Aviva Premiership Round 2

Friday 7th September

Harlequins v London Welsh

Preview

Harlequins Team
15. Mike Brown, 14. Tom Williams,13. George Lowe,12. Jordan Turner-Hall,11. UgoMonye,10. Nick Evans,9. Karl Dickson
1. Joe Marler,2. Joe Gray,3. James Johnston,4. Olly Kohn,5. George Robson,6. MaurieFa'asavalu,7. Chris Robshaw ©,8. Tom Guest

16. Rob Buchanan,17. Darryl Marfo,18. Kyle Sinckler,19. Charlie Matthews,20. Nick Easter,21. Danny Care,22. Ben Botica,23. Matt Hopper


London Welsh Team:
15. Tom Arscott, 14. Phil Mackenzie*, 13. Sonny Parker*, 12. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 11. Joe Ajuwa, 10. Gordon Ross*, 9. Tyson Keats,
1. Frank Montanella*, 2. Neil Briggs, 3. Paulica Ion*, 4 Jonathan Mills ©, 5. Matt Corker, 6. Daniel Browne, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

16. Dan George, 17. Tom Bristow, 18. Arthur Joly, 19. Kirill Kulemin*, 20. Alfie To’oala*, 21. Nick Runciman, 22. Seb Jewell, 23. Nick Scott.



Saturday 8th September

Bath v London Wasps 14:15 ESPN

Preview

Bath Team:
Abendanon; Eastmond, Hipkiss, Banahan, Biggs: Barkley, Claassens
Catt, Mears, Wilson; Hooper (capt), Day, Taylor, Fearns, Skirving.

Batty, James, Palma-Newport, Attwood, Ovens, McMillan, Devoto, Cuthbert.


Wasps Team:
Southwell (capt); Varndell, Daly, C Bell, Wade; Robinson, Simpson;
Payne, Lindsay, Stainbano; Palmer, Wentzel; Haskell, Poff, Vunipola.

Rhys Thomas, McIntyre, Taulafo, Launchbury, Johnson, Davies, T Bell, Mayor.


Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors

Preview

Leicester:
Murphy (capt); Hamilton, Tuilagi, Allen, Goneva; Flood, Harrison; Stankovich, T Youngs, Castrogiovanni; Kitchener, Parling; Mafi, Salvi, Waldrom.

Replacements: Hawkins, Mulipola, Cole, Andrew, Crane, Phibbs, Ford, Smith.


Worcester:
Pennell; Drauniniu, Grove, Matavesi, Lemi; Goode, Perry; Mullan, Lutui, Andress, Percival, Schofield (capt); C Jones, Betty, Taulava.

Replacements: Hayes, C Jones, Currie, Gillies, Kvesic, Arr, Carlisle, Howard.


London Irish v Gloucester

Preview

London Irish:
Homer; Ojo, Joseph, Tagicakibau, Yarde; Shingler, O'Leary; Lahiff, Lawson, Halavatau; Skivington, Evans; Danaher (capt), Treviranus, Fisher.

Replacements: Blaney, Aulika, Ryan, Low, Gray, Watson, Geraghty, Moates.


Gloucester:
May; Sharples, Trinder, Twelvetrees, Simpson-Daniel; Burns, Robson; Wood, Dawidiuk, Knight; James, Hamilton (capt); Savage, Hazell, Morgan.

Replacements: Edmonds, Murphy, Harden, Kalamafoni, Qera, Lewis, Tindall, Thomas.


Sale Sharks v Saracens 16:30 ESPN

Preview

Sale:
Miller; Addison, Leota, Tuitupou, Cueto; Cipriani, Peel; Lewis-Roberts, Ward, Cobilas; Gray, Myall; Gaskell, Seymour (capt), Vernon.

Replacements: Taylor, Dickinson, Thomas, McKenzie, Easter, Cliff, Macleod, Uys.


Saracens:
Goode; Ashton, Tomkins, Barritt, Wyles; Hodgson, Wigglesworth; Vunipola, Brits, du Plessis, Borthwick (capt), Botha, Brown, Fraser, Joubert

Replacements: George, Saunders, Nieto, Hargreaves, Wray, De Kock, Farrell, Short.



Sunday 9th September

Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs 15:00 Sky

Preview

Northampton:
Foden; K Pisi, G Pisi, Waldouck, Artemyev; Lamb, Dickson; Tonga'uiha, Hartley (c), Mujati; Manoa, Day; Dowson, Wood, van Velze.

Replacements: Haywood, Waller, Mercey, Sorenson, Oakley, Roberts, Myler, Burrell.

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

16 Simon Alcott 17 Ben Moon 18 Chris Budgen 19 James Hanks 20 James Phillips 21 Kevin Barrett 22 Gareth Steenson 23 Sireli Naqelevuki

With a Friday night match we should may see some teams announced today. As Ozzy was busy yesterday I thought I would copy his set-up for Round 1.

As teams are announced, I will put them into the OP.

Let the discussions begin.

Cheers LT. Some intriguing fixtures this week.

Well done LT!

Predictions before teams go up:

Bath- I have a feeling Saturday may have taken too much out of Wasps and Bath will be too secure out wide for them.
Tigers- Another fairly simple game for Tigers, expect Wuss to make it tough but Leicester to get in gear late on.
Glos- Gloucester will be upset about losing at home last week and I can't see LI suddenly becoming good in a week.
Saracens- Probably going to be a dull one but Saracens will do enough to win a poor contest.
Saints- Saints should have enough experience and quality to win this one with home advantage helping.

My predictions from last nights v2 podcast - https://www.606v2.com/t34562-the-breakdown-v2-rugby-podcast-week2

Quins by lots
Wasps by a few
Tigers by lots
Irish in a tight one
Saracens in dull one
Chiefs to stun the Saints

Quins with a bonus point win
Wasps in a fight. If they don't lose their gas tank they shouild have it by a scrape looking at R1 performance.
Tigers with a bonus point win after the inevitable chew out they took from Cockerill
Gloucester. LI looked just atrosious in R1 (Sorry Ozzy) and the cherry & whites should get this.
Saracens by boring the opposition to death, scores by Ashton from catching the opposition napping.
Chiefs/Saints - tough one. I'll go Saints, but could go either way.

For me - until the teams are announced:

Quins by a country mile
Bath to grind out a win over a disheartened Wasps side
Sneaky feeling that LI will sneak a home win over Glaws
Sharks to be a lot better than they were in Devon - but Sarries to be too strong.
Saints to have a real fight with Chiefs, but in the end win by more than a score.

Well, this is how I see 'em:

Harlequins v London Welsh:
Big win for Harlequins. After watching London/Oxford Welsh last weekend, I am going to start to feel sorry for their players soon.

Bath v London Wasps:
Very interesting for both teams. Which team can rebound form tough losses last weekend? If Wasps were more careful regarding making one pass too many, they might have won. Bath to win, but probably close and only because they are at home.

Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors:
Tough defense from Worcester and should be close at half time. In the end should be somewhat comfortable for Leicester.

London Irish v Gloucester:
The second rebound match of the weekend. Can LI recover from a thorough thumping? Can Gloucester recover from a closer loss, but a home loss? On paper, both teams are pretty decent. Probably high scoring but Gloucester wins close.

Sale Sharks v Saracens:
Can't see Sale winning. Sarries too strong everywhere. Probably close. Will be interesting to see if Saracens still try to run the ball or if it is back to kick, kick, kick, zzzzz.

Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs:
Should be the match of the weekend. Two good defenses. Two solid teams. I think Saints win because their attack is better and they are at home. Should be close.

Largely agree with Dr Grey, but with two exceptions - first I will not be winning anything for Quins, secondly I think Wasps may sneak it against Bath. No clever reasoning really I've just got a gut feeling that pests will come good again this season.

I agree with Dr Grey. Nice post!

Interesting that the top 5 last season won their opening game. That could well be a sign of things to come.

Best result of the round was Saints beating Gloucester away. (For Saints obviously).

The rest of the results were probably the outcomes expected but obviously not by those margins!

Funny all the comments about Saracens being boring yet they secured the try bonus with 4 tries against one of the so called exciting teams. No comment about the last encounter with Sale!

I'll make my predictions when I see the teams.

beshocked wrote:Funny all the comments about Saracens being boring yet they secured the try bonus with 4 tries against one of the so called exciting teams. No comment about the last encounter with Sale!

I think they're just comments in comparison to the fire-cracker of the game directly before that was edge of your seat stuff.

I think Sale Sharks are in for a tough run this weekend from Sarries though.

But you have to admit Beshocked that the first 40 of that game and the whole of the last two seasons have been very boring.

I think everyone is worried that those 40 minutes on Sat may have been a flash in the pan. We'll soon see.

"Saracens in dull one"

"Saracens by boring the opposition to death, scores by Ashton from catching the opposition napping."

"Will be interesting to see if Saracens still try to run the ball or if it is back to kick, kick, kick, zzzzz."


Can anyone see a pattern emerging here.... ?

If we were being fair, we'd say 'well actually, they chucked it around a bit last weekend', but then, life isn't fair is it...

Yappy, looks like Ashton is back looking for work off the shoulders of other backs. If that's the case (good for England) Sarries won't lack for tries

True true, let's hope he does a bit better then Strettle did.

Quins and LW teams posted.

Quins bring in Monye on the wing, moving Lowe to centre and Hopper to the bench. Guest/Easter and Dickson/Care rotate. Botica replaces Clegg on the bench.

For LW Corker comes into the second row, while it is all change in the back row. Denbee and Jackson come in at 7 & 8, with Daniel Browne moving from 8 to 6.
One change in the backs sees Tyson Keats (ex Aironi) get a start at SH.


Big win for Quins in the offing.

Brilliant to see both Marfo and Sinckler on the bench for Quins they bright prospects and should get a good test against that Welsh pack, really annoyed that it's not on TV now! Who wants to tune in for SalevSaracens?!!

Bit irritated that Nev is starting but I guess if we're going well by the 50 min mark he'll come off, probably best not to drop Botica straight in.

Yappysnap not everyone wants to watch Quins humping London Welsh in an one sided encounter at home.

Before the season Sale were hyped as one of the teams to shine. At home they might actually put up a fight. Plus it's Sales' first game at their new stadium vs one of the best sides in the AP.

I'll be tuning in.

I won't be watching either live as I am regrettably busy but on monday I will try and watch whichever games people say are most interesting on the Internet

I will be abusing the season ticket for this one me thinks!

I really don't think it'll be one sided. And why would people not want to watch the Premiership Champions showing how the game should be played in sunny south london?

beshocked wrote:Yappysnap not everyone wants to watch Quins humping London Welsh in an one sided encounter at home.

Before the season Sale were hyped as one of the teams to shine. At home they might actually put up a fight. Plus it's Sales' first game at their new stadium vs one of the best sides in the AP.

I'll be tuning in.

I'm surprised Saracens havent tried to claim this as a home fixture, they've claimed just about every other venue in the UK as a home fixture...

I'll get me coat....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/19507978

Hope he stays! Not sure how quickly we can get Clegg and Botica up to scratch if he doesn't

Yea it's worrying alright! Let's hope Quins can do enough to tempt him to stay, I guess this could be why we haven't spent too much in the off season so that we can try to compete with the other offers coming in.

Marquee player time for Quins, Evans rescued Quins last weekend and without him they would be in serious bother. Give him the big deal and be done with it.

On the Tigers injury front Micky Young is out for 4 to 6 weeks but Kitchener has recovered enough to be in consideration for Saturday but Benjamin is touch and go after picking up a stinger on Monday night.

I predict:

Mulipola, T Youngs, Cole
Kitchener, Parling
Mafi, Waldrom, Salvi
Harrison, Flood
Allen, Manu
Goneva, Murphy, Hamilton

Bench: Stanko, Chuter, Castro, Andrew, Crane, Phibbs, Ford, Smith.

formerly known as Sam wrote:On the Tigers injury front Micky Young is out for 4 to 6 weeks

Real shame. I thought his 40 minutes against Nottingham was much sharper than Harrisons, while his service for the 25 minutes he managed against LW was excellent. The quick ball he was providing saw us into a 17-0 lead. He went off and for a while Harrison gummed everything up na LW came back into it for a bit.

I didn't think Clegg was on the bench last week either? I can't believe Chisholm has been dropped!

I really hope Sale actually started an EQed player or two this week. I have to admit I quite enjoyed them getting thrashed after they started with only 5 EQed players last week. It looks like Redpath is continuing how he left off at Gloucester in terms of results.

DaveM wrote:I didn't think Clegg was on the bench last week either?

You are quite right, apologies for my senior moment.

ps - apologies but I will be late updating teams today due to unexpected work commitments.

Quins
Bath
Tigers
Sarries
Saints

Can't call the Glaws v Irish one; Irish always tend to batter us at the Madejski. Even though I believe we have the better side, I think new players/new coach will take time to gel. Head says a tight win for Irish.

DaveM - Chisholm did well. But there are players returning from injury/rests.
Brown comes in to start and Tom Williams covers.
Monye starts and Lowe can shift to cover (hopefully with more success this time) with Hopper coming on.

I dont think that Chisholm being left out is any reflection on his play. COS is just giving all the boys a taste at the start of season. Good seeing more of the academy guys on the bench - they will definately come on.

RE:NEV, I hope he stays - even if he isnt playing well the team still has a confidence that you dont have with Clegg!
The signing of Botica is interesting, I wonder if it shows Quins loosing confidence in Rory. I saw Botica in the pre-season double header and he looked classy.

He played 1st half at 12 agains Lon Scots, then shifted to 10 for the 2nd half and quins started rolling. An hour later he was on the bench for the Connaught game and came on for the last 30mins and had some great touches.

I dont think COS will have any probs chucking him in - could be a great little find there.

I'm hoping Irish line up as....

1 Lahiff
2 Lawson
3 Hala'vatu
4 Evans
5 Skivington
6 Danaher
7 Treviranus
8 Gray
9 O'Leary
10 Geraghty
11 Yarde
12 Shingler
13 Joseph
14 Tagicakibau
15 Homer

stnick88- any news on when Garvey will be back for you boys?

stnick88 wrote:I'm hoping Irish line up as....

1 Lahiff
2 Lawson
3 Hala'vatu
4 Evans
5 Skivington
6 Danaher
7 Treviranus
8 Gray
9 O'Leary
10 Geraghty
11 Yarde
12 Shingler
13 Joseph
14 Tagicakibau
15 Homer

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/rugby/london_irish/s/2120125_why_london_irish_will_persist_with_tagicakibau_at_centre

Jimpy wrote:

beshocked wrote:Yappysnap not everyone wants to watch Quins humping London Welsh in an one sided encounter at home.

Before the season Sale were hyped as one of the teams to shine. At home they might actually put up a fight. Plus it's Sales' first game at their new stadium vs one of the best sides in the AP.

I'll be tuning in.

I'm surprised Saracens havent tried to claim this as a home fixture, they've claimed just about every other venue in the UK as a home fixture...

I'll get me coat....

No Saracens don't use stadiums in the north of England - just the home counties and London. You forgot Brussels too.

The venues we are using this season are:VR, Allianz Park,Goldington Road,Stadium MK,Twickenham, Wembley and the Badouin Stadium. 7 different venues - not bad at all.

We should have branch out a bit more though - use Kassam Stadium as our home ground vs London Welsh for example. Build up our fanbase in Oxford.

Stnick88 I certainly agree Tagicakibau is most effect on the wing. What's happened to the Corbisiero? I fear for the London Irish pack without him.

Smart move to bring Gray in.


I hope for Gloucester's sake they dont persist with Tindall at 13!

Tindall is gone, he's Gloucesters' attack coach now and apparently doing very well at it for them.

Is Trinder not their 13 now or is he injured again?

I thought Tindall was in a player/coach role now? Hopefully, it's just a way for him to bow out of the game gracefully and on a high- I expect him to feature a lot less for Gloucester this season than he has done in the past.

Tindall isn't gone, he started against Northampton. He still offers a lot at centre I think, certainly at club level.

Oh he certainly does at Premiership level EnglishReign, I agree. I just think he's lacking that consistency now, and that his current role suits him a bit better. It'll give Trinder some good game time too, as well as time to learn off Tindall's experience.

yappysnap wrote:Tindall is gone, he's Gloucesters' attack coach now and apparently doing very well at it for them.

Is Trinder not their 13 now or is he injured again?

Not injured, but lacking form. Tindall has been his usual self during pre-season and the first game. Excellent in defence and at the breakdown, but a bit lacking in attack. With so many youngsters he certainly has his place in the squad, but I'm sure by the end of the season Trinder will have played far more games. Trinder will at the very least be on the bench tomorrow, but I think the major changes for Glaws will come in the pack. There's no doubt the Glaws pack dominated in the 2nd half so I'm expecting some if not all of Edmonds, Knight and Kalamafoni to start following their impact last week.

Glaws never win away (except at ) and we have a dreadful record at Irish, but if we play like we did in the 2nd half last week then I am very confident we'll chalk up a win...

HKC! I didn't get a chance to see the GLoucester game and haven't had time to catch up on premiershiptv.com. Any chance you could shed some light on how Morgan and Twelvetrees got on?

bluestonevedder wrote:HKC! I didn't get a chance to see the GLoucester game and haven't had time to catch up on premiershiptv.com. Any chance you could shed some light on how Morgan and Twelvetrees got on?

They were both OK. They are part of an 8,9,10,12 axis that hadn't ever played before and the first half really showed that.

Morgan faded in and out of the game at times, but didn't show any issues over fitness as he played the full 80 minutes. He made a couple of good carries in situations where in the past we would have really struggled to get front foot ball. He also controlled the ball at the base of the scrum very well. I would have given him a B-, did OK but plenty of room for improvement.

36 was similar. He made some excellent passes, but the odd wild one too. He did get himself in a muddle at times and left himself with no choice but to go into contact. He did very well at the breakdown and defence. I would give him a solid B. Once he has the understanding of Robson and Burns I'm sure he'll come very good.

So all in all, neither had a virtuoso start, but both showed plenty of potential to be big hits.

Thanks HKC, appreciate the info.

Excellent to hear that Morgan played the full 80. Starting the think maybe it was the altitude over the summer that caught him out, or he's been seriously hitting the cardio over the summer break.

Good news on Twelvetrees too. Hopefully as you say, they will all begin to gel within the next few games, and show us what they really can do.

Thanks again.

Ah fair enough, I must have got the wrong end of the stick. Tins certainly is a quality player for Glaws, especially with all the youngsters in there now. Him and Twelvetrees together make a big presence in the mid field and I guess as long as 36 is on form his passing will more then make up for any deficiencies out side him.

Morgan had just come back from injury in the summer. It wouldn't be the first time an international was rushed back before full fitness.

yappysnap wrote:Morgan had just come back from injury in the summer. It wouldn't be the first time an international was rushed back before full fitness.

You're right Yappy thanks, I forgot he was injured prior to the tour. Great effort from him either way, improving his fitness so much in preparation from the season. Looking forward to seeing him play.

yappysnap wrote:Ah fair enough, I must have got the wrong end of the stick. Tins certainly is a quality player for Glaws, especially with all the youngsters in there now. Him and Twelvetrees together make a big presence in the mid field and I guess as long as 36 is on form his passing will more then make up for any deficiencies out side him.

Burns & 36 are very good at the miss pass!!!

I don't have any concerns over Morgan. I think he was probably rushed back for the summer tests, which is why he looked off the pace, but he had extended leave before coming to the Glaws pre-season training, so hopefully all is fine and well.

LT, I've added the chiefs team which has just been announced for you. If I get time I'll try to do the others as they come out.

Glaws' team is:
Jonny May; Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees, James Simpson-Daniel; Freddie Burns, Dan Robson; Nick Wood, Darren Dawidiuk, Shaun Knight; Will James, Jim Hamilton (capt); Tom Savage, Andy Hazell, Ben Morgan

Replacements:

Huia Edmonds, Dan Murphy, Rupert Harden, Sione Kalamafoni, Akapusi Qera, Dave Lewis, Mike Tindall, Martyn Thomas

Surprised Q has been dropped, but from all reports Hazell was excellent in the A game this week. That is a monster front 5 that could really cause Irish problems and to have the likes of Edmonds, Q & K coming off the bench we have some real impact subs.

I should add Will James is often lamented for his ability, but he is looking fitter than ever (thank you Paddy Anson) and he was another who realy made an impact against Saints last week.