Aviva Premiership - Round 11

Table

POS	TEAM	-PL-	-W-	-D-	-L-	-PF-	-PA-	-DIFF-	-TF-	-TA-	-TB-	-LB-	-PTS-
1	Saracens	10	8	0	2	262	116	146	30	9	4	2	38
2	Wasps	10	8	0	2	319	205	114	40	23	5	0	37
3	Bath Rugby	10	8	0	2	235	135	100	24	13	2	1	35
4	Leicester Tigers	10	7	0	3	247	196	51	23	21	2	1	31
5	Exeter Chiefs	10	5	1	4	276	205	71	34	25	5	3	30
6	Harlequins	10	5	0	5	206	237	-31	22	28	2	1	23
7	Newcastle Falcons	10	5	0	5	168	238	-70	19	28	1	2	23
8	Gloucester Rugby	10	3	2	5	228	217	11	25	26	3	4	23
9	Northampton Saints	10	4	0	6	170	192	-22	14	15	1	3	20
10	Sale Sharks	10	3	1	6	191	245	-54	22	27	3	1	18
11	Worcester Warriors	10	1	2	7	171	309	-138	20	33	1	1	10
12	Bristol Rugby	10	0	0	10	138	316	-178	16	41	0	4	4

Fixtures

So, we come to the halfway point in the season with the following games:

Friday 23rd December

19:45 Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks (BT Sport)
Since their last win (18th November) Saints have lost at home to Falcons, away to neighbours Leicester and been thrashed twice by Leinster. Throw in controversy around George North, Dylan Hartley (and other red cards) and rumours of a failed big money approach to Pat Lam and it is fair to say they have not enjoyed a pleasant end to the year. Pressure on Mallinder and West continues to mount, and another home defeat could possibly provide the final nail/straw (insert platitude as desired). They should be too strong for a Sale team who have been struggling to provide a platform from the pack and have seen their new 10s struggle to manage the game with any consistency. Sale’s losing streak extends back to October and usually you would not bet on them changing that. However if they can show the spirit demonstrated last week against a Saracen’s team that can justifiably be called the best in Europe, then they could cause the depression to deepen at the Gardens.


Saturday 24th December

13:30 Saracens v Newcastle Falcons (BT Sport)
After starting the season looking very staid and ordinary, Falcons have started to play with a bit more panache. This had been helped by ditching Delaney, and Socino hitting a hot streak of form at 12. Come down with the right attitude and they could scare the champions, but ultimately fall short of gaining any points from the fixture with Globogym asserting their muscularity in the final quarter.
Of course, much depends on the teams selected by DORs McCall and Richards. The Sarries boss may see this as a game calling for rotation, while away from home Deano has chosen some strange line-ups.


14:00 Wasps v Bath (BT Sport)
At full strength this would be a mouth-watering contest. However both sides have had some significant injuries, and do not have the depth of squad that fellow title contenders Saracens have to allow for easy replacement. Too hard to call, but at home Wasps should have too much.

15:00 Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers
Both sides are struggling for consistent form. At times this season Leicester have been spineless on their travels and it is hard to see anything other than a Chiefs win.


Monday 26th December

Bristol v Worcester (BT Sport)
BT meet their contractual obligations to visit every side by featuring this “derby”. Having finally won a match during the last Euro window, Bristol will be looking to build on recent hard working performances that have garnered them a couple of LBPs into a win over fellow struggles Worcester. This does feel like a real must win game for Bristol. Lose and the gap grows to double figures against a side that will be welcoming back influential players very soon. Win however and they are right on Wuss’s coattails.


Tuesday 27th December

16:00 Harlequins v Gloucester (BT Sport)
The BIG Match. Slightly hidden away though on a gloomy midweek afternoon but could be a real cracker. Yet again Gloucester have been consistent only in their inconsistency – yet Quins have not been far behind following stunning wins (over Sarries) with dire performaces (away to Wasps). Their home form is good, and they should expect to win this game. I look forward to seeing Robshaw against Moriarty.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY SALE
Aviva Premiership Round 10
Franklin’s Gardens
Friday, December 23rd, 2016
Kick off 7:45pm
15 Ben Foden
14 Ken Pisi
13 Luther Burrell
12 JJ Hanrahan
11 Juan Pablo Estelles
10 Stephen Myler
9 Nic Groom
1 Alex Waller
2 Mikey Haywood
3 Kieran Brookes
4 Courtney Lawes
5 Christian Day
6 Tom Wood (capt)
7 Teimana Harrison
8 Louis Picamoles

16 Charlie Clare
17 Ethan Waller
18 Paul Hill
19 Api Ratuniyarawa
20 Jamie Gibson
21 Tom Kessell
22 James Wilson
23 Nafi Tuitavake

Sale Sharks:

15. Mike Haley, 14. Denny Solomona, 13. Sam James, 12. Johnny Leota, 11. Josh Charnley, 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Mike Phillips, 1. Ross Harrison, 2. Rob Webber, 3. Halani Aulika, 4. Bryn Evans, 5. Andrei Ostrikov, 6. Cameron Neild, 7. Magnus Lund (c), 8. TJ Ioane

Replacements: 16. Neil Briggs, 17. James Flynn, 18. Kieran Longbottom, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Jonathan Mills, 21. David Seymour, 22. James Mitchell, 23. Tom Arscott

Saints side looks strong I think with a few exceptions. Quietly confident. With 6 to 9 looking so tight and our next few games being winnable really need to be winning.

Hate how they play games this weekend.

Bath team could be relatively strong, but will need to be for our strongest challenge of the season so far. Maybe a team looking something like this, below.

Injuries - long term, likely most of season
Thomas, Denton, Priestland, Bowden, Banners

Back in Jan/Feb
Fruean, Sisi, Watson, Cook, Ewels

Possible team
Catt/Batty/Palma-Newport
Attwood/Charteris
Garvey/Faletau/Louw

Kahn/Ford
Tapaui/Joseph
Brew/Homer/Roko

Lahiff
Dunn
Auterac (not sure he's fit) / Obano
Stooke/Ellis
Mercer/Ellis/Grant
Allinson
2 of Clark/Hastings/Wilson/Fruean

Just noticed what a competitive weekend it is, with the exception of the Sarries game, they are all within a place or two.

Saturday 24th December

13:30 Saracens v Newcastle Falcons (BT Sport)
After starting the season looking very staid and ordinary, Falcons have started to play with a bit more panache. This had been helped by ditching Delaney, and Socino hitting a hot streak of form at 12. Come down with the right attitude and they could scare the champions, but ultimately fall short of gaining any points from the fixture with Globogym asserting their muscularity in the final quarter.
Of course, much depends on the teams selected by DORs McCall and Richards. The Sarries boss may see this as a game calling for rotation, while away from home Deano has chosen some strange line-ups.

Fair write up...though I firmly believe much of Socino's form is actually due to Hodgson being installed as starting 10 and he has been a breath of fresh air. He has matured due to his time away and is making the whole backline tick.

It "could" be a long day at the office...but if we play with the aggressive and pace we have in recent weeks and really get at them I will be happy...and we'll give them a game.

Fortunately we have reduced our stupid kicks - something Saracens would have had a field day with!

PS Glad to see North is not selected for Saints!

LT is being generous to describe current away fixtures as spineless. I'm hoping last weekend wasn't another false dawn.

Genge, Youngs, Cilliers
Slater, Kitchener 
BOC, McCaffery, Hamilton 
Youngs, Williams
Manu, Roberts 
Thompstone, Worth, Betham

Bench; Thacker, Mulipola, Bateman, Fitzgerald, Williams, Evans, Harrison, Brady. 

As much as I'd like to see Fitzgerald dropped after last week we are somewhat short of players, particularly in the backline (Burns, TV, Toomua, Smith, JPP, Tait).

Seems people only want to talk about red cards and injuries.

Cole and Burns are expected to be fit for Tigers. Isn't a guarantee they will be included but I wouldn't be surprised to see both on the bench which would be a boost.

I hope the coaches aren't tempted to rush Mike Williams back into the starting line-up now he's fit. A match up with Ewers would be great but given he's broken that same arm three times now I'd prefer he starts on the bench and gets 30 minutes.

Cockers usually tries to stick with a winning team, the starting XV from Saturday are all fit so the XV might stay the same. Hopefully Cole and Burns can be brought onto the bench though.

16.Thacker 17.Mulipola 18.Cole 19.Fitzgerald 20.Williams 21.Evans 22.Harrison 23.Burns

That would be a great bench to take away to Sandy Park at this time of year.

If Burns is fit I'd drop Fitzgerald in a flash and have Brady on the bench. Increase our backs options. Fitzgerald was also well off the pace and made several terrible decisions at the lineout last weekend (or the same terrible decision repeatedly).

Cole would be a huge boost if he's available.

Quins v Glaws will be a 75-75 draw...

This game will probably come too soon for a number of our players, but we finally have Kalamafoni, Thrush, Symons and Marshall fit and apparently Trinder is only weeks away.

Glaws have definitely improved recently and whilst I think we'll come close, Quins will win this. It's not helpful we're playing Saints 5 days after and Wuss 6 days after that.

I'm hoping for a team like this

Brown
Yarde
Marchant
Roberts
Visser
Swiel/Evans
Care
Clifford
Wallace
Robshaw
Horwill
Merrick
Sinckler
Buchanan
Marler

Evans, Jones, Ward, Matthews/Reddish, Chisholm, Dickson, Swiel/Evans, Walker/Alofa

There is just one change to the side that played Timisoara Saracens in the European Rugby Challenge Cup last week as Chris Robshaw makes his first appearance for the club following his international commitments with England.

Joe Marler, who makes his 100th Aviva Premiership appearance, is named in a forward pack of Harlequins Academy graduates.

Commenting ahead of the fixture John Kingston, Harlequins Director of Rugby, said: “The coming three matches, against Gloucester Rugby, Worcester Warriors and Sale Sharks will very much shape our season going forward and it’s absolutely crucial that we take advantage of the two home matches, which includes Big Game 9 on Tuesday.

“Big Game is always an unbelievable occasion. Twickenham is a spectacular stadium to play in and to get over 70,000 in attendance to a club match is seriously impressive.

“Last year’s match was an incredibly exciting one and I’m sure both sides will be doing as best as they can to make the match the occasion which suits the grand nature of Twickenham Stadium.”

Tickets for the match are limited, but still available through the RFU by clicking here.

Harlequins team
15. Mike Brown
14. Marland Yarde
13. Joe Marchant
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Tim Visser
10. Ruaridh Jackson
9. Danny Care (C)

1. Joe Marler
2. Rob Buchanan
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. George Merrick
5. Charlie Matthews
6. James Chisholm
7. Chris Robshaw
8. Jack Clifford

16. Dave Ward
17. Owen Evans
18. Will Collier
19. Stan South
20. Luke Wallace
21. Karl Dickson
22. Tim Swiel
23. Alofa Alofa

One week to go until Big Game 9 20161220110820



Close. Feel for Walker. Would also think that Wallace gives us better balance in the pack, but it'll do. Guess Horwill is still injured? He's the big loss in that pack

Also unconvinced that Jackson is a better 10 than Swiel

Gloucester Rugby make five changes to their starting line-up as they return to Aviva Premiership action in Big Game 9 against Harlequins at Twickenham on December 27th.Returning having missed out on the European Rugby Challenge Cup defeat in La Rochelle last weekend are Billy Twelvetrees, Greig Laidlaw, Paddy McAllister, Mariano Galarza and Ross Moriarty. Josh Hohneck moves from loosehead to tighthead prop while Laidlaw resumes the captaincy.

Amongst the replacements, having made his comeback from injury in Monday evening's A League game against Bath United, centre Andrew Symons is named in a first team matchday squad for the first time, a timely return given Mark Atkinson suffered a significant hamstring injury in France and will be ruled out for a number of weeks.

It's the second year in a row that Gloucester have featured in Harlequins' big occasion, last season's equivalent resulting in a thrilling 39-39 draw.

As he previewed the game with the local media, Director of Rugby David Humphreys admitted that three games in a short period will be a big test for the Cherry and Whites.

"We've known that this period over Christmas is going to provide some pretty unique challenges in terms of a ten day break into a five day break and then into a six day break.

"It'll test the depth of our squad and means there won't be a huge amount of time spent on the training pitch. It's more about getting ready for Harlequins and then recovering and getting ourselves best prepared physically and mentally for Northampton and Worcester.

"It (Big Game 9) is a wonderful occasion to be part of, something a lot of our players enjoyed last year. We have players with a lot of international experience who have played in big games, so they'll be looking forward to getting back to Twickenham.

"Last year was a pretty spectacular game with ten tries in total. We were pretty disappointed not to win the game with the lead we had. I'm not sure this year will be a similar game, but will hopefully have a different result."

Gloucester Rugby:

15. James Hook; 14. Charlie Sharples, 13. Matt Scott, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Jonny May; 10. Billy Burns, 9. Greig Laidlaw (capt); 1. Paddy McAllister, 2. Richard Hibbard, 3. Josh Hohneck; 4. Tom Savage, 5. Mariano Galarza; 6. Ross Moriarty, 7. Jacob Rowan, 8. Ben Morgan

Replacements:

16. Motu Matu'u, 17. Yann Thomas, 18. Salesi Ma'afu, 19. Jeremy Thrush, 20. Matt Kvesic, 21. Willi Heinz, 22. Andrew Symons, 23. Henry Purdy

Falcons v Sarries

1 Vickers
2 Lawson
3 Welsh
4 Green
5 Olmstead
6 Chick
7 Wilson
8 Hogg

9 Tukula
10 Hodgson
11 Goneva
12 Socino
13 Burdon
14 Watson
15 Tait

16 Sowery
17 Harris!!  WOW Finally
18 Ryan
19 Witty
20 fonua
21 Egerton
22 Willis
23 Waldouck

Not a bad side at all. Lots of runners and pace, Plenty of impact from the bench. Looks like we'll have a go at them at least. And thats all I can ask!

Leicester Tigers (v Exeter Chiefs, away, Saturday 3.00pm)
15 Freddie Burns
14 Adam Thompstone
13 Jack Roberts
12 Manu Tuilagi
11 Peter Betham
10 Owen Williams
9 Sam Harrison
1 Ellis Genge
2 George McGuigan
3 Pat Cilliers
4 Ed Slater (c)
5 Mike Fitzgerald
6 Mike Williams
7 Brendon O'Connor
8 Luke Hamilton

Replacements
16 Harry Thacker
17 Logovi'i Mulipola
18 Dan Cole
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Will Evans
21 Jono Kitto
22 George Worth
23 Tom Brady

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson (c), 9 Will Chudley; 1 Ben Moon, 2 Jack Yeandle, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Mitch Lees, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Dave Dennis, 7 Don Armand, 8 Thomas Waldrom
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Sam Hill, 23 James Short

Tigers rotate. Tom Youngs and McCaffery take a week off and Worth is given a game from the bench after a full on introduction to senior rugby. Fitzgerald is given a chance for redemption in the second row and Freddie Burns gets to trial the position he could be playing next season.

Slade and Manu both at 12. Will watch closely. Well, I won't as I'm working but will try to see the whole match afterward with that in mind

ChequeredJersey wrote:Slade and Manu both at 12. Will watch closely. Well, I won't as I'm working but will try to see the whole match afterward with that in mind

I sense Roberts vs Devoto at 13 may be more telling. Roberts has more speed and loves an outside break, Devoto hasn't got the best acceleration so of he gets caught flat footed... 

Three playmakers in the midfield for Exeter should make it easier for them to control the game than Tigers who'll be reliant on Williams and Burns returning well from 15.

Scottrf wrote:Saints side looks strong I think with a few exceptions. Quietly confident. With 6 to 9 looking so tight and our next few games being winnable really need to be winning.

I think this game is beig fought within the mental and emotional state of Saints as a club before ever getting on the pitch. They could be switched off entirely due to all the distractions at the club (impending sanction over North, concern about mishandling the next concussion, bottom of the table, relegation, beatings by Leinster, future of Mallinder, and so on) or hyped up and ready to put the distractions behind them and prove they are a good team. No way to predict.

Will Skelton starts for Saracens.  

Guess he'll be ploughing down little Joels channel all game! Hope the back row are ready for him! Mark Wilson will be licking his lips!!

Having seen the rest of the Sarries team.... Its going to be a long day at the office!!!!

Saracens: Maitland; Earle, Bosch, Tompkins, Wyles; Farrell (capt), Spencer; Barrington, George, Koch, Skelton, Kruis, Itoje, Rhodes, Wray.

Replacements: Brits, Lamositele, Figallo, Burger, Conlon, Wigglesworth, Lozowski, Ashton.

Nice to see Sarries giving game time to a couple of their development players in the backs. No natural seven starting and three bean poles between 4-8 might allow Falcons to compete hard if they keep Sarries away from the set piece.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Slade and Manu both at 12. Will watch closely. Well, I won't as I'm working but will try to see the whole match afterward with that in mind

I sense Roberts vs Devoto at 13 may be more telling. Roberts has more speed and loves an outside break, Devoto hasn't got the best acceleration so of he gets caught flat footed... 

Three playmakers in the midfield for Exeter should make it easier for them to control the game than Tigers who'll be reliant on Williams and Burns returning well from 15.

I meant more to see how they go from an England POV. I know Manu is miles off and may not feature again, but if he does, it will be great to see him and Slade competing for that 12 jersey (when 13 looks strong- I think Joseph is peerless at 13 right now and Daly is a great back up)

GeordieFalcon wrote:Having seen the rest of the Sarries team.... Its going to be a long day at the office!!!!

It's a good thing they are under the salary cap.

doctor_grey wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Having seen the rest of the Sarries team.... Its going to be a long day at the office!!!!

It's a good thing they are under the salary cap.  

Half the Prem voted to not pursue investigations, then to raise the salary cap, then to allow 2 marquee players. Feels like we've made our bed...

Scottrf wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Having seen the rest of the Sarries team.... Its going to be a long day at the office!!!!

It's a good thing they are under the salary cap.  

Half the Prem voted to not pursue investigations, then to raise the salary cap, then to allow 2 marquee players. Feels like we've made our bed...

And look who is in bed with us.  Feels like we are being used like yesterday's ho by a couple of slicksters.  
(pardon the visual)

How exactly was that not a try?

Has Webber thrown a ball straight tonight?

What a finish that was.

Surely Myler was never 10 before that intercept?

stupid from Sale but well taken

Some encouraging signs tonight

Yeah pleased with the performance but you can see why Sale are near the bottom. So many spells in our 22 with no reward.

As far as I could see, robbed of the BP with a clear looking try.

Difference between having Stringer and Cipriani last season and Phillips and McGinty this season. Gone is the speed from the base and the confidence of the backline to play flat. Gone is the control from ten, the charge down in the first half by Picamoles was nonsensical play by McGinty who passed on a lot of the kicks to Sam James.

Austin hit the nail on the head when he said Ford shouldn't consider signing for Sale unless Diamond can promise that there will be a scrum half capable of giving him a passing platform to play from.

Scottrf wrote:Yeah pleased with the performance but you can see why Sale are near the bottom. So many spells in our 22 with no reward.

As far as I could see, robbed of the BP with a clear looking try.

Which one wasn't given? If you mean the no9s drop over the line then that was 100% a knock on. Tbh if I was you I'd be grateful for 3 as the third only came from Sale stupidity.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Difference between having Stringer and Cipriani last season and Phillips and McGinty this season. Gone is the speed from the base and the confidence of the backline to play flat. Gone is the control from ten, the charge down in the first half by Picamoles was nonsensical play by McGinty who passed on a lot of the kicks to Sam James.

Austin hit the nail on the head when he said Ford shouldn't consider signing for Sale unless Diamond can promise that there will be a scrum half capable of giving him a passing platform to play from.

Ford and who though? Can't think of many experienced 9's out there willing to move. And Ford really needs some experience st 9 to get the best from him.

Also so good to hear Kay and Healy on the same game, by far the best commentators out there.

That game won't last long in the memory bank. Sale are dreadful at the moment and Ford surely can't consider joining a side who'll be at the bottom of the table for some time on recent showings. Saints were only marginally better.

yappysnap wrote:

Scottrf wrote:Yeah pleased with the performance but you can see why Sale are near the bottom. So many spells in our 22 with no reward.

As far as I could see, robbed of the BP with a clear looking try.

Which one wasn't given? If you mean the no9s drop over the line then that was 100% a knock on. Tbh if I was you I'd be grateful for 3 as the third only came from Sale stupidity.

Yeah that one. Fair enough, looked different on the screen. Certainly pleased with any type of win!

Scottrf wrote:

yappysnap wrote:

Scottrf wrote:Yeah pleased with the performance but you can see why Sale are near the bottom. So many spells in our 22 with no reward.

As far as I could see, robbed of the BP with a clear looking try.

Which one wasn't given? If you mean the no9s drop over the line then that was 100% a knock on. Tbh if I was you I'd be grateful for 3 as the third only came from Sale stupidity.

Yeah that one. Fair enough, looked different on the screen. Certainly pleased with any type of win!

I think the ball came loose, but he got his hand back on it to touch it down before it hit the ground, but he did not have control of the ball. Mt definition of "control" is, could he have done anything else, i.e.pick it up, or manoeuvre it in any way.

Agree that Phillips, like with Wales just slows everything down. Sale were playing so far back from the gain line that Saints could advance 10m before coming into contact.

Some promising signs from Saints, especially when they got their offloading game going, I thought Lawes and Wood were excellent and really led by example, even JJH had a good game. Some of the tackling was poor though, they broke through too many first tackles and made ground they shouldn't have.

Estelles looked okay on his first start, Foden was reliable and took the up well, lacks that incisive break these days, Burrell was Burrell, consistent, got across and made some good tackles. Groom was sharp, a bit unlucky to have two attempted tries disallowed, much quicker than any of the options and his sniping keeps the defence honest. The pack Lawes and Wood apart were okay and did their jobs.

Can they improve for Kingsholm next week, we shall see.

I thought the tackling was fine in general considering the amount of possession they had. Seemed noticeably lower than normal, not sure if it's the new laws.

It's not a knock on if he let go half way through the movement then gathered? Same as if you juggle it. And it's now downward pressure not control?

yappysnap wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Difference between having Stringer and Cipriani last season and Phillips and McGinty this season. Gone is the speed from the base and the confidence of the backline to play flat. Gone is the control from ten, the charge down in the first half by Picamoles was nonsensical play by McGinty who passed on a lot of the kicks to Sam James.

Austin hit the nail on the head when he said Ford shouldn't consider signing for Sale unless Diamond can promise that there will be a scrum half capable of giving him a passing platform to play from.

Ford and who though? Can't think of many experienced 9's out there willing to move. And Ford really needs some experience st 9 to get the best from him.

Also so good to hear Kay and Healy on the same game, by far the best commentators out there.

Ben and Austin are the best by a distance. I do like Flats as well. They should probably get Chuter involved he used to write parts of the programme, he's a funny guy.

For Sale they need a Chudley or similar, a scrum half that will set the tempo and just give good ball to the flyhalf. Doesn't have to be anything fancy at club level if you've got a quality 10 like Ford. I think Sale are potentially a good side they've just got to improve in a couple areas because they were very much in the game yesterday but blew several points scoring chances in the Saints 22.

yappysnap wrote:

Scottrf wrote:Yeah pleased with the performance but you can see why Sale are near the bottom. So many spells in our 22 with no reward.

As far as I could see, robbed of the BP with a clear looking try.

Which one wasn't given? If you mean the no9s drop over the line then that was 100% a knock on. Tbh if I was you I'd be grateful for 3 as the third only came from Sale stupidity.

And Myler being offside for the intercept - no way he was 10 when they took the quick tap.

Scottrf wrote:I thought the tackling was fine in general considering the amount of possession they had. Seemed noticeably lower than normal, not sure if it's the new laws.

It's not a knock on if he let go half way through the movement then gathered? Same as if you juggle it. And it's now downward pressure not control?

Didn't see that one but if it's as you described then I'd agree no knock on ... you hear commentators (and some refs) talking about control all the time but not sure where they get that from as I don't believe there's anything in the laws about being 'in control'

formerly known as Sam wrote:

yappysnap wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Difference between having Stringer and Cipriani last season and Phillips and McGinty this season. Gone is the speed from the base and the confidence of the backline to play flat. Gone is the control from ten, the charge down in the first half by Picamoles was nonsensical play by McGinty who passed on a lot of the kicks to Sam James.

Austin hit the nail on the head when he said Ford shouldn't consider signing for Sale unless Diamond can promise that there will be a scrum half capable of giving him a passing platform to play from.

Ford and who though? Can't think of many experienced 9's out there willing to move. And Ford really needs some experience st 9 to get the best from him.

Also so good to hear Kay and Healy on the same game, by far the best commentators out there.

Ben and Austin are the best by a distance. I do like Flats as well. They should probably get Chuter involved he used to write parts of the programme, he's a funny guy.

For Sale they need a Chudley or similar, a scrum half that will set the tempo and just give good ball to the flyhalf. Doesn't have to be anything fancy at club level if you've got a quality 10 like Ford. I think Sale are potentially a good side they've just got to improve in a couple areas because they were very much in the game yesterday but blew several points scoring chances in the Saints 22.

We see McGinty a lot over here because he is the American number 1 out half.  Unfortunately for the Americans, he has the attacking skill of Joe Marler and the defensive skill of Ronan O'Gara.  

I am glad Saints won, but should have been by much, much more.  Saints went into their patented sleepy-time mode, especially when they had the man advantage.  I wonder if this is a Mallinder thing.  England doesn't do this under Eddie Jones.  Wasps don't do this under Dai Young. Frustrating.

In the beginning of the match Sale were so offside they could have been rushing up in my front yard.  Even the commentators mentioned it.  In a rare bit of good fortune for the good ship Lusitania (oops, I mean Saints), Sale being offside actually cost them being out of position helping enable Saints first try.  

I do agree JJ actually played a decent game, but his first pass on a promising move went to the water boy who was in touch and about 10 yards behind any player.    Wood and Lawes played very well, and have clearly benefited from playing under Eddie Jones.  

I am going to watch again later today.  I was working yesterday and it was hard to watch whilst working on some dude's knees and rummaging around someone else's chest cavity.

Interesting start....

What a GREAT maul!!!

Well first ten and we're really taking it to them!

Come on lads we need to get a try from this!!!