspended he just took off.

Quirke man of the match is well deserved, I've not seen a better scrum half performance this season so far. Kicking was great, passing good and then ball in hand really good. Young lad did the lot.

Really disappointed by Care and Smith they were never in control of the game. Their far more inexperienced opposition used their kicking far better, Quirke really dominated Care in the box kicking battle. The Quins boys can have all the swagger they like but if the opposition bring the physicality then you've got to be able use your skills to make things easier for your forwards, the Quins forwards looked cream crackered at the death they had to do so much hard defending.

Just looking at the write up and it seems that Marler and the hooker Walker did the full 80. More than one reason they were done by the end.

If you name two kids on the bench at hooker and loosehead you know that your starting players are going to have to play most the game as one of the halfbacks you've got to look to keep the load on them down. Care's first two kicks were a shanked box kick that allowed an instant counter into the Quins 22 and then a clearance that barely made it out the 22. Smith had a chance to clear and instead went for a risky crossfield with the catcher dumped into touch inside the 22. The first 10 mins of the game was furious defence for the Quins pack with Marler in particular at the front of that. Care and Smith gave their defence no respite and it was similar for most the game, really poor tactical play. Feel sorry for Marler he put in a massive shift along with Kenningham and a couple of the other forwards.

If you compare that to Quirke and Wilkinson who cleared their lines whenever they could and their team didn't knock it on first. Losing the kicking game to a pair of green halfbacks will not look good in front of Eddie. You can't always win pretty and blow teams away, I think Smith needs to learn that a little and sometimes just clear his lines. Exposure at international level should teach him that.

Worcester 3 - 22 Tigers at half time

Tigers have left at least 3 tries on the pitch through poor finishing as well. Overall they've been good and created a lot but lacked that killer blow.

Ford in particular but also JvP have been very good.

The Tigers back row of Liebenberg, van Staden and Wiese, Montoya and Genge in the front row and Nadolo in the backs just offer so much go forward.

Worcester have been poor it must be said.

king_carlos wrote:Worcester 3 - 22 Tigers at half time

Tigers have left at least 3 tries on the pitch through poor finishing as well. Overall they've been good and created a lot but lacked that killer blow.

Ford in particular but also JvP have been very good.

The Tigers back row of Liebenberg, van Staden and Wiese, Montoya and Genge in the front row and Nadolo in the backs just offer so much go forward.

Worcester have been poor it must be said.

The attack game being worked on as it is I'm not surprised we've left a few out there. At the same time 3 tries in the first half sets us in good stead for the second. This is a great chance to get more league points on the board, just want a clinical second half now to get the job done.

I don't have a stream this week so it'll be catch up tomorrow over breakfast most likely.