Season 8 Homepage IV

[Guest]

Breaking News: Sale Sharks beat Harlequins in a thrilling game at HQ to complete a historic double

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2015/2016 - Sale Sharks
2014/2015 – London Wasps

2013/2014 – London Wasps
2012/2013 – Leicester Tigers
2011/2012 – Newcastle Falcons
2010/2011 - Newcastle Falcons
2009/2010 – Saracens
2008/2009 - London Irish

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POS		Aviva Premiership	PLAYED	WON	DREW	LOST	P F	P A	P D	T F	T A	TBP	LBP	POINTS
1		Sale Sharks	22	19	2	1	595	514	81	60	38	7	1	88
2		Harlequins	22	15	2	5	590	526	64	56	39	4	5	73
3		Northampton Saints **	22	16	2	4	571	514	57	49	35	3	3	72
4		Saracens	22	11	3	8	561	529	32	50	36	3	8	61
5		Newcastle Falcons	22	12	1	9	553	530	23	43	42	1	8	59
6		London Irish	22	11	0	11	547	561	-14	39	41	2	10	56
7		Worcester Warriors	22	9	2	11	536	554	-18	42	46	1	11	52
8		Gloucester   *	22	10	0	12	534	550	-16	43	42	0	12	51
9		Bath Rugby	22	7	3	12	534	551	-17	42	48	0	12	46
10		Leicester Tigers	22	7	1	14	520	554	-34	31	44	0	13	43
11		Exeter Chiefs  **	22	4	2	16	518	577	-59	35	50	0	14	32
12		London Wasps	22	2	0	20	479	578	-99	26	55	0	14	22

Links

Fixture List
Released/Championship/National League/Academy Bidding
Foreign Transfers
Budgets
European Homepage
Anglo Welsh Homepage

Welcome to Season 8 of the Aviva Premiership fantasy rugby game.  Below are the rules of the game which must be adhered to.  If there are any situations that arise in the course of the game which are not covered by the rules, a final decision will be made by the RFU (SJE) as to how the situation will be resolved.

The maximum squad size is 40 senior players.  If a team has more than 40 players in their squad then they will be fined £1 million per player over the permitted amounts per day for the first seven days. If after 7 consecutive days a team still has more than the permitted number of players then the team will be fined £2 million per player per day, and fined 1 league point per player per day for the next seven days. If after this time a team still has more than the permitted number of players in their squad, the RFU (SJE) will remove players at its discretion to bring them back under the permitted numbers. There will be no right of appeal to players being removed.

Be aware that all tier one international matches which are played during the season will count in the game, and players selected in the match day 23's for those matches will not be eligible to play for their clubs on that weekend, therefore you must give due consideration to the make-up of your squad.

Each team will be allowed to have an academy squad of 23 players.  Players who are in the academy must be born on or after 1st September 1993.

Any player, who is at any Premiership club in real life, either in their senior, academy or AASE squads, can be bid for on the domestic bidding page. Players who are at your own club in real life and are coming through the academy system must be bid for if you want them in your own academy.

• Domestic (other AP Teams)
  Each team has a budget to use in the purchase of players. Domestic transfers between AP clubs, regardless of nationality of player, should be negotiated between the respective managers, and then confirmed on the Domestic Transfer Confirmation Page.
  
• Domestic (Championship and below)
  Each team may during the season purchase no more than 5 players from the Championship or the National Leagues. Worcester Warriors & London Wasps will receive two additional bids to be used exclusively on academy age players. These players must be bid for on the National League Bidding page, and each bid will be considered by the RFU on its own merits before being accepted or rejected.  No bid will be accepted until a minimum of 24 hours has elapsed from the time the bid was made, in order to afford other managers the opportunity to make a counter bid.
  
• Foreign
  To make a foreign transfer (i.e. from any club outside of the AP, regardless of whether the player is English) a bid should be made on the Foreign Transfers Page, which will be considered by the RFU against the posted guidelines for purchase prices before being accepted or rejected. No bid will be accepted until a minimum of 24 hours has elapsed from the time the bid was made, in order to afford other managers the opportunity to make a counter bid.
  
  There will be a summer foreign transfer window, which will run as follows.
  Player Draft
  Worcester Warriors & London Wasps will participate in a player draft beginning the week of June 22nd. Both sides will be allowed to draft two players each. The draft picks will go as follows; 1. Worcester 2. Wasps 3. Wasps 4. Worcester.
  
  Round Bidding
  There will be two rounds of bidding. The first window will run the week starting June 29th and the second the week starting July 3rd. All sides will be allowed to sign one player each during the window. These bids are not protected if you do not have the funds in place to bid during the window you will lose the bid.    
  
  Open Bidding
  From July 13th the foreign market will be open to all bids similar to previous seasons. Due to the world cup the window will remain open till the end of September.
  

Managers may choose to release players from their clubs, for which they will be offered compensation

Compensation will be paid as follows

£2 million – current international (must have played international rugby in the previous 12 months)
£1.5 million – former international
£1m – top flight experience
£0.5m – other

All released players will be deemed to have joined a Championship side and can be bid for on the National League Bidding page.

There will be no compensation for retiring players.  Should a player who retires decide to come out of retirement and play again, then he will automatically go back to the club who he was playing for in the game when he retired.

There will be 22 Aviva Premiership games per season, plus the play offs. There will also be European Rugby Champions Cup, European Rugby Challenge Cup and Anglo Welsh Cup matches.  These games will take place once a week. A match thread will be put up every Monday. Home teams must be named by midnight on Tuesday. Away teams must be named by midnight on Wednesday. Failure to meet these deadlines is punishable by the addition of three match points to the oppositions final score, unless both sides fail to do so. Both teams must provide tactics by midnight on Thursday. Predictions will be open from 00:01 hours on Friday and remain open until 20:00 hours on Sunday. Managers will pm the scores that they think will happen from these games (apart from games in which they are involved).  An average of all predictions will be taken, and then 0.5 points added to each teams score for each prediction that had them as the winner, and that will then be the final score.

Managers are asked to provide detail as to why they have predicted a result.  To be considered a descriptive prediction this must be a full 3 lines long when entered into the text box.

When naming your team, not only should you put the starting XV and replacements, but also tactics that your team will employ. Results will be affected by the tactics described.

In addition, each team must have the following:-

For domestic competition at least 8 England qualified players in your match day 23, and at least 4 of those must be in your starting XV.

For European competition at least 8 England qualified players in your match day 23, and at least 6 of those must be in your starting XV.

At least 2 props and 1 hooker on the bench.

All players must be eligible (not injured or banned).

Failure to comply with these rules will result in a 1 league point deduction.

If you fail to submit a team for a match, then the other team will be automatically awarded a 30-0 bonus point win. If both teams fail to submit a team, then it will be scored as a 0-0 draw.

Injuries in this game do NOT reflect real life, they will be generated by me.

Players banned in real life will be ineligible for selection in this game for the duration of the ban.

Inclusion of injured/banned players will result in them being replaced by players on the bench, and the bench not having eight players, which may result in punishment if it concerns the front-row.

Punishment for fielding an ineligible player will be loss of one match point.

There will be no rewards for the result of an individual match, instead the managers will receive cash for predicting.

£2m for descriptive predictions
£0.25m for scores on the doors predictions
Bonuses will be awarded on a scaled basis i.e. 2m for 5 games, 1.6m for 4 games and so on
If you fail to predict without first advising me that you are unable to do so that week, you will be fined £1m for a first offence, £2m for a second offence, £3m for a third offence etc upto a maximum of £5m per fine.

AP finishing positions.

Champions: 8m
Runners Up: 6m
Playoff Semi Finalist Losers: 5m
5th: 4m
6th: 3.5m
7th: 3m
8th: 2.5m
9th: 2m
10th: 1.5m
11th: 1m
12th: 0.5m

Heineken Cup

Losing Quarter Finalists - £2 million each
Losing Semi Finalists - £3 million each
Runners Up - £4 million
Champions - £5 million

Amlin Challenge Cup

Losing Quarter Finalists - £1 million each
Losing Semi Finalists - £2 million each
Runners Up - £3 million
Champions - £4 million

Anglo-Welsh Cup

Losing Semi Finalist - £1 million each
Runners Up - £2 million
Champions - £3 million


If your budgets falls below minus £10 million for any reason, the administrators (SJE) will step in and players from within your squad will be released for the relevant financial compensation (foreign transfer value) in order to bring your budget back above minus £10 million.

[Sgt_Pooly]

I think he's seen a pic of me in my uniform, it does have that effect on some people.

[Guest]

I think he's seen a pic of me in my uniform, it does have that effect on some people.

Mainly men by the looks of it !!!

[BamBam]

Think Lee has struggled a fair bit this season, just doesn't look fit which is unsurprising given how he was rushed back for the RWC .. would have started Francis over him

I like Evans though

[Guest]

The few times I have seen Lee he has looked good. There is not much between them in tight but Lee better in loose. Francis does very little in loose play.

Th there to scrum first so not an issue. Both Lee and Francis need to be a lot fitter. They are improved in this area but not there yet

[Sgt_Pooly]

I think he's seen a pic of me in my uniform, it does have that effect on some people.

Mainly men by the looks of it !!!

Beggars can't be choosers Matt.

[Guest]

I think he's seen a pic of me in my uniform, it does have that effect on some people.

Mainly men by the looks of it !!!

Beggars can't be choosers Matt.

To be fair it's really odd that chap following you across the forum. What goes through some people's minds.

[Guest]

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/bold-france-pick-four-debutants/

France side is odd.
I know it's Italy and they will pick a different side against other nations but seriously medard at FB???

Danty could be a star and him and fickou could be exciting:

Laurent decent also but Bezy at 9 and a few other calls odd

[ChequeredJersey]

It's a very good France team!

[ChequeredJersey]

Though I'm not sure about the backrow and halfbacks

[ChequeredJersey]

I think he's seen a pic of me in my uniform, it does have that effect on some people.

Mainly men by the looks of it !!!

Beggars can't be choosers Matt.

To be fair it's really odd that chap following you across the forum. What goes through some people's minds.

Working in Psych at the moment. The answer is all kinds of things!

[Sgt_Pooly]

I think he's seen a pic of me in my uniform, it does have that effect on some people.

Mainly men by the looks of it !!!

Beggars can't be choosers Matt.

To be fair it's really odd that chap following you across the forum. What goes through some people's minds.

Working in Psych at the moment. The answer is all kinds of things!

Extremely odd . The ignore feature works well as I never actually see what he writes, his name just keeps popping up, I honestly don't know what goes through these peoples minds.

[Fluxy]

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/bold-france-pick-four-debutants/

France side is odd.
I know it's Italy and they will pick a different side against other nations but seriously medard at FB???

Danty could be a star and him and fickou could be exciting:

Laurent decent also but Bezy at 9 and a few other calls odd

Not because he's my player at all...   however Medard has been doing quite well at fullback. 

I do think that the French time looks dangerous, apart from maybe France now lacks a 7 much like us now!

[Sgt_Pooly]

It's certainly Toulouse heavy. You go with what you know though I guess.

[SirJohnnyEnglish]

Actually looking forward to seeing Bezy at 9. Been pretty impressive the last two years and if they are looking at an expansive attacking game hes probably their best option. For the sake of my squad on here I hope that midfield lights the competition up! Danty not in as good form as last year but Fickou one of the form players of the whole Top 14

[pullthestrings]

Hi chaps.

Hope you're all well.

Who do you think will have the kicking duties for France this weekend? For ESPN Fantasy of course

[dammit_chris]

How are we going to get on against Scotland tomorrow? I'm really not sure, the Scots are looking the more settled side and Jones could only have had 8-10 sessions to stamp his way of playing on the side - have concerns with the midfield as can't see where we will get over their defence. Could be a very tight game, but wouldn't be surprised if the Scots got a win.

[Guest]

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/bold-france-pick-four-debutants/

France side is odd.
I know it's Italy and they will pick a different side against other nations but seriously medard at FB???

Danty could be a star and him and fickou could be exciting:

Laurent decent also but Bezy at 9 and a few other calls odd

Not because he's my player at all...   however Medard has been doing quite well at fullback. 

I do think that the French time looks dangerous, apart from maybe France now lacks a 7 much like us now!

Medard has always been shaky and for me should be nowhere near France squad. French team does look dangerous in part with bonneval a tidy player but not sure about the back 3
At all.

Danty and fickou have real potential and I was keen to get Danty when sje went for them.

The front 5 looks tasty with jedrasiak a pick for the future.
Looks a player.

Just think the half backs back 3
And some bench picks are plain weird.

[Guest]

For me Chris I don't believe jones has had a enough time to get us playing the way he wants hence him picking a steady side.

Also conditions could be poor so gone for a big side that can look
To control.

That said I want to see some urgency and intent that was all too
Lacking under Lancaster.

The way we approach it is important.

Care for youngs is great. Youngs never gets us going and does not understand tempo when playing int rugby.

Farrell will kick at goal and having 2 kickers could help territory game.

We could lose but hope we squeak it

[Guest]

Get in Glos. How kvesic not an England player beyond me

[Guest]

The England questions http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/12143674/Six-Nations-2016-Five-questions-England-must-answer.html

[Sgt_Pooly]

The French look clueless so far.

Spoke too soon, try for France. Bezy is having a mare with the boot.

[SirJohnnyEnglish]

Bezy struggling with the boot but got them playing at a good tempo ball in hand. Camara and Danty been very impressive in contact and the 7s winger going well. Defensive system come undone a few times though. 

Parisse lucky not to see yellow for the hand in the face

[Sgt_Pooly]

Not so sure about Bezy, he looks a bit clueless. Italy really showing up, pack is looking strong.

[Sgt_Pooly]

So unlucky Italy....why is Parisse attempting a drop goal on 82mins when they need 3pts to win???

France were dire.

[ChequeredJersey]

I can't believe Quins lost that match, idiocy at the end

Parisse showed that for all his skill, he is arrogant and selfish and not a team player. Never should have gone for that drop goal. He deserves chewing out

[Sgt_Pooly]

Scrum looks much better, very solid against a great Scotland outfit. Ford misses touch...aagghhh!!

[Sgt_Pooly]

Ford isn't having a great game.

[ChequeredJersey]

Can't blame him for that penalty though, was doomed with that chase

[Sgt_Pooly]

He just seems to be making a lot of unforced errors. Poor passing, missed touches and knock ons. You can see he's not in great form.

[ChequeredJersey]

I agree I'd rather be playing Farrell

[Sgt_Pooly]

Phew.

Looking ok, need to sharpen up a bit in attack. I'd be looking to take Ford off early in the 2nd if he doesn't pick up, he's not offering much.

[Sgt_Pooly]

Defence has been great so far, nice turnover from Cole. Great hands by Mako for the try.

[ChequeredJersey]

Wouldn't have taken Care off, would put Farrell at 10

[Sgt_Pooly]

Billy V motm, well deserved. Thought Haskell was very impressive, as was Hartley.

Very happy with that win.

[ChequeredJersey]

THought all the starters were solid at the very least, thought England were solid and did what they had to. Can't call it poor, Scotland were deemed favourites by many and we won quiye comfortably, handling to work on, discipline in first half wasn't great.

I am biased but I thought Brown was better and back to his usual self or nearly in the air and in running the ball into contact - he did kick poorly though. He's also better at rucking than most forwards. Care was miles and miles ahead of Youngs, quicker pass, made Laidlaw think about him and even kicked better. Marler was solid, held the scrum so that Mako could come on and do damage against tired opposition in the loose and set piece. Robshaw was better than Haskell who mostly seemed to late tackle the halfbacks, but neither was their best or poor. Clifford was decent in his cameo, didn't do much.

Ford was a bit shaky, still missing his confidence, and I'm not sure what our eventual attack will be. Billy V was the best player on the pitch. Kruis also had a very good game, Lawes was better than I expected, Cole was a menace on the floor, Launcbury solid, Hartley solid, Youngs slow slow slow but not dreadful. Farrell ok but not a natural 12, and not sure why he needed to push Laidlaw, also lucky with several high tackles. Joseph better than at Bath, one great man and ball tackle and some steps. Watson and Nowell both worked hard.

6/10 start, which will do, look to build over the tournament.


Would play:

Brown
Watson
Joseph
Hill/Devoto
Nowell
Farrell
Care
Vunipola
Haskell/Kvesic
Robshaw
Launchbury
Kruis
Cole
Hartley
Marler

George, Vunipola, Brookes, Itoje, Clifford, Youngs, Ford, Daly

next match

[Sgt_Pooly]

Haskell was better than Robshaw for me, hence why Eddie took Robshaw off for Clifford and mentioning him as an excellent performer after the game.

Neither scrum half played well but Youngs was much worse than Care, I thought he was really poor when he came on.

Scrum was excellent for most of the game, as was the line out. Few stupid pens, notibly Cole picking up the ball and Lawes offside. I actually thought the ref was pretty awful, that pen against Cole for clearing out was bizzare.

I'd stick with the same side but drop Ford to the bench and play a 12. Maybe get Itoje on the bench for Lawes.

[dammit_chris]

Haskell still not anywhere near the answer for the no7 shirt though, he tackles and he carries but we desperately need that link man and breakdown specialist. Would like to see Clifford start against Italy.

The Bath backs all looked well out of sorts, JJ did nothing to suggest Daly shouldn't be given a start instead, Watson looks off with timings and Ford's confidence isn't there, but at least he was taking the ball flatter than he has been at Bath.

Would certainly start Mako next week, Marler seems out of sorts and Nel gave him a hard time at the scrum. Also Brookes could be pushing Cole very closely for a start, he seems to give some silly penalties away.

Thought BV was brilliant today and Kruis, Hartley and Nowell all had good games - Lawes, Mako and Clifford all came off the bench and played well too. Overall pretty good start as Scotland isn't an easy game.

[Sgt_Pooly]

Agree on Haskell. he's not the future but played really well. Cole played well, odd stupid pen but was strong in the scrum and breakdown. Brookes is well short of match fitness too, he lasted about 20mins befor hanging about of his hoop last week.

Marler didn't struggle in the scrum. Mako is better as an impact sub, his scrummaging is poor at Int level and it can be targeted less at 50mins onward.

I'd drop Ford for a 12 but pretty much keep the same team. Bring Itoje onto the bench for Lawes maybe.

[dammit_chris]

Brookes played well against Quins yesterday - both our starting props need to up their games, Mako for me should start against Italy, his scrummaging has come on massively at Sarries.

Thought McGeechans article in the Telegraph summed up the game very well - was v positive about England's performance and liked the Ford/Farrell combination as if won us the possession and territory game.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/12144886/Six-Nations-2016-England-uninspiring-Not-at-all-this-was-an-excellent-display-against-Scotland-at-Murrayfield.html

[Sgt_Pooly]

Ford was pretty poor throughout, he's bang out of form and shouldn't have started really.

Mako is still a very hit and miss in the scrum. His technique is not good and he relies on power alone. He goes down much more than Marler does, the scrum becomes a 50/50 gamble.

With Marler on we have a solid platform rather than an attacking weapon. Mako will either drive a guy back or fall flat on his face and give away a pen. He's much more use an impact sub.

[dammit_chris]

Thought Nel gave Marler a pretty tough time yesterday, Marler for me hasn't had a good 12 months, same as Cole as the WC demonstrated, we badly under fired there. Hartley will help the scrum a lot, as will George but Mako has clearly come on a lot, so I'd disagree with you there.

Ford will come good, did some nice things yesterday and a few poor executions but solid enough alongside Farrell - it's not the greatest combination but Jones will keep the same starting XV - would like to see Daly for Goode on the bench, can't see Lawes losing his bench spot as was impressed when he came on.

Certainly a performance to build on.

[Sgt_Pooly]

Happy to disagree, seen enough of Mako yesterday to know he still has issues. Scotland have a very good scrum and we more than held our own yesterday, probably even got on top. I imagine this will only improve as time goes on.

It's often easy to shine coming off the bench, especially against the Scottish replacements who were a big step down in quality.

Ford needs to make way until he gets in some form imo. The 10/12 axis offered next to nothing and Farrell is the better FH at the minute. International rugby is not a place to find your form.

[dammit_chris]

The 10/12 played the way Eddie Jones wanted them to, there's only one way they can play and that is giving us territory and getting big runners off of them, it was never going to be open and expansive, but we made Scotland play 60-70 metres from our try line for most of the game and Jones had his tactics spot on.

I agree Ford is out of form/confidence, but at the same time is throwing Deveto in at no12 the answer when he's not first choice at Bath, similar with Hill at Exeter who rotates quite a bit. Other option would be swapping Ford with Cipriani. I'm not sure we have many alternatives at the moment other than to keep on with Ford/Farrell as a stop gap, just such a shame Slade isn't fit.

[Driver]

SJE

I left my laptop at my friends house and he's gone away for the weekend not sure if I'll get it back in time too predict.

[Sgt_Pooly]

I'd prefer Farrell and an actual 12. Ford isn't playing well in the slightest, there's little point playing him.

[Driver]

I think Farrell and a ball playing 12 is our best option.

9.Care
10.Farrell
11.Nowell
12.Devoto
13.Joseph
14.Watson
15.Brown

I'd pick that for Italy.

[dammit_chris]

Cant see Eddie Jones making that change though, Joseph has been playing equally as poorly for Bath, Watson only a little better and Pooly you've also mentioned how poorly Deveto has been playing so is he the option there?

I'd stick with what we had, until we get better options in and give Jones time to stamp his mark on the team so we can start playing a more expansive style - eventually I'd like to see Ford, Tuilagi and Daly playing, with Slade as the bench option.

[Sgt_Pooly]

Devoto hasn't been as bad as Ford.

I'd also go with that backline Driver. We need a 12 option, Farrell is not the answer. JJ was decent yesterday from very little good ball from the 10/12 axis.

I can't see how we can stick with Ford after that dire showing yesterday.

Ireland really getting on top in the scrum, Bigger off is huge for Ireland.

[Guest]

That scrum is going to take a hiding. Should be a good game, can't wait for the weekend!

The exact opposite has happened Evans and Lee
Destroying their opposite numbers. Wales scrum dominant.

Good half of rugby.
Roberts and faletau impressive

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