London Irish 2016/17 Championship Thread

[Ozzy3213]

First topic message reminder :

  Welcome to this seasons thread for talking about all things London Irish. 

Senior Squad (39)

Technical Director: Brendan Venter
Director of Rugby: Nick Kennedy
Assistant Coach: Clark Laidlaw
Forwards Coach: George Skivington
Defence Coach: Declan Danaher
Skills Coach: Paul Hodgson

Hooker: David Paice, Gerard Ellis, David Porecki, Jason Harris-Wright, Todd Gleave (dual registered with Rosslyn Park).
Prop: Tom Court, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, Tom Smallbone, Ben Franks, Richard Palframan, Ollie Hoskins.
Second Row: Sebastien de Chaves, Jerry Sexton, Jebb Sinclair, George Robson, Will Lloyd.
Back Row: Blair Cowan, Ofisa Treviranus, Luke Narraway, Connor Gilsenen, Joe Trayfoot, Mike Coman, Max Northcote-Green, Senitiki Nayalo.
Scrum Half: Brendan McKibbin, Scott Steele, Darren Allinson (on loan to Bath).
Fly Half: Greig Tonks, Tommy Bell, Theo Brophy-Clews.
Centre: Johnny Williams, Fergus Mulchrone, Ciaran Hearn, Tom Fowlie
Back Three: Topsy Ojo, Alex Lewington, Aseli Tikoirotuama, James Marshall, Ben Ransom


Senior Academy Squad (12)

Hooker: Matt Kouris (dual registered with Esher)
Prop: Harry Elrington (dual registered with Rosslyn Park), Austin Hay (Academy Plus)
Back Row: Isaac Curtis-Harris (dual registered with Esher), Jack Cooke (Academy Plus)
Scrum Half: Conor Murphy, Rory Brand (dual registered with Rosslyn Park)
Fly Half: Tom Parton
Centre: Ross Neal, Matt Williams
Wing: Joe Cokanasiga, Jacob Atkins


Fixture List

Date	Time	Opponents	H/A	Venue	Competition	Result	Scorers
Sat 13th Aug	15:00	Harlequins	A	The Stoop	Friendly	W 28-12	T: Cowan, Neal, Nayolo, Atkins  C: Bell 3, Tonks.
Fri 19th Aug	19:30	Nottingham	H	Hazelwood	Friendly	W 43-14
Fri 26th Aug	19:30	Loughborough Students	H	Hazelwood	Friendly	W 46-21
Sat 3rd Sep	15:00	Doncaster Knights	H	MadStad	Championship	W 19-0	T: Fowlie, Tikoroituma  P: Bell 3.
Sat 10th Sep	15:00	Richmond	H	MadStad	Championship	W 36-12	T: Paice, Cowan 2, Ellis, McKibbin, Elrington. C: Bell 3.
Sat 17th Sep	15:00	Bedford Blues	A	Goldington Road	Championship	W 30-23	T: Franks, Williams, Ojo, Northcote-Green. C: Bell 2. P: Bell 2.
Sun 25th Sep	15:00	Ealing Trailfinders	H	MadStad	Championship	W 32-12	T: Ransom, Trayfoot, Marshall, Steele C:Bell, Marshall 2 P:Bell 2.
Fri 30th Sep	19:45	Nottingham	A	LadyBay Sports	Championship	W 29-7	T: Steele Tikoroituma Northcote-Green Mulchrone C:Bell 3 P:Bell.
Sat 8th Oct	15:00	London Welsh	H	MadStad	Championship	W 35-12	T: Mulchrone, Paice, de Chaves, McKibbin. C: Bell. 3 P: Bell 3.
Sat 15th Oct	15:00	Ospreys Prem Select	A	The Gnoll	B & I Cup	W 25-14	T: Neal, Ransom, Nayalo, Palframan.  C: Tonks.  P: Tonks.
Sat 22nd Oct	15:00	Connacht Eagles	H	MadStad	B & I Cup	W 34-3	T: Elrington, Hoskins, Harris-Wright, Parton, Cokanasiga.  C: Tonks 3 P: Tonks.
Sat 29th Oct	15:00	London Scottish	A	RAG	Championship	W 62-12	T: Paice, McKibbin, Cokanasiga, Bell 2, Tikoirotuma, Steele, Cowan C: Bell 8, P: Bell 2.
Sat 5th Nov	15:00	Yorkshire Carnegie	H	MadStad	Championship	W 41-17	T: Ransom 2, Tikoirotuma, Marshall 2. C: Bell 5. P: Bell 2.
Sat 19th Nov	13:00	Cornish Pirates	A	Mennaye Field	Championship	W 35-24	T: Ransom 2, Franks 2, Northcote-Green  C: Marshall 2.  P: Tonks 2.
Sun 27th Nov	15:00	Jersey Reds	H	MadStad	Championship	W 42-29	T: Ransom, Paice 2, Palframan, Fowlie  C: Bell 4  P: Bell 2  DG: Bell.
Sat 3rd Dec	14:00	Rotherham Titans	A	Clifton Lane	Championship	W 38-10	T: Cokanasiga 2, Bell 2, Steele.  C: Bell 5  P: Bell.
Sun 11th Dec	15:00	Cornish Pirates	H	MadStad	B & I Cup	W 33-24	T: Atkins, Gilsenan, Porecki, Nayalo, M.Williams.  C: Tonks 4.
Sat 17th Dec	14:30	Cornish Pirates	A	Mennaye Field	B & I Cup
Sat 24th Dec	15:00	Richmond	A	RAG	Championship
Sat 31st Dec	15:00	Bedford Blues	H	MadStad	Championship
13/14/15 Jan		Connacht Eagles	A		B & I Cup
Sat 21st Jan	15:00	Ospreys Prem Select	H	MadStad	B & I Cup
Sat 28th Jan	15:00	Ealing Trailfinders	A	Vallis Way	Championship
Sun 5th Feb	14:00	Nottingham	H	MadStad	Championship
Sat 18th Feb	14:00	London Welsh	A	Old Deer Park	Championship
Sat 25th Feb	15:00	London Scottish	H	MadStad	Championship
Sun 5th Mar	15:00	Yorkshire Carnegie	A	Headingley	Championship
Sat 18th Mar	14:00	Cornish Pirates	H	MadStad	Championship
Sat 25th Mar	14:00	Jersey Reds	A	St Peter	Championship
Sat 8th Apr	15:00	Rotherham Titans	H	MadStad	Championship
Sat 15th Apr	15:00	Doncaster Knights	A	Castle Park	Championship

Season Preview

Well it's been an interesting summer in the aftermath of relegation.  It was clear from the outset that we would lose some players and would have to cut our cloth accordingly.  Initially it appeared that Tom Coventry was staying, but a late u-turn from him meant a new coaching set up was required.  New coaches, loss of big names, new players to integrate, sounds like a recipe for disaster, and we've certainly been there many times over the past few years.  This however, does not feel like that at all.  Perhaps it's because we are a league down, but there is real optimism around, primarily because of those things.  The holy trinity of Nick Kennedy, Declan Danaher and Paul Hodgson have been promoted to the first team after overseeing a successful academy season last year, and have Brendan Venter overseeing them as technical director.  This is exciting.  A proven winner overseeing a young, hungry and exciting coaching team.  On the playing side, the main losses being Matt Symons and Sean Maitland are more than offset by the likes of George Robson, James Marshall and Tommy Bell coming in.  If anything it feels as if we may have a stronger squad this year than we've had for the past 4 or 5.

Two games into pre season and things look positive.  Comfortably beating an admittedly understrength Quins, and a high scoring win against Nottingham have given plenty of optimism for the season ahead.  There were still defensive lapses, which will need to be ironed out, but barring complacency or an absolute stinker in terms of form, we should have more than enough to comfortably make the dreaded play offs, where it then becomes a test of mental strength rather than ability.


Ozzy'sprediction: Champions

[SirBurger]

First game on Saturday. I am really interested to see what we go with, but I have a feeling we could give Quins a real run for their money. The vibe in the camp seems really good. I hope we see something like the following:

1. Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi
2. David Paice
3. Ben Franks
4. Sebastian De Chaves
5. George Robson
6. Mike Coman
7. Conor Gilsenan
8. Luke Narraway

9. Scott Steele
10. Tommy Bell
11. Aseli Tikoirotuma
12. Fergus Mulchrone
13. Tom Fowlie
14. Joe Cokanasiga
15. Ben Ransom

Bench: Gerard Ellis, Tom Smallbone, Oliver Hoskins, Jerry Sexton, Will Lloyd, Joe Trayfoot, Isaac Curtis Harris, Max Northcote Green, Brendan McKibbin, Greig Tonks, Shane Geraghty, Ciaran Hearn

A few players and youngsters given a chance to stake a claim, but also not too far away from where I think we will be come kick-off time on the 3rd September.

[Margin_Walker]

Yep, even looking forward to the pre season games now. Team looks good, and is as good a guess as any.

Cokanasiga is away with Eng U18s and I think Shane may be injured (heard he was wearing a protective boot on Saturday). Even with a few players out, it will be nice to have a proper build up to this season, without players being drip fed into the squad with the world cup etc. Marshall the only real late arrival. Guessing they'll give him some time off after the final at the weekend.

[SirBurger]

Forgot that Cokanasiga is with the 18s. We really are light for out and out wingers at the moment, even allowing for Lewington's injury. I expect the plan is to make do with what we have for now though and I expect to see Ransom used out wide a lot.

[stnick88]

Sirburger, why no Johhny Williams? Surely he is a shoe in at 12 with Ferg or Fowlie at 13?

[SirBurger]

Thought he would get a longer rest after JWC. The team I put up isn't my strongest team, just close to what I expect to see.

[Margin_Walker]

Anyone got any idea who the lad on the left side of this maul is at 1 minute? Pacific Island looking guy with legs strapped. He doesn't look stocky enough to be Trev and probably too tall to be Curtis Harris. Is it a back row ball carrier?

Looks like mystery solved from the first team announcment of the year

15. Greig Tonks, 14. Ross Neal, 13. Ciaran Hearn, 12. Fergus Mulchrone, 11. Aseli Tikoirotuma 10. Tommy Bell, 9. Brendan McKibbin, 1. Tom Smallbone, 2. David Paice, 3. Ben Franks, 4. George Robson, 5. Jebb Sinclair, 6. Joe Trayfoot, 7. Max Northcote-Green, 8. Luke Narraway

16. Gerard Ellis, 17. Tom Court, 18. Richard Palframan, 19. Will Lloyd, 20. Ofisa Treviranus, 21. Scott Steele, 22. Darren Allinson, 23. Tom Fowlie, 24. Jason Harris-Wright, 25. Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 26. Ollie Hoskins, 27. Sebastien De Chaves, 28. Siniteki Nayalo, 29. Jerry Sexton, 30. Conor Gilsenan, 31. Blair Cowan, 32. Johnny Williams, 33. Jacob Atkins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgHOSq6SSbo

Seems to have some gas, although not sure what he's like in traffic. Guessing he's on trial

[SirBurger]

NJK probably knows him from his time at Quins I guess. Looks like a potentially good prospect. Shame to see some other guys (Ransom in particular) already out with injuries (I assume).

[Ozzy3213]

By all accounts it was a good performance against Quins yesterday. Hopefully bodes well for the season ahead.

[exileray]

Quins game...bob Casey said the injury's to ransom topsy and coman are minor.
Irish defence was very good the scrum and lineout also went well.
ross Neal done a fine job standing in as a winger.
robson and nayalo were very good and when de chivas came on in to the second row he looked very much like a man in control.
with Marshall ransom geraghty topsy and Alex to come in I think we are looking good.

[SirBurger]

Really pleased that Nayalo went well. Is he a real prospect for us in the back row? The ball carrier we have been crying out for? Unfortunately sounds like Smallbone picked up a nasty knock but our options at loosehead are solid.

[yappysnap]

Cheers guys, the season hasn't even started yet and already the Quins board is in meltdown. Reading the reports from the hysterical knee jerk era on their; the teams Poopie, the coaches are useless, the tactics are terrible and apparently we're doomed!

[exileray]

Really pleased that Nayalo went well. Is he a real prospect for us in the back row? The ball carrier we have been crying out for? Unfortunately sounds like Smallbone picked up a nasty knock but our options at loosehead are solid.

he looks like a 6 or 8 with lots of gas .

[beshocked]

Surprised you're not talking about the proposed move to Brentford. Is it going to happen? Is it what you want?

[Margin_Walker]

Think it's pretty likely to happen and talks are probably pretty far advanced. Personally I'd welcome the move providing the numbers stack up (can't really be any worse than the arrangement we have at the madejski)

That said, can understand why some fans may not be so keen on the news.

[Guest]

Commenters on the Planetrugby forum on this seem to think that there could be planning permission issues. Apparently permission covers ONLY football, with Pro rugby specifically excluded.

Brentford FC had to give the council a detailed survey of where their supporters were coming from, how they would travel, etc. One of the reasons Wasps didn't move forward with Brentford was that they couldn't be bothered.

[Margin_Walker]

Not 100% au fait with the planning situation, but the council seem on board

http://www.hounslow.gov.uk/news_mod_home/news_mod_year/news_mod_month/news_mod_show?year1=2016&month1=8&NewsID=75736

Councillor Steve Curran, Leader of Hounslow Council said; “The new stadium is an exciting development that will be a real boost to Brentford and to the borough as a whole.
“Having a major rugby club based there as well as Brentford Football Club would be a real bonus, and London Irish are a fantastic club that has a track record of building strong links with the community and local schools.

“The Council will work closely with all concerned to ensure a successful outcome.”
A to Z of Services »

[TheMildlyFranticLlama]

Is it out of the question for LI to be moving into their own stadium any time soon? Looking at the change in Wasps' fortunes since their move to the Ricoh that would surely be the better option for long term stability, though I understand buying or building a stadium in the London area is probably prohibitively expensive!

[Margin_Walker]

Their own stadium is the dream, but it's pretty hard to accomplish without more money than we have. There is some talk of this not being a straight landlord/tenant relationship (i.e some investment/stake in the ground on LI's part). Remains to be seen if that's the case, but would definitely be a step in the right direction if it was.

[SirBurger]

This has to be good news for the club.

[Ozzy3213]

My understanding is that potentially it would be neither Irish nor Brentford who own the stadium, but Hounslow Borough Council, with both Irish and Brentford given long term leases. In terms of finances, I have heard rumour of a 50/50 split, but don't know if that's a split of all profit from stadium, or whether more likely a keep what you make from your sport kind of thing.

Either way it's better than what we have at Reading, where the terms are no favourable in the slightest.

Ont he playing side, great to see things looking better than they have last week at Quins and another opportunity to develop and build some confidence tomorrow night against Nottingham.

And finally, the new home kit has been revealed today, and shock, horror, it's green, with a little bit of white on it. In all honesty it's a bit meh, but as long as we get off to a good start, build through the season and win the play offs, I don't think anybody will really care what we played in!

[Irish Londoner]

And finally, the new home kit has been revealed today, and shock, horror, it's green, with a little bit of white on it.

Say it ain't so !

[Ozzy3213]

London Irish Director of Rugby Nick Kennedy is using the full range of his squad for Friday’s pre-season friendly with Nottingham Rugby at Hazelwood (kick-off 7.30pm).

After seeing an impressive display from his charges at Harlequins last weekend, Kennedy has named a new-look starting XV as he casts an eye over the progress of a number of his options.

Tom Court and Ollie Hoskins start at loose-head and tight-head respectively either side of hooker Gerard Ellis, while Jerry Sexton and Sebastian De Chaves get the nod in the engine room.

Senitiki Nayalo, Max Northcote-Green and skipper for the evening Ofisa Treviranus make up a formidable back-row.

Meanwhile in the backline, Greig Tonks occupies the fly-half berth after playing much of last week’s game at full-back. The Scot, who joined the Exiles earlier this year, partners fellow countryman Scott Steele at half-back with Academy products Johnny Williams and Tom Fowlie forming a centre combination. Asaeli Tikoirotuma and Ross Neal provide the pace on either wing, while Tommy Bell pulls on the number-15 jersey.

With two weeks to go until the start of the Greene King IPA Championship campaign, Kennedy is looking for his side to continue improving when they lock horns with Nottingham under the lights at Hazelwood.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the lads in action again,” said Kennedy.

“The most important thing is that we continue to improve week on week and get better as a team as we prepare for what promises to be an extremely physical and competitive competition.

“The lads are in good shape and are all itching to show what they can do in these pre-season matches,” he added.

London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Ross Neal, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Scott Steele, 1 Tom Court, 2 Gerard Ellis, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 4 Jerry Sexton, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 6 Senitiki Nayolo, 7 Max Northcote-Green, 8 Ofisa Treviranus (c)

Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Will Lloyd, 20 Jebb Sinclair, 21 Joe Trayfoot, 22 Blair Cowan, 23 Darren Allinson, 24 Luke Narraway, 25 Fergus Mulchrone, 26 Ciaran Hearn, 27 Brendan McKibbin, 28 Jacob Atkins, 29 Harry Elrington, 30 Jason Harris-Wright, 31 Richard Palframan, 32 Conor Gilsenan, 33 Conor Murphy

Members get Free entry to the game.

Non-members are £5 on the door for adults and free for U18s.

There will also be live music in the Club House post match from Ruiari McManus. Food and drinks will also be available for purchase on the day.

Parking is allocated on a first come first served basis at £5 per car. If you require disabled parking please call 01932 750 100.

[SirBurger]

I really like that line-up. Pace, power throughout and we have ball-carriers throughout the team. Great that they are swapping Bell and Tonks around to see who gets the best of those outside them.

[Margin_Walker]

Yeah, looking forward to how the back row and centres get on in particular. I know we bang on about it, but it would be great to have to proper ball carriers in the 8 and 6 shirts.

As an aside, I watched the Eng U18s game against SA A. Was a bit of a disaster and they got thrashed, but the LI boys did okay. Cokanasiga especially. Looked very powerful going forward (albeit got handed off once a little too easily for one of their trys). He looks ready to get involved for us this season.

1st half is here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKmCZt85iNA

watch out for him @8.35, @15.35 and @33.23 on the game clock

And the second half

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHH2cIQqB3Q

Parton was tidy enough at 10, very nice pass on him. Loader didn't see much of the ball, although he did manage to have a try disallowed as he just lost it when grounding in the tackle and get binned for killing the ball on our line. Williams didn't get a chance with ball in hand after coming on and Brand was an unused sub.

[SirBurger]

Agreed, Cokanasiga looks ready to go. Frightening to think how good he could be. Interesting that Parton played the last game at 14 and was then moved to 10 for this one. He has also played at 12 and 15 for the under 18s so it will be interesting to see where he ends up.

[Ozzy3213]

Irish 31 Nottingham 7 at half time.

[SirBurger]

43-14 FT. Sounds like another good run out.

[Ozzy3213]

James Marshall arrived yesterday. Doubt we'll see him feature tomorrow night, but hopefully he'll be playing in the next couple of weeks.

[Ozzy3213]

Fixtures added.

[Ozzy3213]

Team to play Loughborough tomorrow night....

15 Ben Ransom, 14 Jacob Atkins, 13 Fergus Mulchrone (c), 12 Ross Neal, 11 Matt Williams, 10 Tom Parton, 9 Darren Allinson, 1 Harry Elrington, 2 Jason Harris-Wright, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Jerry Sexton, 5 Will Lloyd, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 8 Senitiki Nayola

Replacements: 16 Tom Court, 17 Gerard Ellis, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Jack Cooke, 20 Max Northcote-Green, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Connor Murphy, 23 Ben Loader


Mainly senior academy, silver group and academy plus with a few senior guys thrown in. Says to me that against Doncaster in the opening league game we will see

15. Tonks
14. Ojo
13. Hearn
12. Williams
11. Tikoroituma
10. Bell
9. Steele

1. Hobbs-Awoyemi
2. Paice
3. Franks
4. de Chaves
5. Robson
6. Narraway
7. Cowan
8. Treviranus

... or very similar.

[stnick88]

Not sure if Ojo will be fit?

Hopefully Ransom plays a good hour at least tonight and could be fit for next Sat, he is comfortable on the wing.

Interested to see if we sign Nayolo or not. Backrow is missing another ball carrier, without Trev we struggle.

[formerly known as Sam]

If any of you are heading to the Loughborough game my rugby club is holding a beer festival a mere ten minute drive away from the university.

[SirBurger]

If any of you are heading to the Loughborough game my rugby club is holding a beer festival a mere ten minute drive away from the university.

In Sunbury? Which University is that?

[formerly known as Sam]

If any of you are heading to the Loughborough game my rugby club is holding a beer festival a mere ten minute drive away from the university.

In Sunbury? Which University is that?

Ah well if you're not in the Midlands I can't help you.

[Ozzy3213]

46-21 win against Loughborough last night. Not sure how much we learnt really, given the side we put out and level of the opposition.

[SirBurger]

Some mixed feedback on the other forum. One thing that I think we have learned is that we actually have genuine competition for places this season and some guys have unexpectedly made a push for places in the starting team (Neal, Nayolo, Gilsenan to name a few). Whether that depth will still be the case if we return to the Premiership remains to be seen, but it means we should probably expect a bit more rotation this season which is a good thing.

On the flip side, it was disappointing to read on the other forum that Ellis's arrows were off yet again. Paice needs some genuine competition. I wonder whether Harris-Wright might be that man, or whether even, after his return from injury, Matt Kouris might make the step up.

[Ozzy3213]

I was impressed with Harris-Wright, his basics were good. He's not as good as Ellis in the loose, but Ellis lineout work was shambolic. I would have Harris-Wright on the bench on Saturday.

[Ozzy3213]

Doncaster beat Darlington Mowden Park (ND1) 64-0 this afternoon. Their side included Harry Allen, Beau Robinson and Alessana Tuilagi. Whilst Tuilagi looked overweight last year he can still have an impact at Championship level. Will be a good test of where we are as a squad next Saturday.

[Ozzy3213]

Naz confirmed as club captain with Topsy and Paicey as vice captains. Happy with that, Luke lead with dignity and passion in difficult circumstances last year.

[SirBurger]

I wouldn't say I am disappointed as that sounds too harsh and I do see the merits of Narraway as a leader, but from where I am sitting it is hard to justify having a captain who isn't one of the best players in the team or even in his position. Unless the plan is to play him at 7 at the expense of Cowan then Luke's place in the team has to seriously be under threat. For me, he also is closely connected to the failures of last season (rightly or wrongly) and a fresh break might have been a good thing.

However, I do appreciate that he won players player of the season so is clearly very respected. He is very vocal on the park and in a rebuilding year perhaps that kind of presence is required.

[Margin_Walker]

Will be interesting to see if he's in the club captain mould like Dec was coming towards the end of his career and not playing every game, or whether he is the first name on the teamsheet in the traditional manner.

Would have gone for Paice myself as his place in the team is more secure, but he's obviously a popular member of the squad, so am happy to see how it goes.

Looking forward to the Donny game now. Would be really good to lay down a marker.

[Margin_Walker]

Right, team announcement tomorrow (I assume). Think we'll see something like:

Court
Paice
Franks
De Chaves
Robson
Narraway
Cowan
Treviranus
Steele
Bell
Tiks
Williams
Hearn
Fowlie/Neal/Cokanasiga (who knows...)
Ransom

Danny Hobb-Awoyemi, Harris-Wright, Palframan, Sinclair, Nayalo (if signed), McKibbin, Tonks

[Ozzy3213]

I suspect that will be the starting pack as well.  Tiks and Johnny will be 11 and 12 certainly, but the rest of the backline is a bit of a guess.  I thought Fergus played really well against Loughborough and would be my pick in the 13 jersey.

[Ozzy3213]

London Irish team to play Doncaster: 


15 Greig Tonks, 14 Ross Neal, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 10 Tommy Bell, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 2 David Paice, 3 Ben Franks, 4 George Robson, 5 Sebastien De Chaves, 6 Luke Narraway (c), 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Ofisa Treviranus 

Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Court, 18 Oliver Hoskins, 19 Jerry Sexton, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Ben Ransom

[LondonTiger]

That should be a team far too strong for the Championship. Intrigued by the decision to put Bell at 10 and Tonks at 15, rather than the other way round.

[Ozzy3213]

Yeah we were all trying to guess which way we would go with those two LT.  i think ultimately both may end up competing for the 10 jersey with Marshall and Ransom fighting it out for the full back spot.  Will be interesting to see how bell goes tomorrow, I'm hoping for a composed confident performance from him.

[Ozzy3213]

Solid enough performance yesterday.  Doncaster came with a big physical pack intent on making life difficult for us.  I thought we fronted up well, and to nil them was very god, given how porous our defence was last season.  With a bit more confidence we could have picked up the TBP, but am happy enough with a good solid win against one of the better sides in the division.

Brendan Venter spoke in the club room after the game and had every fan in there hanging on his every word.  I think having listened to him that it is fair to say that there will be no hiding place for the players this season, but actually they won't be looking for one.  I suspect they will be prepared to run through walls for him.  He was seriously impressive.

[Margin_Walker]

Defence wins championships at the end of the day. Even if it wasn't the most fluid performance going forward, it's a decent starting point and I would have taken that before the game.

[Margin_Walker]

In other news Curtis-Harris seems to have enjoyed himself on his debut for Esher yesterday

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ7mwY5D-UN/

[SirBurger]

In other news Curtis-Harris seems to have enjoyed himself on his debut for Esher yesterday

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ7mwY5D-UN/

That is fantastic to see. Really excited about Curtis-Harris. He is obviously an incredibly powerful runner, but he also has speed and really nice footwork. His carrying style, from the little I have seen, reminds me a bit of Steff. He has a low centre of gravity, so if he can work on his breakdown work, I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up in the 7 shirt longer term.

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