Premiership Round 12

Fixtures:
1 Jan
Sale v Wasps 2.00
Exeter v Bristol 4.30

2 Jan
Gloucester v Quins 3pm
Tigers v Falcons 3pm
Saints v Saracens 3pm

3 Jan
London Irish v Bath

Team announcements are starting. Here’s Gloucester:

Team News

Ruan Ackermann will make his 100th Gloucester Rugby appearance when the Cherry and Whites host Harlequins at Kingsholm on Sunday.

George Skivington has made two changes to the starting line up that beat Bath with Billy Twelvetrees coming in to replace Mark Atkinson at inside centre and Fraser Balmain swapping places with Kirill Gotovtsev who is named on the bench.

Lloyd Evans starts at fullback with fellow Academy graduates Louis Rees-Zammit and Ollie Thorley on the wings. Chris Harris keeps his 13 shirt after scoring a brace against Bath and will have Twelvetrees inside him at 12. Adam Hastings and Ben Meehan continue their halfback partnership.

In the forwards, Val Rapava-Ruskin and Jack Singleton will partner Balmain in the front row with Freddie Clarke and Matias Alemanno in the second row. Jordy Reid, Ruan Ackermann and captain, Lewis Ludlow, make up the backrow.

After an impressive try in the Premiership Cup game against Worcester, Tom Seabrook is named on the bench with Charlie Chapman and Kyle Moyle the other back replacements. Santiago Socino and Jamal Ford-Robinson, Kirill Gotovtsev, Andrew Davidson and Jack Clement cover the forwards.

George Skivington is looking forward to hosting the reigning champions.

“Quins are going really well. They’re the reigning champions and they were really good against Saints at Twickenham. They are an outstanding attacking team and there are a lot of guys in there with flare and they obviously have a good connection amongst the group. We know what a threat they are and we know how hard we are going to have to work. It should be an exciting fixture.”

Tickets for the Harlequins game are available here.

Gloucester Rugby

15. Lloyd Evans *

14. Louis Rees-Zammit *

13. Chris Harris

12. Billy Twelvetrees

11. Ollie Thorley *

10. Adam Hastings

9. Ben Meehan



1. Val Rapava-Ruskin

2. Jack Singleton

3. Fraser Balmain

4. Freddie Clarke *

5. Matias Alemanno

6. Jordy Reid

7. Lewis Ludlow (c) *

8. Ruan Ackermann



16. Santiago Socino

17. Jamal Ford-Robinson

18. Kirill Gotovtsev

19. Andrew Davidson

20. Jack Clement *

21. Charlie Chapman *

22. Tom Seabrook *

23. Kyle Moyle

*Denotes Academy player or graduate from the Gloucester Rugby Academy

And Quins:

HARLEQUINS’ COACHING GROUP HAS MADE THREE CHANGES TO THE STARTING XV THIS WEEK AS THE CLUB TRAVELS TO KINGSHOLM THIS SUNDAY


Hugh Tizard, Marcus Smith and Luke Northmore all return to the starting XV following Quins’ 41-27 win over Northampton at Big Game 13 on Monday. Tizard and Northmore earn starting berths after impressive appearances from the bench at Big Game, with Tizard replacing Club Captain Stephan Lewies, who misses out due to injury this week, in the five jersey.

Number eight Alex Dombrandt leads the side in Lewies' absence.

Smith is restored to the ten jersey after missing out on Big Game following a positive COVID-19 test result last week, but returns to the team after subsequent negative test results.

Harlequins travel to Gloucester looking to secure five consecutive wins against the Cherry and Whites this Sunday and four consecutive wins at Kingsholm Stadium.

Previewing the fixture, Scrum Coach Adam Jones said: “As a Club we’ve obviously gone back to the Quins DNA of old over the last year or so, and Gloucester this weekend have probably done something similar. As a kid, I remember the Mike Teagues and Phil Vickerys of Gloucester. Tough West Country blokes who knew all about forward rugby. It certainly seems Gloucester have gone back a little bit to their DNA.

“Obviously they have a bit of pace in their team as well in the back three, but their maul has been outstanding. Having a second row as their head coach I guess you’ll know your onions in that area. It’s going to be tough, but we’ve got a pretty good maul defence so we’ll challenge them as much as we can.

“It was pretty pleasing to see how well we went at Big Game in the wet weather. I could see some ex-players watching it, commenting on Twitter about how high-skill and fast-paced the game was. And error wise, it wasn’t too bad, considering the weather. I thought that our physicality was brilliant, too. We carried hard and cleaned out well at the breakdown.

“We’re fairly happy with where we are at the moment, but what is probably better is we know we still have room to improve and grow as a team. We’re in the middle of a pretty important run of games, so we’re pretty much fully focused on keeping this momentum going.”

Harlequins Starting XV
1. Joe Marler
2. Jack Walker
3. Will Collier
4. Matt Symons
5. Hugh Tizard
6. Tom Lawday
7. Jack Kenningham
8. Alex Dombrandt – Captain
9. Danny Care
10. Marcus Smith
11. Joe Marchant
12. Andre Esterhuizen
13. Luke Northmore
14. Louis Lynagh
15. Tyrone Green

Impact Players
16. Jack Musk
17. Santiago Garcia Botta
18. Simon Kerrod
19. Dino Lamb
20. Luke Wallace
21. Lewis Gjaltema
22. Will Edwards
23. Huw Jones

Looking at those, if Quins can keep the penalty count down and not get mauled to death, their back division should be able to create some openings even if the weather is bad.

It’s Quins’ 4th game in a row against top 4 opposition, with Exeter at the Stoop the following week - not the easiest of runs.

Tigers having a very depleted backrow so looking for the youngsters to deliver there. Wells covers 6 and Dolly 7 from the bench with Chessum the likely 8 if anything happens to Martin. No Nadolo and Murimurivalu is a blow for the wing threat. Surprised at Burns over Hegarty also. Green I'm sure will want to forget his horrendous display as a late call up to the starting XV last weekend.

STARTING XV
15 Freddie Steward [44]
14 Harry Potter [24]
13 Matt Scott [33]
12 Dan Kelly [30]
11 Guy Porter [29]
10 George Ford [116]
9 Ben Youngs [272]
1 Ellis Genge (c) [98]
2 Julián Montoya [13]
3 Dan Cole [276]
4 Eli Snyman [7]
5 Calum Green [72]
6 Ollie Chessum [20]
7 Tommy Reffell [59]
8 George Martin [27]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [36]
17 Nephi Leatigaga [53]
18 Joe Heyes [84]
19 Harry Wells [137]
20 Nic Dolly [12]
21 Jack van Poortvliet [31]
22 Freddie Burns [84]
23 Matías Moroni [22]


Falcons XV: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Mateo Carreras, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Adam Radwan, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Louis Schreuder; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Charlie Maddison, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Sean Robinson, 6 Philip van der Walt, 7 Will Welch (c), 8 Carl Fearns


Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Callum Chick, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Tom Penny


Falcons have gone pretty big but do look weaker in the tight five. I'm a little bit releaved that some of the Falcons better flankers are absent with our injury issues.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs SARACENS
Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Round 12
Sunday 2 January 2021
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 3pm

15 George Furbank
14 Ollie Sleightholme
13 Rory Hutchinson
12 Piers Francis
11 Courtnall Skosan
10 Dan Biggar
9 Alex Mitchell

1 Alex Waller
2 Sam Matavesi
3 Paul Hill
4 Alex Coles
5 Api Ratuniyarawa
6 Courtney Lawes
7 Lewis Ludlam (c)
8 Juarno Augustus

Replacements:
16 James Fish
17 Emmanuel Iyogun
18 Conor Carey
19 David Ribbans
20 Tom Wood
21 Tom James
22 Fraser Dingwall
23 Ahsee Tuala

Not considered for selection:
Matty Arden, Nick Auterac, Callum Burns, Tommy Freeman, Teimana Harrison, Mike Haywood, Oisín Heffernan, Reece Marshall, Alex Moon, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Matt Proctor, and Kayde Sylvester.

That is some injury list the six players highlighted all could have expected to play a part on Monday. I am not a big fan of Cole, would have preferred Lawes at lock and Wood in at 6. Also good to see Francis back, but I fear one more bad head knock and that will be it for him.

How bad is the Freeman injury WPI? He doesn't seem to have much luck with injuries does he.

Sale: L. James; McGuigan, R. du Preez, Van Rensburg, Yarde; MacGinty, Cliff; Rodd, Ashman, Schonert, JL. du Preez, De Jager, Ross, B. Curry, D. du Preez

Replacements: Taylor, Mcintyre, Oosthuizen, Postlethwaite, Dugdale, Warr, S. James, Hammersley

Worryingly few EQP players in that starting line up...

I make it five (7 if you want to count a couple of 30+ year old South Africans...)

Cumbrian wrote:Sale: L. James; McGuigan, R. du Preez, Van Rensburg, Yarde; MacGinty, Cliff; Rodd, Ashman, Schonert, JL. du Preez, De Jager, Ross, B. Curry, D. du Preez

Replacements: Taylor, Mcintyre, Oosthuizen, Postlethwaite, Dugdale, Warr, S. James, Hammersley

Worryingly few EQP players in that starting line up...

I make it five (7 if you want to count a couple of 30+ year old South Africans...)

L James, Yarde, Cliff, Rodd, Schonert, Ross, Curry yeah 7. Would have been 8 until Ashman got capped. There's another 7 EQ on the bench though. Young Dugdale looks a bit of a prospect.

At the other end of the scale, Quins have 13 EQP in the starting lineup (including everyone from 1-11) and 6 more on the bench - Gjaltema is EQ, so only Esterhuizen, Green, Botta and Jones are non-EQ.

10 of them are products of the Quins Academy and 2 more (Dombrandt and Northmore) had their first professional contracts at Quins. It’s interesting that Quins’ two best periods in the Prem have been ones where they’ve relied heavily on Academy talent with a couple of very astute overseas buys.

Poorfour wrote:At the other end of the scale, Quins have 13 EQP in the starting lineup (including everyone from 1-11) and 6 more on the bench - Gjaltema is EQ, so only Esterhuizen, Green, Botta and Jones are non-EQ.

10 of them are products of the Quins Academy and 2 more (Dombrandt and Northmore) had their first professional contracts at Quins. It’s interesting that Quins’ two best periods in the Prem have been ones where they’ve relied heavily on Academy talent with a couple of very astute overseas buys.

Tigers rocking a similar 12 EQ in the starting line up (Montoya, Snyman and Scott non-EQ) with a further 6 on the bench (Leatigaga and Moroni non-EQ). 12 academy products in the team aged between 20 and 34. 

Tigers have returned to the best times by utilising the academy, picking up good quality development options from the lower leagues and then astute experienced signings in key areas. The academy heavy template seems to be the way most clubs are going.

Hmmm not convinced about the Sale BPT - left knee hits ground and Curry propels himself forward on his right knee to ground the ball.

Heaf wrote:Hmmm not convinced about the Sale BPT - left knee hits ground and Curry propels himself forward on his right knee to ground the ball.

I agree, that was a clear double movement to me.

We had two pretty interesting games today. Rather weird how Sale and Exeter seemed to dominate their matches, but never put their matches to bed until late.

Heaf wrote:Hmmm not convinced about the Sale BPT - left knee hits ground and Curry propels himself forward on his right knee to ground the ball.

I thought it was ok. It was a very big reach, but his feet didn’t seem to move forward.

On a different note, both Bristol and Exeter look a shadow of the teams they were last season. It’s hard to see what’s gone so wrong for them.

Poorfour wrote:

Heaf wrote:Hmmm not convinced about the Sale BPT - left knee hits ground and Curry propels himself forward on his right knee to ground the ball.

I thought it was ok. It was a very big reach, but his feet didn’t seem to move forward.

For me if he'd reached when his left knee hit the ground it would have been fine, but he moved forwards onto his right knee before reaching - the wry grin on his face suggested to me that he thought he'd got away with one ...

Poorfour wrote:On a different note, both Bristol and Exeter look a shadow of the teams they were last season. It’s hard to see what’s gone so wrong for them.

Two sides that spent the summer looking for consistency rather than advancement. Neither side seemed to be making changes wanting to push them forward.

Bristol have a tendency to rely on certain big names turning up. Some have been injured this season but all are back now and the form is very patchy still. Confidence is a little low but a Randall and Sheedy led team is all about attack so they need to generate some otherwise I can't see things approving. Might be time for Pat to start using Uren to give Bristol more stability.

Exeter, pfft I dunno. They are operating as they should be but not really getting beyond third gear. They look better with Simmonds back in at 10 but with White and Francis leaving and not being replaced hasn't helped them and neither has the early season injuries to their second row. I'd back Chiefs to come good over the second half of the season though at the expense of Europe but sneaking into the top 4. I don't think Bristol will recover though.

Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Just a bit of pre game banter. Makes Fearns look a bit of a tit but Weise does very much approach rucks in a kill em all sort of fashion so it's hard to disagree.

Hopefully adds a bit of spice to the game later.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Had a look

I don't have a problem with it. After seeing some of the replies I have to say this one sums it up well.

It's cool to elbow people in the face but once the recipient talks about it on Twitter a line has been crossed. Gotcha.

lostinwales wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Had a look

I don't have a problem with it. After seeing some of the replies I have to say this one sums it up well.

It's cool to elbow people in the face but once the recipient talks about it on Twitter a line has been crossed. Gotcha.

I don't think Fearns has actually played against Weise. The comment is in reference to Weise coming into the side of a ruck and smoking John Welsh last season. Not sure there was any elbow involved but Falcons weren't happy at the time.

Late change for Tigers with Ollie Chessum withdrawing due to illness so Wells now starts at 6 and Murimurivalu comes onto the bench. Leaves Tigers with a 4-4 split on the bench and all four of the replacement forwards are primarily front rowers. I suppose Murimurivalu could do a turn in the backrow in an emergency.

Nice break by Glaws but a couple of those passes looked suspect. Also can't work out how going 50 yards up the pitch and then spilling the ball over the line isn't advantage over.

Yeah, definitely a few 'flat' passes in that move.

Quins just scored a beautiful try, but quality has been in short supply. Hope for a better second half.

Saying that, Quins seem to have woken up!

formerly known as Sam wrote:

lostinwales wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Had a look

I don't have a problem with it. After seeing some of the replies I have to say this one sums it up well.

It's cool to elbow people in the face but once the recipient talks about it on Twitter a line has been crossed. Gotcha.

I don't think Fearns has actually played against Weise. The comment is in reference to Weise coming into the side of a ruck and smoking John Welsh last season. Not sure there was any elbow involved but Falcons weren't happy at the time.

.

Welsh had been out for about two years then just came back and was brutally taken out by the thug. That's why the Falcons and fans were furious.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

lostinwales wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Had a look

I don't have a problem with it. After seeing some of the replies I have to say this one sums it up well.

It's cool to elbow people in the face but once the recipient talks about it on Twitter a line has been crossed. Gotcha.

I don't think Fearns has actually played against Weise. The comment is in reference to Weise coming into the side of a ruck and smoking John Welsh last season. Not sure there was any elbow involved but Falcons weren't happy at the time.

.

Welsh had been out for about two years then just came back and was brutally taken out by the thug. That's why the Falcons and fans were furious.  

A shoulder into the side at a breakdown. Shame for Welsh.

Today's match showing none of that level of ferocity. Falcons with two thirds of possession but one third of territory. Camped in their own half unable to get out. Inevitable mistakes giving Tigers chances that they've then taken.

Falcons only need to stay in contact and keep working the Tigers forwards hard given the lack of replacements. Could be a late rally. Martin maybe smashing every Falcons forward in defence but isn't providing Weise esque metres ball in hand. He's got a big engine so perhaps now the rain has stopped he might be able to do more.

A bit grumpy that Foley and his TMO will replay a deliberate knock on and award a Yellow but not look again at a tip tackle where Foley commented “he landed on his back” while awarding the penalty.

2nd YC for Quins also suspect as it didn't look like the Glaws forwards retreated from the short up-and-under just prior to that and then competed for the ball ... Quins got pinged for the same thing earlier on. Maybe the officials are feeling the heat from The Shed.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

lostinwales wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Had a look

I don't have a problem with it. After seeing some of the replies I have to say this one sums it up well.

It's cool to elbow people in the face but once the recipient talks about it on Twitter a line has been crossed. Gotcha.

I don't think Fearns has actually played against Weise. The comment is in reference to Weise coming into the side of a ruck and smoking John Welsh last season. Not sure there was any elbow involved but Falcons weren't happy at the time.

.

Welsh had been out for about two years then just came back and was brutally taken out by the thug. That's why the Falcons and fans were furious.  

A shoulder into the side at a breakdown. Shame for Welsh.

Today's match showing none of that level of ferocity. Falcons with two thirds of possession but one third of territory. Camped in their own half unable to get out.

Standard...we're sh*t. Lots of huff and puff but no efficiency or ability to score tries.

Heaf wrote:2nd YC for Quins also suspect as it didn't look like the Glaws forwards retreated from the short up-and-under just prior to that and then competed for the ball ...  Quins got pinged for the same thing earlier on.  Maybe the officials are feeling the heat from The Shed.

It certainly feels like Glaws are getting more leeway than Quins.

To sit, a man clearly on the wrong side and it’s “slowed down by your own player”

Also looked like a player taken in the air - but TMO not interested - who is the TMO?

Sounds like we're being tuned!

No arms tackle not given as PT as Foley is blind and claims the player is already in touch when he clearly wasn't. The officials in this match have been dire.

Care ends up scoring anyway but Glaws should also have a man in the bin.

Identical mistimed tackle in the air to the one Glaws got away with is pinged - more inconsency ...

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

lostinwales wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Had a look

I don't have a problem with it. After seeing some of the replies I have to say this one sums it up well.

It's cool to elbow people in the face but once the recipient talks about it on Twitter a line has been crossed. Gotcha.

I don't think Fearns has actually played against Weise. The comment is in reference to Weise coming into the side of a ruck and smoking John Welsh last season. Not sure there was any elbow involved but Falcons weren't happy at the time.

.

Welsh had been out for about two years then just came back and was brutally taken out by the thug. That's why the Falcons and fans were furious.  

A shoulder into the side at a breakdown. Shame for Welsh.

Today's match showing none of that level of ferocity. Falcons with two thirds of possession but one third of territory. Camped in their own half unable to get out.

Standard...we're sh*t. Lots of huff and puff but no efficiency or ability to score tries.

Wasn't a great deal of huff and puff to be honest. I think two attacks of note in the whole game and one was a kick return from Radwan. Falcons just couldn't get up the field and played most of the game in their own half.

Couple of big wins there I wasn't expecting ... got the winners right but margin off by miles.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

lostinwales wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

Had a look

I don't have a problem with it. After seeing some of the replies I have to say this one sums it up well.

It's cool to elbow people in the face but once the recipient talks about it on Twitter a line has been crossed. Gotcha.

I don't think Fearns has actually played against Weise. The comment is in reference to Weise coming into the side of a ruck and smoking John Welsh last season. Not sure there was any elbow involved but Falcons weren't happy at the time.

.

Welsh had been out for about two years then just came back and was brutally taken out by the thug. That's why the Falcons and fans were furious.  

A shoulder into the side at a breakdown. Shame for Welsh.

Today's match showing none of that level of ferocity. Falcons with two thirds of possession but one third of territory. Camped in their own half unable to get out.

Standard...we're sh*t. Lots of huff and puff but no efficiency or ability to score tries.

I'll be honest, I don't particularly like Weise, he comes across as a bit of an ass hat. Would it be different if he played for my team? Probably.

Wiese's technique at the breakdown is suspect to say the least. Once or twice you can just be unlucky but it's a consistent thing now. I say technique but I'm not sure if he just doesn't see red occasionally.

Heaf wrote:No arms tackle not given as PT as Foley is blind and claims the player is already in touch when he clearly wasn't.   The officials in this match have been dire.

Seemed a bit rushed that decision. After the tmo had brought it to attention he was then asked if he was happy he was in touch and didn't respond.

Yep just shoddy work all round ....

No 7&1/2 wrote:Wiese's technique at the breakdown is suspect to say the least. Once or twice you can just be unlucky but it's a consistent thing now. I say technique but I'm not sure if he just doesn't see red occasionally.

Just a thug

No 7&1/2 wrote:Wiese's technique at the breakdown is suspect to say the least. Once or twice you can just be unlucky but it's a consistent thing now. I say technique but I'm not sure if he just doesn't see red occasionally.

I don't think he's the brightest. He sees someone in the way and then charges in as hard as he can. If that person isn't there legally then that only increases the level of aggression. If someone could actually get him to think before he acts then that would be an accomplishment but might detract from his instincts which in attack are very good.

Well we got thrashed by the other salary cheats. Loads of them jn this league seemingly.

I hope we get some money from the Saudis up the road....then we can play the system...

GeordieFalcon wrote:Well we got thrashed by the other salary cheats. Loads of them jn this league seemingly.  

I hope we get some money from the Saudis up the road....then we can play the system...

Well let's see if we have played the system first. If we did we did it very badly.

We finished the game with a backrow Dolly, Murimurivalu and Wells at 8. We subbed on Burns for the final 20 minutes as well. We did our best to help you finish strong.

Falcons looked better when they changed the halfbacks. Connon really added more direction at 10. I was a bit confused about the decision to play it so tight all game, the backline barely touched the ball.

Time for Dean and the lot to go....

Fed up of glimmers of hope and then another season of gash. We have a good squad. I've said before I'd be happy with mid table for a few seasons to really bed in the squad and tactics if we show signs of improvement..but currently......

Clearly they can coach territory or possession but cant coach how to score tries unless its individual magIc from Sinoti or Goneva or Radwan.

And Desns Instructions are baffling at times

GeordieFalcon wrote:Time for Dean and the lot to go....

Fed up of glimmers of hope and then another season of gash. We have a good squad. I've said before I'd be happy with mid table for a few seasons to really bed in the squad and tactics if we show signs of improvement..but currently......

Clearly they can coach territory or possession but cant coach how to score tries unless its individual magIc from Sinoti or Goneva or Radwan.

And Desns Instructions are baffling at times

Agreed, we seem a bit stale sometimes, would like to see the team taken in a different direction. Lets' face it, it's a decade this year, how often do coaches get this long with a team? Especially considering the multiple relegation? Time to freshen things up.

I'm afraid it is...

Theres no excuses now about money making it difficult to attract good players...we have a good squad. Depth isn't great but its gettIng there aswell...

How long do you give him

GeordieFalcon wrote:I'm afraid it is...

Theres no excuses now about money making it difficult to attract good players...we have a good squad. Depth isn't great but its gettIng there aswell...

How long do you give him

Money shouldn't be an issue to attracting players next year what with the reducing cap. Having said that there's some good young coaches out there that could bring a fresh approach. We've seen Skivington at Glaws and Borthwick at Tigers bring positive change. If the head honchos at Falcons decide early enough that Deano goes in the summer then there's plenty of time to source a replacement and sculpt things to how they want them to be for when they arrive.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Which side of the fence do people sit on the Fearns twitter comments on Wiese then? For me he's absolutely right Wiese is a bit of a thug on the pitch, doing it through twitter is not old school though. I quite like the honesty

I had no issue with it. Fearns chose a bad match to be utterly anonymous after playing the big man in the build up though. The first time I noticed him was on 50 minutes when he punted the ball away after the whistle went. From first glance he looks out of shape., if it weren't for Coopers beard it'd hard to distinguish them. A shame as he was a bull when near his best.

Cooper playing LH frustrates me on the occasions I see Falcons so it must be incredibly annoying for fans that see it every week. Such an effective hooker before the switch.