Fantasy Aviva Premiership season 4

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to the 4th season of the fantasy aviva premiership game


This Weeks match thread(s) :- TBA

Season One Homepage (Archived)

Season Two Homepage Part One(Archived)

Season Two Homepage Part Two(Archived)

Rules

Fixture/Results list

League Table

Top Points Scorers

Top Try Scorers

European Homepage

LV Anglo Welsh Cup Homepage

Transfer Homepage

Press Releases

Unavailable Players

Waiting list for a team

1. Sam
2. pullthestrings
3. Bathite

Teams
Bath RFC
Manager:- 207bars

Exeter Chiefs
Manager:- RugbyDriver

Gloucester
Manager:- Anonmattyt

Harlequins
Manager:- Steve_sharks

Leicester Tigers
Manager:- LukeLovesLuka

London Irish
Manager:- stnick88

London Wasps
Manager:- Arry

Newcastle Falcons
Manager:- PoolyPunk

Northampton Saints
Manager:- Dammit_Chris

Sale Sharks
Manager:- SirJohnnyEnglish

Saracens
Manager:- LDCPete]

Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop_Lyd

http://acrossthetasman.com/forum.php

azam is the new Toulon forwards coach

That site is cracking Driver...I'm going to have some reet fun now!!!

Prop you can fly out of birmingham to Shannon cheaply any time of year.
Hoping Gloucester have Toulouse before Xmas and Connacht after in the new year. Toulouse in December is a much cheaper flight than spring. Also we have more chance in the rain

if your going galway would recommend going from shannon if you can keep get cheap flights your side guys. The drive is under the hour now with the new bypass open. Wouldnt fancy a trip to Galway from Dublin lovey 4 hour't drive across Ireland and warning you now the roads arent what you would be used to over there

Agree with that jonny train from Dublin ain't bad but you have to go into town to get it. Shannon always super cheap to get to.

Lads I am clearing out some squad players as I am at/over
my squad limit.

Will release these unless anyone wants them or may swap all of them for 1,

Buxton- eq versatile and great form last year
Gary Botha - in great form in super 15( will not release but need rid)
Azam- free
Yann Thomas -eq prop only 22 bench often in AP. Too old for my academy

Also will sell

Vainokolo
Tiesi - stade 12
Ryan Davis

Do I go for: a 12 or a leading 2nd row?

The Cains are getting shot of Nonu...interesting

http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/news/article/-/9599439/hurricanes-axe-veteran-star/

It's been on the cards for a while Pooly, him, Andrew Hore and another couple of fairly senior players have had a real falling out with the head coach. Chiefs are in for him, but as I understand it so are Montpellier and the cash in France and SBW coming through for the his AB shirt could well be the deciding factor on where he ends up post World Cup.

My new hooker is a bit sensitive don't call him a ladies man

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Bok-to-sue-over-Facebook-profile-20100115

You guys ever checked this before. My friend who I lived with in Durban works for them. He is who always tells me about emerging Bok talent used to manage de jongh and now does deon fourie and a few others.

Has good emerging talent on there also. Take with a grain of salt though as they are agents

http://www.worldartists.co.za/page/clients/index

Also anyOne seen that young ford has gone back to Leeds from
Saints

Pete...downloading Stormer v Sharks game so I can give you my enlightened feedback on that lock you've bought!

Cracking player Strauss mate, should be around the BOK squad somewhere.

Elstadt is the mutts nuts Pooly, although I am sure that as he doesn't play for you that you will find fault with him somewhere!

Of course....goes without saying lol

That Carter, what a poor right foot he has, not like my Wilko!

Elstadt is tops as is deon fourie. SA have great hookers. Chilli not even 1st choice at club.

Strauss in Bok preliminary squad

Chilli is dross Mat, realistically he should be nowhere near the Springbok squad.

Chilli worst multiple capped player ever

Chilli has started every game I've seen the Bulls this season apart from the weekend. I'm not a fan but he starts for Bulls doesn't he?!?!?

I've hardly seen Stormers, only fleetingly. Coverage has been garbage, seem Lions about 5 times, Blues about 10.

Lokking forward to a bit Stormers/Cheetahs/Sharks action!!

For anyone who has any AB's in their squad or is thinking of buying any in the foreigns, this could be a cracking little tool for knowing what your squad might look like come the World Cup...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/5108290/All-Blacks-Barometer-Whos-in-the-30

Is updated fairly regularly.

Quite interesting that Pete. Think they have some of them wrong though. be useful to see how many of the border line ones are correct.

I am 100% certain i will lose Donald for the WC for example. He started the year patchy and has got better. The AB's like to attack and he is much more of a threat than the other tens.

I also think Cory Jane is 100% to go and that Toeava will be nowhere near the starting line up. That said the tool is just meant to be a barometer of current form rather than a who is going and who is not.

A few months ago i posted an england team based on form and nothing else. very few of the players who will actually start in the WC were in it.

eg on form it would be

1 Marler
2 Hartley
3 PDJ (Cole not been great towards end of year?)
4 Lawes
5 Palmer
6 Wood
7 Haskell
8 Easter
9 Care
10 Wilko
11 Sharples
12 JTH
13 Banahan/Tuilagi
14 JSD
15 Foden

basically only Foden of our backline. interestingly all of our back 5 from the 6N would have been in my form 15. Wood only missed last game of season so still in form.

Nz on current form team would look similarly bizarre with no McCaw, Jane, Cowan, Smith etc

one for pooly and steve.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/5117297/James-O-Connor-set-to-re-sign-with-Force

No ashton matt?

Dont rate JTH at all, doesnt even make that many yards despite his size.

like i said nick it was based purely on form towards end of season. i am no JTH fan at all. However he was in great form before the end of the year. he was offloading and breaking tackles all over the place

Ashton went off the boil towards the end of year. My point was mainly about picking on form gives you a side that is definitely not the strongest

I dont think Ashton played too bad. was poor against leinster but played well v irish late on in the season.

did not play that badly just was not his usual self and other wingers such as short, JSD and Sharples were in great form.

RaboDirect pro12 not as catchy as Magners league

terrible name!

take no notice of that league anyway.

stnick88 wrote:terrible name!

take no notice of that league anyway.

Agree terrible name.

But why take no notice of that league?

magners league is garbage to watch in my opinion. i think the attendances back me up on that. A player playing well in the magners has little baring on how good the player actually is.

If they played full strength sides more often then it woulld be a better competition. Also there are so many poor sides in that league also so very little depth.

I watch it if its on and often see the highlights. generally the standard of it depresses me. Watching the scarlets, Dragons etc is like watching 3rd rate rugby. Scarletts all attack no forwards and laughable defence are the worst example of the magners

oh way harsh on the magners!

Some good rugby is played there and its a great breeding ground for the young players. Scarlets/Dragons are no worse then the likes of Newcastle/Leeds. Does that make the aviva weak? WIll admit the Italians sides arent the strongest but they have come on in the last year and will keep doing so.

Some great tear ups go on in the magners and plenty of good rugby. RTE over here show the irish provinces games most weekends so always catch a game

What Matt says.

It just seems like a friendly league.

Tell that to the munster and leinster boys playing in the final the other week!

And using the attendances isnt a great measure. The welsh havent taken to regionalism yet at all and have poor attendances bringing the league down. The Irish provinces all get good attendances week in week out for magners games

obviously the final's and that are very competitive. and no doubt the top teams are very good teams. but there focus is on Heineken and there performances in the league seem a lot worse than in the HC.

I'm with SJE on this one. 3 years ago I would have said that the Premiership was a much better league and was absolutely streets ahead in terms of competitiveness, but he Magners (or RaboDirect Pro 12 as it is to be called) has closed the gap a fair bit since then.

With the exception of Munster and Leinster, who are really the only Magners League teams with a chance of winning the Heineken Cup, I don't think teams put more store by the Heino than the Magners. The likes of Ulster, and the Welsh and Scottish regions all want to win it, and go out to be competitive.

The quality of the league has improved and will continue to do so. It is still a bit behind the AP in terms of intensity overall, but at the top end there are some fair old tear ups and good quality rugby on show.

I enjoy watching the Magners. Good entertainment. could do with Relegation but that isn't really plausible with regions

Kelleher signs for Stade...


http://www.espnscrum.com/PICTURES/CMS/10900/10915.2.jpg

:run2:

Edinburgh, Scarlets,treviso, aironi, Glasgow, Connacht, Dragons all would be bottom of the AP in my opinion.

Good teams = Ospreys, Ulster, Leinster and Munster

Average = Cardiff,

Dupey to go?

I like the Magners, teams like Edinburgh and Glasgow would beat Falcons and hover around the middle/bottom. I don't think it's as intense as the AP but the quality of rugby is often better.

National Planning Camp Group (Durban, June 12 & 13)

John Smit (c), Victor Matfield (vc), Willem Alberts, Gio Aplon, Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, Heinrich Brüssow, Schalk Burger, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard, Butch James, Ashley Johnson, Werner Kruger, Pat Lambie, Tendai Mtawarira, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, Wynand Olivier, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Danie Rossouw, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Francois Steyn, Morné Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen.

make of that what you will

Man they have some squad...

PDV says people omitted aren't out of the international season but I can't imagine it is good not being involved

was kind of hoping Butch James wouldnt be included!

i lose 4 players to that squad assuming they all go WC. imagine a fair few for matt too.

Lose 7/8 out of there Nick.

I think what may be crucial is how many world cup squad players people have. taken. First choice players will need a good rest after the WC as well.

Say for example I am expecting Donnelly, Strokosch and Kearney to go to the WC but not necessarily expecting them to get lots of minute so they can pretty much come straight into my squad.

Whereas players like Rees, Sharpe, Warburton and Moody will need a long rest after WC.

I will mark teams down hugely if they take forwards who had lot of game time into their squads in the first few weeks after the WC

I'm going to give my WC players 2 weeks off if there involved in the 1/4 finals and after that and a week if eliminated at the group stages.

I should get Tonga'uhia, Stowers, Tagicakibau, Mapusua back reasonably early which will help! Possibly Castro too.

Anyone about for some deals. I'm looking for players who wont be involved in the world cup. Need a hooker, second row, openside flanker, scrum half, inside centre and full back.

Am after a fullback, winger and inside centre.

I lose 9 to saffers pooly

Sorry Matt, I meant you can lose 7 or 8 players from that list as not all will go.

I can't see Vermeulen going although having a much better season than Spies and being able to cover 6 I can't see Spies getting dropped.