Prem Round 4

Friday:
Sale v Falcons (19.45pm)

Saturday:
Exeter v Bristol (15.05)
Gloucester v Bath (15.05)
Leicester v Northampton (17.30)

Sunday
Harlequins v Saracens (15.00)

Sale Sharks Starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter,
14. Tom Roebuck,
13. Will Addison,
12. Sam Bedlow,
11. Arron Reed,
10. Rob du Preez,
9. Gus Warr;

1. Si McIntyre,
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie,
3. James Harper,
4. Ben Bamber,
5. Hyron Andrews,
6. Ernst van Rhyn,
7. Ben Curry ,
8. Tom Curry.

Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Dan du Preez, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Tom Curtis, 23. Sam Dugdale.Falcons

1 Brocklebank
2 Blamire
3 Palframan
4 Rubiolo
5 Hawkins
6 Van der Walt
7 Gordon
8 Chick (C)

9 Stuart
10 Grayson
11 Stevenson
12 Hutchison
13 Spencer
14 Radwan
15 Obatoyinbo


16 Fletcher
17 De Bruin
18 McCallum
19 Lockwood
20 Scott
21 Davis
22 Metcalf
23 Brown

Bit of rotation for Falcons. Sale going for a 6-2 bench split and no cover outside of 9 and 10, presumably relying on Addison and du Perez to move around the backline to cover gaps.

There's a lot of weight in 4/5/6 for Sale, I think Falcons might struggle to reduce their momentum.

Unfortunately for Newcastle, this is going to be a long night. I say Sharks by over 20, Reed, Roebuck, Warr and Carpenter will run rings around that defence.
One thing I will say is a positive for Falcons is that Tommy Gordon (as Jamie Lyall calls him ) has been one of their standout performers, hopefully Hutchinson and McCallum can push on too.

Meh...it my little boys 2nd birthday today...once hes in bed i think ill watch a movie....i expect a big defeat here.

Ie Spencer at 13 is going to be some player but hes just a raw young lad at the moment and is going to have a torrid evening.

And Obatoyimbo looks mentally shot...confidence is shattered...and Stuart is just too slow.

With the current injuries I guess Diamond doesn't have a great deal of scope for rotation bar throwing on the young guys from the bench to start.

STARTING XV
15 Freddie Steward [91]
14 Anthony Watson [20]
13 Dan Kelly [83]
12 Joseph Woodward [10]
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins [25]
10 Handré Pollard [33]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [76]
1 Nicky Smith [3]
2 Julián Montoya [59]
3 Joe Heyes [143]
4 Harry Wells [202]
5 Ollie Chessum [58]
6 Hanro Liebenberg [110]
7 Tommy Reffell [117]
8 Olly Cracknell [45]

REPLACEMENTS

16 Charlie Clare [98]
17 James Cronin [37]
18 Dan Cole [326]
19 Côme Joussain [3]
20 Emeka Ilione [23]
21 Ben Youngs [317]
22 Jamie Shillcock [29]
23 Will Wand [1]

Saints

15 George Furbank (c)
14 James Ramm
13 Tom Litchfield
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Tommy Freeman
10 Fin Smith
9 Archie McParland

1 Emmanuel Iyogun
2 Curtis Langdon
3 Elliot Millar Mills
4 Temo Mayanavanua
5 Chunya Munga
6 Josh Kemeny
7 Angus Scott-Young
8 Sam Graham

Replacements:
16 Robbie Smith
17 Tom West
18 Trevor Davison
19 Gavin Thornbury – Northampton Saints debut
20 Tom Pearson
21 Henry Pollock
22 Jake Garside
23 Ollie Sleightholme

Saints adding weight to their starting pack but missing a couple from their backline.

Tigers get Pollard and Montoya back which is a huge boost but Martin and Perese being absence definitely hurts our carrying game.

Unfortunately for Saints McParland is not quite ready the Premiership. Hoping he doesn't have any kicks blocked, which I presume Tigers know this is a weakness. Jake Garside (on the bench) is also a young'un and has not been able to crack the game day lineup. This will likely be the difference.....

Well didn't watch it but checked the final score....what a surprise eh....

@Geordie, they were totally outplayed and lucky it was only 43-10 because, if Sale has been more ruthless they could have racked up 60+ points easily! It must be hard for poor Steve Diamond and all fans because it can't be nice seeing your team get absolutely pummeled.

I would say that the 2 outstanding performers were Callum Chick and Cammy Hutchinson. Players like Adam Radwan and even Tom Gordon even didn't perform to the level we know their capable of!

I do still maintain that stability is key and Steve Diamond needs a least 3yrs to build a team capable of competing in the Premiership, even if that means they get relegated and start the rebuild for there!

Sale were very impressive though, as stated above, not ruthless at every opportunity, I was impressed with Ben Bamber, both Curry boys, Gus Warr, Robert Du Perez, Tom Roebuck, Arron Reed (until he went off ) and Joe Carpenter.

We haven't got 3 years. I'd even go so far as to say when we go down that might be it for the falcons

Real shame to see Newcastle struggling.

No fun at all for the fans. Probably shows that the last round of cost cutting pushed them over the edge in terms of being able to be competitive on the pitch. Not sure Diamond can do much at all with the resources available at the moment. The gap will only get wider.

At least there's still a club there though. They can hang in there and hope for some investment or ultimately settle at a lower level of they go down.

Problem with Falcons is that their squad is small and lacks depth. At the minute they've got injuries and the replacements just aren't going to cut it at this level. Flyhalf is a massive issue currently, Grayson is a talented rugby player but he's not a Prem level flyhalf. He could be a creative 12 type at Prem level but it's often meaning that Falcons are losing the kicking battle and just lacking tactical nous. Keiran Wilkinson was a great signing for them in the off season but his injury just before the season started has been a real blow.

No Doherty and Arnold this week limited the midfield. Arnold has been a cracking signing and perhaps a combination of him and Hutchinson could be the way to go. The backrow needs some work, Gordon is good but he's the main spoiling threat and could do with another thorn in the opposition's side to compliment him.

I think Newcastle will improve over the season but it's not going to be pretty for a little while until the reinforcements return from injury.

When you look at who is unavailable for Saints, it is amazing that they can put out such a line up:

Juarno Augustus, Emeka Atuanya, Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall, George Hendy, Callum Hunter-Hill, Tom James, Tom Lockett, Alex Mitchell and Burger Odendaal.

There is a lot of class unavailable especially at 9. I wonder if the decision to go with a 6-2 split bench is almost forced upon them

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:When you look at who is unavailable for Saints, it is amazing that they can put out such a line up:

Juarno Augustus, Emeka Atuanya, Alex Coles, Fraser Dingwall, George Hendy, Callum Hunter-Hill, Tom James, Tom Lockett, Alex Mitchell and Burger Odendaal.

There is a lot of class unavailable especially at 9.  I wonder if the decision to go with a 6-2 split bench is almost forced upon them

If it makes you feel any better Tigers are without George Martin, Cam Henderson, Lewis Chessum, Kyle Hatherall, Fin Carnduff, Corne Beets, Solomane Kata and Izzy Perese.

The backrow isn't so much of an issue but we're getting short on locks and centres.

I don't know enough about the Tigers players to know how many would be in the matchday 23, but probably 6 or 7 of the Saints injured would probably be, definites Coles, Mitchell, James, Dingwall, Augustus, probable Hendy Hunter-Hill.

A rather entertaining game down in Gloucester. Thoroughly enjoyable

Barely believable turnaround at Exeter.

Exeter leading 32-12 with 15 minutes left, managed to lose 35-40! Ibitoye bagging three tries in about ten minutes.

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:I don't know enough about the Tigers players to know how many would be in the matchday 23, but probably 6 or 7 of the Saints injured would probably be, definites Coles, Mitchell, James, Dingwall, Augustus, probable Hendy Hunter-Hill.

Martin and Henderson would be in for Wells and Joussain. Perese and Kata would be in for Woodward and Wand. Then possibly one of the backrows in for Ilione. So either four or five.

Positive update with Chessum Jnr coming back for his first game in 10/11 months playing in National 1 today. Would be great to see him return to fitness and form and take a place with the senior squad.

Duty281 wrote:Barely believable turnaround at Exeter.

Exeter leading 32-12 with 15 minutes left, managed to lose 35-40! Ibitoye bagging three tries in about ten minutes.

Apparently the yellow card period cost Chiefs 28 points! Talk about crumbling under pressure. Baxter will be fuming.

I watched adn enjoyed the Bath Gloucester game. High quality entertainment.

Tigers Vs Saints was a slog fest. Saints looking oddly flat whilst Tigers were very fired up. Saints very close to leaving tryless.

Freddie Steward picked up man of the match for an all action display where he comfortably eclipsed the oddly quiet Furbank. Steward looked like he was desperate to make a point.

Unexpected (but very enjoyable) result from Quins v Sarries today. A low scoring win for Quins, for whom Jason Gilmore looks like an excellent signing, as does Leigh Halfpenny.

Sounds like a horrible injury to Andy Onyeama-Christie - hope he recovers soon.

How is Carre and Smith going? Hoping they both get some international recognition (which should have come a lot sooner). Is Llewelyn a good 13?

mikey_dragon wrote:How is Carre and Smith going? Hoping they both get some international recognition (which should have come a lot sooner). Is Llewelyn a good 13?

Carre is looking good in the loose. Bullocking run and pass the other weekend was a highlight for him. Sarries look like they've improved his fitness, they do have previous on getting the best out of him and generally of bigger guys like Skelton.

Smith, presumably Nicky Smith who's slotted straight into the loosehead shirt for Tigers and is playing like he's been there for years. Seems to be enjoying himself and the pack is looking good. The bi-annual demolition of Saints scrum at the weekend went as planned.

Llewelyn, has been shifted around the Glaws backline a fair bit. Has done a stint on the wing due to injuries. He's big, quick and has a bit of skill to him but he's likely to be a bench option when everyone's fit as Seb Atkinson is the glue in that midfield and Chris Harris leads what little defence Glaws have in place.

Yeah Nicky Smith. Him and Carre should be Wales’ first and second choice in the LH shirt for me. I enquired as we seem to be struggling with injuries again, plus another one of our senior players retired from international duty today. Ideally we need these guys to be getting lots of game time. Griffin too but I think he’s unavailable anyway, luckily for us Leon Brown isn’t injured (yet).

mikey_dragon wrote:Yeah Nicky Smith. Him and Carre should be Wales’ first and second choice in the LH shirt for me. I enquired as we seem to be struggling with injuries again, plus another one of our senior players retired from international duty today. Ideally we need these guys to be getting lots of game time. Griffin too but I think he’s unavailable anyway, luckily for us Leon Brown isn’t injured (yet).

Griffin is going to struggle for game time now, his injury was at a bit of an unfortunate time. Will Stuart and Thomas du Toit should be available bar the AIs and 6N period now which is going to limit playing time in the Prem. PRC games are more likely but if he's playing those he won't be with Wales.

Yeah that's the thing, Griffin is behind an England and SA international but chose to sign a contract extension with Bath. Perhaps it is best that he is left with Bath for a while but Wales are short on players and form/game time doesn't matter to Gatland now anyway...

mikey_dragon wrote:Yeah that's the thing, Griffin is behind an England and SA international but chose to sign a contract extension with Bath. Perhaps it is best that he is left with Bath for a while but Wales are short on players and form/game time doesn't matter to Gatland now anyway...

Bath's fourth choice is the highly promising Billy Sella who's shone at England age grade level so far and made his Prem debut at 19. There's plenty of competition for him. Van Graan seems to have good buy in from the players at Bath, Orlando Bailey signed a long term deal to stay despite the fact he could have got more game time elsewhere, when not Russell's understudy at 10. Another position where there's a teenage tyro coming up behind as well, James Linegar is very highly rated.