Aviva Premiership - Round 8

Exeter
Gloucester
Bath
Leicester
Sale
Harlequins

No news on the injured trio for Glaws but it does sound like McAllister, Morgan, Evans and Meakes will be fit again. Glaws lost one game at Castle Grim in 2015 so will look to continue the home dominance. It is likely to be a turgid, boring game largely due to the appalling pitch which will only get worse with the heavy rain this week. Nevertheless, I think we should win this by 10. Chiefs, Bath, Sarries, Sale and Quins to win the other games.

What's your back up tighthead like if Afoa is out HKC? Our scrum and maul have gone really well in recent weeks, so appalling pitch and heavy rain won't upset me too much.

It should be PDJ but I believe he has a broken eyelash, so its Nicky Thomas. He arguably improved our scrum when he came on against Quins. He is very raw but does appear to gave potential. An experienced LH could get the better of him if they can nullify his strength.

Tom Court is likely to be at loosehead. I suspect we will see a pack consisting of...

Court
Paice/Ellis
Franks
Symons
Lloyd/Sinclair
Narraway
Cowan
Treviranus

That was good enough to get on top of Saints for large parts, albeit they are in a bit of a rut. We were 100% on our own ball at the scrum, and I think conceded 2 penalties on their ball (1 of which looked harsh as Hartley had popped up long before Court was penalised for running around, an offence that the referee later rest for when Waller did the same). I am hopeful that it's an area where we can get on top in the game.

Based upon initial reports our pack will be McAllister, Hibbard, Thomas, Savage, Thrush, Kalamafoni, Kvesic and Morgan. Galarza is a big loss as he'd help target the lineout.

Exeter win a tight match at the Gardens.
Gloucester to win at home.
TBP win for Bath.
Ditto Saracens.
Narrow win at home for Sale.
Dito Wuss.

Good to hear PDJ isn't pushing himself too much after his tough stay at Quins, hate for him to do something crazy and get out on to a rugby pitch...

PDJ had a couple of good sub appearances at the start of the season but has since either had small injuries or been rubbish. I thought it was pretty unsporting of Evans to go for the drop goal given everything Glaws has done for Quins

He went for the drop goal to make it look more believable... Stuck to script and missed it though... You're welcome

Ozzy3213 wrote:Tom Court is likely to be at loosehead.  I suspect we will see a pack consisting of...

Court
Paice/Ellis
Franks
Symons
Lloyd/Sinclair
Narraway
Cowan
Treviranus

That was good enough to get on top of Saints for large parts, albeit they are in a bit of a rut.  We were 100% on our own ball at the scrum, and I think conceded 2 penalties on their ball (1 of which looked harsh as Hartley had popped up long before Court was penalised for running around, an offence that the referee later rest for when Waller did the same).  I am hopeful that it's an area where we can get on top in the game.

Hartley has been getting away with that for years though so no surprise there ...

Irish looked great in the scrum last week albeit against Hill and E Waller who are a step down on Saints regular starters.

Big ask for us to turn a poor Bath outfit over. We've lacked direction this season(despite getting on top in the set piece a lot), hopefully Goode can help us out.

A Falcons win and Irish defeat would make things interesting.

Chiefs by 3
Gloucester by a try
Bath by more than a try
Sarries by a try
Sale by 3
Quins by a try

Not sure what to say about our side for the weekend:

Ayerza, Thacker, Balmain, Barrow, Kitchener, Slater (c), Croft, Pierce
Harrison, Burns, goneva, Bai, Tait, Camacho, Veainu

Reps:
Youngs, Logo, Cole, Fitzgerald, McCaffrey, Youngs, Williams, Thompstone

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY EXETER CHIEFS
Aviva Premiership Round 8
Franklin’s Gardens
Friday, January 1st, 2016
Kick off 3:00pm
15 Ben FODEN (capt)
14 Tom COLLINS
13 George PISI
12 Luther BURRELL
11 George NORTH
10 JJ HANRAHAN
9 Kahn FOTUALI’I
1 Alex WALLER
2 Mikey HAYWOOD
3 Paul HILL
4 Courtney LAWES
5 Victor MATFIELD
6 Jamie GIBSON
7 Teimana HARRISON
8 Sam DICKINSON

16 Dylan HARTLEY
17 Ethan WALLER
18 Gareth DENMAN
19 Christian DAY
20 Michael PATERSON
21 Lee DICKSON
22 Stephen MYLER
23 Harry MALLINDER

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

15 Phil Dollman 14 Jack Nowell 13 Michele Campagnaro 12 Ian Whitten 11 Olly Woodburn 10 Gareth Steenson 9 Will Chudley
1 Ben Moon 2 Jack Yeandle (capt) 3 Tomas Francis 4 Mitch Lees 5 Geoff Parling 6 Don Armand 7 Tom Johnson 8 Thomas Waldrom
16 Elvis Taione 17 Carl Rimmer 18 Moray Low 19 Ollie Atkins 20 Ben White 21 Dave Lewis 22 Will Hooley 23 James Short -

Saracens team to face Leicester Tigers

15 Alex Goode (194)*
14 Chris Ashton (87)
13 Marcelo Bosch (50)
12 Brad Barritt © (154)
11 Chris Wyles (188)
10 Charlie Hodgson (116)
9 Richard Wigglesworth (137)
1 Mako Vunipola (87)
2 Schalk Brits (155)
3 Petrus Du Plessis (111)
4 Maro Itoje (39)
5 George Kruis (111)
6 Michael Rhodes (9)
7 Will Fraser (66)
8 Billy Vunipola (48)

Replacements
16 Jamie George (140)
17 Rhys Gill (150)
18 Titi Lamositele (6)
19 Jim Hamilton (30)
20 Jackson Wray (123)
21 Neil De Kock (242)
22 Owen Farrell (123)
23 Duncan Taylor (77)

Bath team:

15. Tom Homer

14. Horacio Agulla

13. Jonathan Joseph

12. Ollie Devoto

11. Matt Banahan

10. Rhys Priestland

9. Niko Matawalu

1. Nick Auterac

2. Ross Batty

3. Henry Thomas

4. Matt Garvey

5. Charlie Ewels

6. Leroy Houston

7. Guy Mercer ( c )

8. David Denton

Replacements

16. Rob Webber

17. Max Lahiff

18. David Wilson

19. Dominic Day

20. Francois Louw

21. Jonathan Evans

22. George Ford

23. Anthony Watson


Not sure if Attwood is rested or the knock last week was worse than thought. Another good opportunity for Ewels though.

There are four changes to the side which drew against Gloucester Rugby during Big Game 8 at Twickenham Stadium last week. Charlie Walker and Ross Chisholm start on the wings as Adam Jones and Luke Wallace are named in the front and back rows respectively.

Among the replacements, Owen Evans will look to make his Aviva Premiership debut.

In injury news, Tim Visser is expected to be out for between six to eight weeks due to a hamstring injury sustained during Big Game 8. Marland Yarde picked up a knock and will be available for selection next week, while Mark Lambert is expected to return in three weeks after straining his calf.

Harlequins squad
15. Mike Brown
14. Charlie Walker
13. George Lowe
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Ross Chisholm
10. Nick Evans
9. Danny Care©

1. Joe Marler
2. Dave Ward
3. Adam Jones
4. James Horwill
5. Charlie Matthews
6. Chris Robshaw
7. Luke Wallace
8. Nick Easter

16. Rob Buchanan
17. Owen Evans
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. George Merrick
20. Jack Clifford
21. Karl Dickson
22. Ben Botica
23. Harry Sloan

Was hoping Luamanu might be ready, shame about Visser, hope Yarde is fit for next week :/

Falcons vs Bath 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Michael Young; 1 Rob Vickers, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Jon Welsh, 4 Mark Wilson, 5 Sean Robinson, 6 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (C), 8 Nili Latu.

16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Belisario Agulla.

Warriors
15 Chris Pennell
14 Bryce Heem
13 Wynand Olivier
12 Ryan Mills
11 Cooper Vuna
10 Tom Heathcote
9 Jonny Arr
1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga
2 Niall Annett
3 Nick Schonert
4 Donncha O'Callaghan
5 Darren Barry
6 Matt Cox
7 Marco Mama
8 Phil Dowson (C)

Replacements
16 Ben Sowrey
17 Ryan Bower
18 Gareth Milasinovich
19 Tevita Cavubati
20 Sam Betty
21 Charlie Mulchrone
22 Ryan Lamb
23 Tom Biggs

Gloucester Rugby:

Rob Cook; Charlie Sharples, Bill Meakes, Billy Twelvetrees (capt), Henry Purdy; James Hook, Willi Heinz; Nick Wood, Richard Hibbard, Nicky Thomas; Tom Savage, Jeremy Thrush; Ross Moriarty, Matt Kvesic, Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements:

Tom Lindsay, Dan Murphy, Paddy McAllister, Ben Morgan, Jacob Rowan, Greig Laidlaw, Billy Burns, Mark Atkinson

Wasps team to face Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday 2 January, kick off 17:30.
15. Rob Miller
14. Frank Halai
13. Elliot Daly
12. Ben Jacobs
11. Charles Piutau
10. Jimmy Gopperth
9. Joe Simpson
1. Matt Mullan
2. Ashley Johnson
3. Lorenzo Cittadini
4. Joe Launchbury
5. James Gaskell
6. James Haskell (c)
7. George Smith
8. Sam Jones

16. Edd Shervington
17. Simon McIntyre
18. Phil Swainston
19. Kearnan Myall
20. Thomas Young
21. Dan Robson
22. Ruaridh Jackson
23. Sailosi Tagicakibau

Are Tigers giving up on the breakdown completely?

HongKongCherry wrote:PDJ had a couple of good sub appearances at the start of the season but has since either had small injuries or been rubbish. I thought it was pretty unsporting of Evans to go for the drop goal given everything Glaws has done for Quins

Hey, he missed and possibly took it a phase or two early! He just had to make a show of trying to win

ChequeredJersey wrote:Are Tigers giving up on the breakdown completely?

Seems there's been a spot of rotation with that selection.

LondonTiger wrote:Not sure what to say about our side for the weekend:

Ayerza, Thacker, Balmain, Barrow, Kitchener, Slater (c), Croft, Pierce
Harrison, Burns, goneva, Bai, Tait, Camacho, Veainu

Reps:
Youngs, Logo, Cole, Fitzgerald, McCaffrey, Youngs, Williams, Thompstone

Watch from behind the sofa would by my thought LT.

Given Fitz and Kitch are both returning from head knock protocols it's understandable to start one of them on the bench, especially when Barrow was excellent at the weekend. Going in without an openside is really poor management though.

In the front row I'm happy to see Balmain start at TH as he's be very strong all season and last. Leaving Youngs on the bench is poor when our best hope of stopping Sarries is taking away their set piece advantage. Thankfully Sarries are starting Brits not George. Thacker was good in the line-out at the weekend and will have an abundance of targets to aim at so we should be solid there.

Our best hope is that Ayerza can do a number on Du Plessis and Balmain can get on top of Mako. If we can get a scrum advantage from that then perhaps we can hang in for LBP.

I suspect that they'll be at least one change before kick off. Camacho won't be fit enough to play. No idea why none of our open sides are being given a go. O'Connor had last week off and McCaffery didn't play the full game. Definitely an area of concern.

Woohooo. Unchanged starting XV for the first time this season, and just 2 changes to the bench with Ellis and Ojo replacing Stevens and Mulchrone.

Not many giving us a chance in this one, which is fair enough given that we are still 2nd bottom, but I do fancy us. The manner of last weeks win was massive for us, and I suspect that the team will be confident of backing that up this week.

Seems almost strange to say, but if the weather is bad I fancy us more. Scrum and maul have been very good so far and will be even more prominent features if conditions are rubbish.

A very cynical side of me wonders whether Cockers is tactically avoiding a show down between O'Connor and Fraser. Eddie will want 2 opensides in his EPS, at current Kvesis and Fraser are probably front runners. I'm not saying O'Connor would outplay Fraser (I actually rate Fraser very highly and want him in the 6 Nations squad) but if he did then it could raise the Kiwis stock very rapidly.

It's not exactly a secret that he wasn't happy when Waldrom suddenly disappeared on England duty. Although we did know about O'Connors granny when he signed this time.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Alex Waller vs Tomas Francis tomorrow. Should be a really good showdown at scrum time. I expect Waller has leapfrogged Auterac in most peoples current thoughts over the last few weeks. I wonder if he could challenge Marler, Mako and Mullan.

For Saints vs Chiefs, Hill our possible weak spot in the front row is up against Moon. I know nothing about him, how is he playing this year?

2 locks on the bench shows Saints still have back row problems, Lawes looks like he is in for another full stint as he is the only back row cover.

king_carlos wrote:A very cynical side of me wonders whether Cockers is tactically avoiding a show down between O'Connor and Fraser. Eddie will want 2 opensides in his EPS, at current Kvesis and Fraser are probably front runners. I'm not saying O'Connor would outplay Fraser (I actually rate Fraser very highly and want him in the 6 Nations squad) but if he did then it could raise the Kiwis stock very rapidly.

It's not exactly a secret that he wasn't happy when Waldrom suddenly disappeared on England duty. Although we did know about O'Connors granny when he signed this time.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Alex Waller vs Tomas Francis tomorrow. Should be a really good showdown at scrum time. I expect Waller has leapfrogged Auterac in most peoples current thoughts over the last few weeks. I wonder if he could challenge Marler, Mako and Mullan.

I think it more likely that O'Connor went home to NZ for Christmas in order to rest up. He's either not back in the country yet or is being given some training time to get back up to speed.

Saints not looking too bad so far. Very nearly a try for George North.

Glad that refs are getting wise to 9's trying to milk penalties. Kahn is one of the biggest offenders

Harsh advantage over call on Exeter, they were always under pressure

Jp having an awful game

Ozzy3213 wrote:Saints not looking too bad so far.  Very nearly a try for George North.

Was I seeing things, or did North push the ball back and then flick it over his head with his feet. Playing the wrong game if he meant it. Also means it should have been a try to Collins.

One mistake, but otherwise he is looking electric, Collins that is.

Saints pack going well, especially the front row.

Yeah Colin's looks like a great player with a good step.

Exeter have been on the wrong side of a few dodgy decisions but I suppose if your forwards are going backwards you'll get the decisions against you.

Saints game has quickened considerably since Dickson came on, getting the runners coming around the corner and making the yards (should that be metres, doesn't sound right, hard metres) now. Chiefs are missing Leas bulk at scrum time, Atkins doesn't seem to have the same power.

Probably in built bias, but I thought the same thing but the other way. But it is JPD reffing.

It's things like he gives a dodgy free kick to saints for numbers at the line out yet let it go earlier on when saints had to many in the line-out - he even was shouting at them.

That also looked like a shoulder to head in the last tackle which was only a penalty

Was the Exeter player allowed to get up then?

I'm sorry but he was in at the side

Have to say neither side has been great today. Weather hasn't helped.

It's good to see saints improving though

Chudley is kicking a lot today and it isn't always that accurate

What was chudley thinking there!

Well done saints

sounded a horrible game.....can't wait for tiggers vs kickers though charlie is playing..........

sale v's wasps weather permitting is the game.......Cipriani to cement his england selection me thinks.

Awful weather, seems to be the usual for Saints recently. Saints played the pragmatic game, Chiefs tried to run it too much and got turned over too often.

Pick of the backs had to be Collins, you would think that he was the England player not Nowell.

Hartley looked good as well so another plus.

I always love your positive outlook WPI.