Aviva Premiership Round One Discussion Thread

[Ozzy3213]

First topic message reminder :

It's here folks, the Aviva Premiership season starts on Saturday. Rivalries will be renewed, and everyone will have an opinion on everything. Here is a discussion thread for Round One, with the fixtures listed. As teams are announced I will add them to the thread. I shall save my predictions until I start seeing line ups, as at this stage of the season nobody has any form with which to base a guess on. best of luck to all, but most importantly...



COME ON YOU IRISH

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London Wasps vs. Harlequins
Preview

London Wasps
1 Tim Payne 2 Tom Lindsay 3 Fabio Staibano 4 Joe Launchbury 5 Marco Wentzel 6 James Haskell 7 Jonathan Poff 8 Billy Vunipola; 9 Joe Simpson 10 Nick Robinson 11 Tom Varndell 12 Andrea Masi 13 Elliot Daly 14 Christian Wade 15 Hugo Southwell

Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas 17 Simon McIntyre 18 Zak Taulafo 19 Tom Palmer 20 Ashley Johnson 21 Nic Berry 22 Tommy Bell 23 Chris Mayor

Harlequins
15. Mike Brown 14. Tom Williams 13. Matt Hopper 12. Jordan Turner-Hall 11. George Lowe 10. Nick Evans 9. Danny Care; 1. Joe Marler 2. Joe Gray 3. James Johnston 4. Olly Kohn 5. George Robson 6. Maurie Fa'asavalu 7. Chris Robshaw 8. Nick Easter

Replacements: 16. Rob Buchanan 17. Mark Lambert 18. Will Collier 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Tom Guest 21. Karl Dickson 22. Ben Botica 23. Ross Chisholm

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Exeter Chiefs vs. Sale Sharks
Preview

Exeter Chiefs
15 Phil Dollman 14 Josh Tatupu 13 Ian Whitten 12 Jason Shoemark 11 Matt Jess 10 Ignacio Mieres 9 Will Chudley; 1 Brett Sturgess 2 Chris Whitehead 3 Craig Mitchell 4 Tom Hayes 5 Aly Muldowney 6 Tom Johnson 7 James Scaysbrook 8 Richard Baxter

Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott 17 Ben Moon 18 Chris Budgen 19 James Hanks 20 James Phillips 21 Kevin Barrett 22 Gareth Steenson 23 Luke Arscott

Sale Sharks
15. Rob Miller 14. Will Addison 13. Johnny Leota 12. Sam Tuitupou 11. Corne Uys 10. Nick Macleod 9. Dwayne Peel; 1. Eifion Lewis-Roberts 2. Joe Ward 3. Vadim Cobilas 4. Richie Gray 5. Fraser McKenzie 6. James Gaskell 7. David Seymour (c.) 8.Andy Powell

Replacements: 16. Marc Jones 17. Ross Harrison 18. Tony Buckley 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Richie Vernon 21. Cillian Willis 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Jordan Davies.

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Gloucester vs. Northampton Saints
Preview

Gloucester
15. Jonny May 14. Charlie Sharples 13. Mike Tindall 12. Billy Twelvetrees 11. James Simpson-Daniel 10. Freddie Burns 9. Dan Robson; 1. Nick Wood 2. Darren Dawidiuk 3. Rupert Harden 4. Tom Savage 5. Alex Brown (capt) 6. Matt Cox 7. Akapusi Qera 8 Ben Morgan

Replacements: 16. Dan Murphy 17. Huia Edmonds 18. Shaun Knight 19. Will James 20. Sione Kalamafoni 21. Dave Lewis 22. Henry Trinder 23. Martyn Thomas

Northampton Saints
15. Ben Foden 14. Ken Pisi 13. George Pisi 12. Dominic Waldouck 11. Vasily Artemyev 10. Ryan Lamb 9. Lee Dickson; 1. Soane Tonga'uiha 2. Dylan Hartley 3. Brian Mujati 4. Samu Manoa 5. Christian Day 6. Phil Dowson 7. Tom Wood 8. GJ Van Velze

Replacements: 16. Mike Haywood 17. Alex Waller 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. Mark Sorenson 20. Rhys Oakley 21. Martin Roberts 22. Stephen Myler 23. Luther Burrell

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Worcester Warriors vs. Bath Rugby
Preview

Worcester Warriors
15 Chris Pennell 14 Josh Drauniniu 13 Alex Grove 12 Josh Matavesi 11 David Lemi 10 Andy Goode 9 Shaun Perry; 1 Matt Mullan 2 Aleki Lutui 3 John Andress 4 James Percival 5 Dean Schofield 6 Chris Jones 7 Sam Betty 8 Semisi Taulava

Replacements: 16 Ollie Hayes 17 Ceri Jones 18 James Currie 19 Craig Gillies 20 Matt Kvesic 21 Jonny Arr 22 Joe Carlisle 23 Ben Howard

Bath Rugby
15. Nick Abendanon 14. Tom Biggs 13. Dan Hipkiss 12. Matt Banahan 11. Kyle Eastmond 10. Olly Barkley 9. Michael Claassens; 1. Paul James 2. Lee Mears 3. David Wilson 4. Stuart Hooper (c) 5. Dominic Day 6. Carl Fearns 7. Francois Louw 8. Ben Skirving

Replacements: 16. Ross Batty 17. Nathan Catt 18. Kane Palma-Newport 19. Dave Attwood 20. Will Skuse 21. Mark McMillan 22. Ollie Devoto 23. Jack Cuthbert

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Saracens vs. London Irish
Preview

Saracens
15 Alex Goode 14 Chris Ashton 13 Joel Tomkins 12 Brad Barritt 11 Chris Wyles 10 Charlie Hodgson 9 Richard Wigglesworth; 1 Mako Vunipola 2 Schalk Brits 3 Petrus du Plessis 4 Steve Borthwick 5 Mouritz Botha 6 Kelly Brown 7 Will Fraser 8 Ernst Joubert

Replacements: 16 Jamie George 17 Rhys Gill 18 Carlos Nieto 19 Eoin Sheriff 20 Jackson Wray 21 Neil de Kock 22 Nils Mordt 23 James Short

London Irish
15. Tom Homer 14. Topsy Ojo 13. Jonathan Joseph 12. Sailosi Tagicakibau 11. Marland Yarde 10. Steve Shingler 9. Tomás O’Leary; 1. Max Lahiff 2. Scott Lawson 3. Leo Halavatau 4. George Skivington 5. Bryn Evans (Captain) 6. Jamie Gibson 7. Ofisa Treviranus 8. Jon Fisher

Replacements: 16. Brian Blaney 17. Halani Aulika 18. Cai Griffiths 19. Kieran Low 20. Declan Danaher 21. Alex Gray 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Jack Moates

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London Welsh vs. Leicester Tigers
Preview

London Welsh
15 Tom Arscott 14 Phil MacKenzie 13 Sonny Parker 12 Hudson Tonga'uiha 11 Joe Ajuwa 10 Gordon Ross 9 Jonah Holmes; 1 Franck Montanella 2 Neil Briggs 3 Paulica Ion 4 Jonathan Mills 5. Kirill Kulemin 6 Ed Williamson 7 Lee Beach 8 Daniel Browne.

Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman 17 Tom Bristow 18 Arthur Joly 19 Martin Purdy 20 Alfie To'oala 21 Nick Runciman 22 Seb Jewell 23 Nick Scott

Leicester Tigers
15. Geordan Murphy 14. Scott Hamilton 13. Manu Tuilagi 12. Anthony Allen 11. Vereniki Goneva 10. Toby Flood 9. Micky Young; 1. Lugovi'i Mulipola 2. Tom Youngs 3. Dan Cole 4. Rob Andrew 5. Geoff Parling 6. Steve Mafi 7. Julian Salvi 8. Thomas Waldrom

Replacements: 16. George Chuter 17. Boris Stankovich 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Brett Deacon 20. Jordan Crane 21. Sam Harrison 22. George Ford 23. Matt Smith

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[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Sorry this is terrible. Going back to the halfway line to look at a possible marginal forward pass?

Goodbye attacking rugby

[Cumbrian]

Sorry this is terrible. Going back to the halfway line to look at a possible marginal forward pass?

Goodbye attacking rugby

Yeah, it was pretty innocuous. Far too far back in the play to back and chalk it off. It really saved Quins bacon too, that had counted and I could not see a way back for them.

[Cumbrian]

Anybody know roughly how many tickets have been sold for the Double Header?

[nathan]

Not looking like this is going to a win for quins.

[Cumbrian]

What the hell has happened to Quins wide defence? It has been absolutely pathetic.

[nathan]

What the hell has happened to Quins wide defence? It has been absolutely pathetic.

I just don't think Lowe is a winger.

[ChequeredJersey]

This isnt good. Not even a particularly weakened team out

[nathan]

expecting quins to use there forward power now.

[nathan]

how the hell have wasps had a warning already without quins getting one at the start!!

[ChequeredJersey]

Don't know. If we squeeze a win out of this, gods know we don't deserve it

[nathan]

Don't know. If we squeeze a win out of this, gods know we don't deserve it

to be fair, i think Wasps have surprised me. I didnt think they'd be this good.

[Cumbrian]

More likely that Wasps will put 50 on you than Quins squeaking a win at this point. Next score kills it IMO.

[ChequeredJersey]

It's already pretty dead IMO

[LondonTiger]

This isnt good. Not even a particularly weakened team out

Only one change from your team in the Final - so no, not a weakened team at all.

[ChequeredJersey]

And.... That's the nail! Payne. How the hell do you let Payne score?

[nathan]

And.... That's the nail! Payne. How the hell do you let Payne score?

lol, he did show some good hands but theres still 20 minutes for him to make a mistake.

[LondonTiger]

Wasps give it straight back to Quins, though good energy by chisholm and Guest.

Can someone please give the man on the Pa a micectomy.

[LondonTiger]

hmm blocking by Quins forward (Marler?) in midfield cleared a gap for evans

[Cumbrian]

Wasps are really guick off the mark in defence and Quins are doing everything 10 yards behind the gain line. They need to vary it.

[nathan]

ooooh, this could be getting exciting!

[Cumbrian]

Eeeh, shut me mouth, could a Lazarus impression be under way?

[LondonTiger]

Both teams apparently giving a lot more verbal to the ref, probably due to the new experiment with TMO. I hope refs crack down on it.

[nathan]

hmm blocking by Quins forward (Marler?) in midfield cleared a gap for evans

thats the issue though with the new rule, the ref's still have to spot it to check it.

[LondonTiger]

And now obstruction by JTH missed.

[ChequeredJersey]

Let's at least go for the 4 try BP

[Cumbrian]

What a try! Pin point kick from Evans.

[nathan]

well that wasted a minute of my life...

[nathan]

Wasps starting to kick it away now.

[ChequeredJersey]

Notice I said we didn't deserve it if this kind of thing happened?

[Cumbrian]

Dear God, what a game!

[nathan]

Notice I said we didn't deserve it if this kind of thing happened?

If you score enough points to get into this position of course you deserver it!

Wasps stopped the offloads in the first half, there struggling with it now.

[ChequeredJersey]

Is this really happening?

[nathan]

surely if someone tackles you to the ground you can't just stand up. I've seen it a couple times in this game (from both teams)

[ChequeredJersey]

Depends if they've held you properly. I used to try it a few times when I played. If the ref doesn't ping it it's fine

[Cumbrian]

What kind of conditioning have Wasps done in pre-season? They looked knackered after about 60 minutes!

[nathan]

What kind of conditioning have Wasps done in pre-season? They looked knackered after about 60 minutes!

not much!

[Cumbrian]

Jeez, Wasps fans must be absolutely devastated!

[ChequeredJersey]

Not sure I can believe this

[LondonTiger]

Fantastic comeback by Quins.

shocking collapse by Wasps.

[nathan]

feel sorry for Wasps fans but let not forget, this was against the champions.

[Cumbrian]

What a game! Quins were as dominant in the second half as Wasps were in the first. Well done to them! Sarries and Irish have got some way to go to follow that.

[BigTrevsbigmac]

Great game well played Quins. Wasps have a lot to build on for this season.

Another example of Jeff boring attritional rugby.

[belovedfrosties]

Anyone have a link for the Gloucester Saints game? Want to watch some of that before the sarries game kicks off.

Great game just over, who got motm? I thought both Fullbacks had good games, Wade was brilliant in the first half but quiet in the 2nd so will be interesting to see what people make of that.

[Ozzy3213]

Am at Twickenham and not quite sure how Wasps managed to chuck that away.

[nathan]

Anyone have a link for the Gloucester Saints game? Want to watch some of that before the sarries game kicks off.

Great game just over, who got motm? I thought both Fullbacks had good games, Wade was brilliant in the first half but quiet in the 2nd so will be interesting to see what people make of that.

Evans was MOTM, that game isn't being televised.

[nathan]

Crickey, Is O'Shea always me, me, me?

[belovedfrosties]

Evans? Really? He had a good game but i didnt think he stood out too much.

[ChequeredJersey]

He did score 22 points including the last 10 for Quins and set up several tries.

[belovedfrosties]

He did score 22 points including the last 10 for Quins and set up several tries.

Well when you put it like that i guess he did alright.......

[nathan]

hehe, the sarries team all look like Denis the Menace!

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