Fantasy Aviva Premiership Season 4 homepage

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to the Aviva Premiership

---

---

Teams

Bath RFC	InTheFastLane
Exeter Chiefs	Driver - RIP 606
Gloucester	Anonmattyt
Harlequins	Steven_Sharks
Leicester Tigers	LukeLovesLuka
London Irish	stnick88
London Wasps	Arry
Newcastle Falcons	Sgt_Pooly
Northampton Saints	Dammit_Chris
Sale Sharks	SirJohnnyEnglish
Saracens	LDCPete
Worcester Warriors	prop_lyd

---

Links
Rules
Fixtures
Aviva Premiership League Table
European Homepage
LDCPete Cup homepage
Budgets
Domestic Confirmations
Transfer Homepage
Foreign Transfers
Press Releases
National League Players

---

Waiting List
1. pullthestrings
2. Bathite

"Hmmm. Must have been watching different games"

Me, Johnny & Pete seem to think it was pretty even, perhaps you watched a different game

Steven_Sharks wrote:Hmmm. Must have been watching different games. Sky Sports and ESPN both considered Quins to have the upper hand in the scrum.

Heard this morning that Steve Diamond was really very ill after the London Irish game and that was why his missed the recent games. Ankle infection gave him Pnemonia and Septicemia apparently, serious stuff.

Have to agree with Pooly, scrums were 50/50 in that game for me.

Tom Prydie and Lee Robinson both join London Wasps

Prydie is a pretty good signing.

Available:

HK Marius Tincu (Romania)
HK Andrew Hore (New Zealand)
PR Craig Mitchell (TH) (Wales)
PR Oliver Tomaszczyk (TH)(England)
PR Rodrigo Roncero (LH) (Argentina)
PR Boris Stankovich(LH) (England)
PR Grant Shiells (LH) (England)
LK Dean Schofield (England)
N8 Duane Vermeulen (South Africa)
CE Dan Hipkiss (England)
WG Drew Mitchell (Austrailia)

I've picked a quote from Sky Sports match report. (http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/match_report/0,20244,11069_51394_1,00.html)

'A dominant Quins scrum earned another penalty shortly afterwards, but Evans this time hooked a difficult attempt wide of the posts.'


and another from Espnscrum.com (http://www.espnscrum.com/heineken-cup-2011-12/rugby/story/157895.html)

'They had the upper hand in the scrum. Another good shunt, 13 minutes from time, gave Evans the opportunity to kick Quins ahead, but the Kiwi misjudged the wind and Connacht drew breath.'

and from the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jan/20/connacht-harlequins-heineken-cup-match-report)

'another penalty from a scrum and they were nine minutes away from a shock defeat.'

Those with Sky anytime might also want to look at the footage on the 'European Rugby Special' show.(Its last chance today so won't be there tomorrow) Go to 9 mins and look at the pen Quins get from the scrum. Commentator actually says 'look at the domination'.

Connacht got a penalty from Johnston in the first half for Wheeling the scrum but that's all i remember from them at scrum time. Easter lost control at the base once which was in part due to a decent scrum from Connacht but otherwise it really was Quins for me.

Seen Johnstone give out a few hidings and marler hold his own in a few games also.

Bought Johnstone off steve because he is young for a tight head and will obviously become a monster. Nowt wrong with Johnstones technique he is just not grown in to his frame strength wise. he is across the line quickly and in a good position but sttruggles sometimes strenght and fitness wise.. wins quite a few pens but concedes a shedload and is the most penalised player in the prem.

he is young but should be a terror in a year or so.

Steve...no need to drag up reports, I think a fair few of is watched the game. It was probably Quins best performance in the scrum all season but they only gained parity imo.

JJ is the worst starting TH in the prem I think, his lack of scrummaging ability leaves a lot to be desired. Seen nothing to suggest he'll ever kick on apart from he's big.

Marler often looks poor in the scrum but I sometimes wonder what he'd be like alongside a half decent TH.

Should get Mas to give him some tips Matt

Worst starting TH?????????????? Broster and a few others could dispute that easily.

Mas works with him in training. in a year or so pooly you will be eating your words. also great around the park.

I really don't think he is lol, not picking but I think he's really poor. Admitably I forgot about Wasps but their scrum took Quins to the cleaners.

Your bloody lucky you have Mas, White and Coenie as options at TH because JJ needs some serious work!

Love Coenie though, going to be top draw that boy. Need to spell his name right on your page Matt.

coenie oosthuizen

I hate Wasps but recently their scrum has been ok. Held their own against Leicester.

Driver wrote my page out of anger at the previous one hence the spelling sarren dawiduk. I really should change it

Coenie is a talent. What has happened to WP Nel? Is he still playing well? Haven't heard much about him.

Coenie was keeping nel out of tight head at cheetahs until injury. Being both sides makes him
Completely unsellable for me.

Crocket is attempting tight head this year also which is interesting

Thought Nel was injured so Coenie switched more through necessity

Great feature on the Rugby Club about the Specialist 7. Talks to Saull and about how much we have missed a fit Tom Rees over the last few years.

Seen he's been pretty much ruled out for the season, just started running this week apparently. Cant see Rees ever returning myself, too many serious injuries.

said he was 6 weeks away. Whether that's from contact or games I don't know.

Really worth a watch if you get the chance. Interesting. Talks about how McCaw has added the link play and carrying game over the years and how Pocock will likely do the same.

Warburton is the closest I've seen to a allrounder 7 like McCaw tbh. His ground work needs tweaking but his athletisism and link play is fantastic.

Pocock & Brussow are different types of 7's I think.

Article I read on Rees is they were hopeful he'd get a game in before end of season but unlikely and don't want to rush him.

Originally then nel fit and coenie stayed there until injury bought nel back in. Lots of bok supporters think he will have jdp's place this year. Him bdp and steenkamp is a great front row and the most mobile in world rugby I reckon

Rees was very reluctant in the interview. He was very sensible in his ambition.

Lovely tries by Brett Sturgess and Elliot Daly in the Amlin. Elliot Daly looks really really good. I'd like to see him at 15 as we have bags of potential at 13.

I like the look of Daley, not seen his try though.

just reading about this greening/rougerie incident where greening has had to pay rougerie 50 grand or so.

sounds ridiculous to me. from what I've read, Greening had the ball, ran towards Rougerie and handed him off. surely that's all part of the game!?

correct me if i am wrong here or have missed something, but if im not...

french p rick.

https://www.606v2.com/t22703-declan-kidney-great-man-manager-or-luckiest-man-alive

Thoughts?

Rees is a top bloke, met him a couple of times - bumped into me at a tubestation and sent me flying! I think the injury to his knee is a blessing in disguise as its meant that his shoulder got another 9 months of recovery, he kept coming back time and time again far to early and ended up getting injured. Tbh I dont think Wasps looked after him properly.

His knee injury was a complete fluke, got caught up in a ruck and body position and people on top meant a freak injury.

There was talk about him playing again in February, but would rather he took a bit longer - Wasps have missed him so much, think he would have 40+ caps for England now if he wasnt injured best part of three seasons.

Elliot Daly is a great talent, I'd say he has a more all round game than Jonny May, but will tkae a bit longer to develop, his long range kicking is a great option too - he was singled out a few years back by the Wasps coaches as the best young talent to ever come through their academy. Trouble is for England we are going to end up having 3 top draw 13's - Tuilagi, May, Daly.

May won't play 13 I'm almost certain of it. Trinder and the long term injury to Morgan suggests he might find a home at 15. We could do with people like Tuilagi and Lowe looking at a move to 12 or at least be comfortable there so we have more options.

Stephen Jones joined up with Welsh 6N squad in Poland as Hook returns to Perpignan apparently.

And Jon Jospeph, Henry Trinder......

Crazy how one postion suddenly gets loads of talent coming through.

I think May can be used elsewhere, possibly on the wing. But JJ & Trinder look behind Manu. I think Daley is a little behind those other two but I do like the look of him, could possibly be used at FB??

I'm unconvinvced with May at 15 although the lad is electric with ball in hand his kicking from hand is poor. He looks very at home on the wing and 13 when I've seen him, could be a great bench option and possible rival to Sharples/Ashton on the wing.

I wonder if May and Tuilagi could interchange as centres, get them swapping the 12 and 13 shirt around during a game, to give us different points of attack. But with Tuilagi playing in defence as a 12.

Think Daly could end up as a guy who can cover 13, 15 and both wings. Think he will be better than Trinder and JJ, as think his standout is that he has a very good rugby brain.

MAy is a seriously good kicker out of hand pooly. that is the reason gloucester like using him at 12 he really has control. Ask anyone who watches gloucester and they will all say how good his kicking is.

Trinder has a huge boot and is learning accuracy.

May often looks to attack because that is his nature but his basics are what marks him out as a serious player. great kicking, passing and tackling.

it is too early to tell who will be the best out of the lot

currently for me it is
tuilagi
may
joseph
trinder
daly

but that could all change. joseph is a rock in defence, his tackle success rate was 100% before he got injured this season. scores tries for fun as well.

in the future, i would like to see a way of fitting as many of them as possible in the side.

12 Tuilagi
13 Joseph
14 May / Daly
15 Daly / May

I'm really unsure if Manu should play 12 from what I've seen. Seems to lose his effectiveness, I'm happy with him as our first choice 13.

I think May is an outstanding talent but everytime I've seen him his kicks from hand are poor. He looks solid everywhere else and electric in other places but kicking def not one of his assets.

Agree with you Mat - think May has an almost complete game for a young player, just needs that experience and we've got a seriously talent for England. See that Lancaster singled him out in midweek for praise from the Saxons - I wouldnt be surprised if he ends up with an England cap come the end of the 6Nations.

May's pace makes up for his kicking. Showed it against Quins in the HC recently. It definitely needs to improve but its only a minor weakness in comparison to his strengths.

Guessing at the England back line is great fun but we could all have 10 guesses and still might not get it right.

A centre combo of Tuilagi/Joseph would require a 9/10 pair who were both strong kickers but I wouldn't see much getting past them. Spencer at 9 would solve that problem nicely but he is still a few years away as is Joseph in all likelyhood.

We just need some inside centres coming through and we'll be fine - got a lot of good youngsters in every other position.

Where's Launchbury & Sam Jones's best positions Chris?

I signed the pair of them plus Daley on the new Ap game. Seen Launchbury at 6 and lock and Jones at 6/7/8 (looks a natural 7 I thought).

All good signings there Pooly.

Launchbury is a second row, but Wasps have decided to use this season to get him game time at no6, where he has excelled - i dont think it was a coincidence that Wasps poor form coincided completely with when Launchbury got injured. He injects a lot of pace and power to a game - think he will be an England player in the second row (he's a big lump too).

Sam Jones could really play anywhere in the backrow, very talented and a good ball carrier - I think Wasps have him earmarked as their long-term no6 and next season will go for a backrow of Jones, Rees and Haskell as dont expect Poff, du Plessis to stay and Launchbury moving into the second row as Haskell has the extra power at the back of the scrum to ease him in. Jones can certainly do a job at no7 but he'll be a better no6.

Cheers, also signed Webber in that deal so it wasn't all rosey

He's been getting rave reviews this season though, taken some big steps forward - if only he could get his lineout functioning! It's been hit and miss, but his worst throwing was during the televised Tigers game, which personally hasnt shown how much better his throwing had got in other games.

He could be ideal bench player for England as his ball carrying has been very good.

I'm not a big fan of Webber tbh, doesn't deserve to be near an International setup with his basics.

That Tigers game done him no favours admitably, it was easily the worst I've seen his throw. Still prefer the look of Lindsay whenever he gets on but I know you rate Webber much higher.

Lindsay is alright, but I don't know how much more he will develop - we've just signed a Russian international hooker - tbh I think the young lad we signed from the Newcastle academy is going to be better than Lindsay.

Webber's got a good all round game, apart from his hit and miss throwing - think its been shown up a lot more this season because he's only throwing the ball to Wentzel as he's our only lineout option in our injury ravaged squad!!!

Sam Jones was brilliant at 8 in Leicester v Wasps earlier in Month.

Webber's basics are better than Lindsays from what I've seen. Lindsay's throwing is dire at times, just loses it completely.

His open field work though is brilliant. Full of promise. Seems similar to Marler and Brookes in his lose work, very powerful.

Lindsay's throw has been better than Webbers when I've seen Wasps but that's hardly a challenge. They both need to step up really.

Think Lindsay has bags of potential as hes so good at everything else, beast in the loose and a great offload. If he sorts his throwing out he'll be twice the player Webber could ever be.

Think Lindsay is the same age as Webber - Pooly who is the young hooker that Wasps signed from you? He looks potential top class - he's been picked quite a few times ahead of Lindsay this season.

Mayhew? He's absolute gash!

Tommy Taylor at Sale is very promising. Very very good in the loose and very comfortablt at 7. Handy prospect.

Nick something I think. Lindsay is a year younger than Webber.

Hendrie Fourie starts for Sale on sunday.

Good news, wonder where he'd be in the England set up without his injuries.