Aviva Premiership - Round 10

by **LondonTiger** Thu 28 Jan 2016, 7:37 pm

Round 10
Fri 29th 19:45 Northampton Saints v Wasps BT Sport

Sat 30th 14:30 Sale Sharks v London Irish
Sat 30th 15:00 Gloucester Rugby v Leicester Tigers
Sat 30th 15:15 Saracens v Bath Rugby BT Sport
Sun 31st 15:00 Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins

Sun 31st 15:00 Worcester Warriors v Exeter Chiefs BT Sport

by **LondonTiger** Thu 28 Jan 2016, 7:42 pm

Premiership: Northampton Saints v Wasps (Fri)

Northampton Saints make seven changes to the team that earned a bonus-point win at Scarlets to qualify for the last eight of the European Champions Cup.

Mikey Haywood, Kieran Brookes, Michael Paterson, Victor Matfield and Teimana Harrison are in the pack, while backs Luther Burrell and Tom Collins return.

Wasps opt not to pick international quartet Matt Mullan, Elliot Daly, Bradley Davies and Lorenzo Cittadini.

All had been made available by their respective countries.

But joint captain James Haskell has been retained by England ahead of next week's Six Nations opener against Scotland at Murrayfield, and Sam Jones is injured, so Alex Rieder comes in for his Wasps debut at six.

George Smith captains a side that sees starts for fit-again prop Jake Cooper-Woolley and number eight Nathan Hughes, who both made appearances from the bench in last weekend's 51-10 win over Leinster.

Rob Miller starts at full-back in the absence of the injured Charles Piutau while Dan Robson is at scrum-half after impressing from the bench last weekend following the injury to Joe Simpson.

Northampton include Kiwi utility back James Wilson among the replacements for the first time since last May's Premiership semi-final.

Unhappy hunting ground for Wasps

Dai Young's side will start the evening sixth in the Premiership table, just a place and two points behind Northampton.

But Wasps have not won at Franklin's Gardens since November 2005, having shipped six tries and a penalty on their first visit as a Midlands-based club in March 2015 when they were well beaten, 52-30.

In fact, they have won only one of their last 13 encounters with Northampton in all competitions, home or away, since 2009, last season's 20-16 Premiership win at Adams Park in September 2014.

Northampton forwards coach Dorian West told BBC Radio Northampton:

"They've been a bit up and down, been outstanding on some occasions, at the weekend against Leinster they played some brilliant rugby and caused a good side a lot of trouble.

"We know they'll be desperate to come here and make a statement and we need to make sure we're at our best and get on top of them."

Wasps director of rugby Dai Young:

"Despite being released by their national sides midweek, it was difficult for us to include Matt Mullan, Elliot Daly, Bradley Davies and Lorenzo Cittadini, having already completed all our preparation for Friday night.

"It provides an exciting opportunity for the rest of the squad to step up, after waiting patiently for game time, and I am looking forward to them taking their chance. It will test our depth and our ability to perform at the top level consistently.

"There are no easy games in this league, but a Friday night at Franklin's Gardens is right up there with the hardest. If we're not on the money, Saints have the ability to punish us, and we've experienced that before at their hands."

Northampton Saints:

Mallinder; Elliott, Pisi, Burrell, Collins; Myler, Kessell; Waller, Haywood, Brookes, Paterson, Matfield, Wood (capt), Harrison, Dickinson.

Replacements: Williams, Waller, Denman, Craig, Gibson, Dickson, Hanrahan, Wilson.

Wasps:

Miller; Halai, Macken, Downey, Bassett; Gopperth, Robson; McIntyre, Shervington, Cooper-Woolley, Gaskell, Myall, Rieder, Smith (capt), Hughes.

Replacements: Johnson, Bristow, Swainston, Cannon, Young, Stevenson, Jackson, Tagicakibau.

by **LondonTiger** Thu 28 Jan 2016, 7:42 pm

Joe simpson out for 12 weeks.

by formerly known as Sam Thu 28 Jan 2016, 8:15 pm

Daley not included even though released by England. Interesting choice, also no Mullan. I suspect that won't help Wasps against a strong looking Saints team.

by **LondonTiger** Thu 28 Jan 2016, 8:40 pm

Yeah, Wasps decided not to select any of the guys released back to thyem so four fit, first choice players will be in the stand watching

by **LondonTiger** Thu 28 Jan 2016, 8:41 pm

While Saints will be glad to have Brookes back. If he plays well and looks fit I wonder if he will oust Thomas from the squad immediately?

by yappysnap Thu 28 Jan 2016, 10:15 pm

Saints
Sale
Gloucester
Bath
Quins
Worcester

by yappysnap Thu 28 Jan 2016, 10:16 pm

LondonTiger wrote:While Saints will be glad to have Brookes back. If he plays well and looks fit I wonder if he will oust Thomas from the squad immediately?

If he's fit then I'd hope so

by Heaf Thu 28 Jan 2016, 11:14 pm

yappysnap wrote:Saints
Sale
Gloucester
Bath
Quins
Worcester

a couple of big calls there ...

by yappysnap Fri 29 Jan 2016, 8:25 am

Heaf wrote:
yappysnap wrote:Saints
Sale
Gloucester
Bath
Quins
Worcester
a couple of big calls there ...

True

The Irish, Tigers and Exeter games could all go either way.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 12:11 pm

Leicester Tigers (v Gloucester Rugby, away, Saturday 3pm)
15 Tommy Bell
14 Peter Betham
13 Mathew Tait (c)
12 Matt Smith
11 Telusa Veainu
10 Freddie Burns
9 Sam Harrison
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Greg Bateman
3 Fraser Balmain
4 Dom Barrow
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Mike Fitzgerald
7 Tom Croft
8 Lachlan McCaffrey

Replacements
16 Harry Thacker
17 Riccardo Brugnara
18 Logovi'i Mulipola
19 Sebastian de Chaves
20 Jordan Crane
21 Jono Kitto
22 Gonzalo Camacho
23 Jack Roberts

Peter Betham and Greg Bateman return to the starting line-up for Leicester Tigers in the Aviva Premiership Round 10 fixture away to Gloucester Rugby on Saturday (3pm).

Australia international Betham reclaims a starting berth after being included among the replacements in the European Champions Cup match against Stade Francais last Sunday, while hooker Bateman returns from injury to make his seventh appearance of the season.

Tommy Bell comes into the team at full-back, with Betham joining Telusa Veainu on the wings.

Gonzalo Camacho is included among the replacements alongside Jack Roberts who is included in the matchday 23 for the first time this season.

Ben Youngs and Dan Cole remain with the England squad preparing for the start of the Six Nations, and hooker Tom Youngs is serving a one-week ban.

Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: "This is the start of a key part of the season with clubs affected by having players away for the internationals. We've done pretty well in managing the squad to this point and the next eight weeks during the Six Nations will be very important in the format of the season."

Manu Tuilagi misses out with a hamstring injury after coming through his first three appearances following a 15-month lay-off.

Cockerill said: "Manu has just tweaked a hamstring which will probably mean a couple of weeks out. He's done well since his return from a long-term injury and we're looking after him. We've got guys like Mat Tait and Matt Smith who have been in good form this season so we have options in the backline."

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 12:14 pm

Gloucester Rugby:

Steve McColl; Charlie Sharples, Billy Meakes, Billy Twelvetrees (capt), David Halaifonua; James Hook, Willi Heinz; Paddy McAllister, Richard Hibbard, Paul Doran-Jones; Tom Savage, Jeremy Thrush; Sione Kalamafoni, Jacob Rowan, Ben Morgan

Replacements:

Darren Dawidiuk, Nick Wood, Nicky Thomas, Mariano Galarza, Matt Kvesic, Greig Laidlaw, Billy Burns, Mark Atkinson

After two weeks in European action, Gloucester Rugby return to Aviva Premiership action this weekend with the visit of Leicester Tigers to Kingsholm on Saturday (kick off 3pm).The starting line-up to take on the Tigers features only seven of the side that took the field last weekend in Parma against Zebre.

Returning to the starting line-up are Charlie Sharples, Billy Twelvetrees and James Hook in the backs, with Twelvetrees captaining the side against his former club.

Meanwhile, returning to the pack are Paddy McAllister, Richard Hibbard, Tom Savage, Jeremy Thrush and Sione Kalamafoni.

After two wins in the European Rugby Challenge Cup, securing a home quarter-final, David Humphreys told the local media this week that Gloucester are coming into Saturday's game in good physical shape having rotated the squad. However, he and the squad are prepared for a tough encounter against the Tigers.

"It's going to be a huge test for us. The last couple of weeks have almost been preparation for this, we've given some players some rest and some others some game time.

"So, we're in good shape going into what is going to be an incredibly tough run of games over the course of the next ten weeks, although we haven't been able to look much behind Leicester this weekend.

"They're a team who have been going well, they were obviously successful last year, finishing top four, and have added new attacking threat to their game with some new coaches and players.

"We've played fifteen games this season, we've only lost four times. So, we're in a good place statistically. What we've got to do is bring a consistency to our performance.

"It's going to be a challenge but, with the work that's been done and not being affected too much by Six Nations, we're in good shape going into that run of games."

by BamBam Fri 29 Jan 2016, 12:16 pm

Unsurprising that Manu has got a niggle after that long a lay off, shame though

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 12:17 pm

BamBam wrote:Unsurprising that Manu has got a niggle after that long a lay off, shame though

He would probably have been rested this week anyway. Agreed not surprising and hopefully short.

by HongKongCherry Fri 29 Jan 2016, 12:34 pm

The world's best LH prop is going to get schooled tomorrow Whistle

As we finally have a decent home record again at Castle Grim, coupled with a near sell out crowd, hopefully we'll have enough to sneak home. However, hopefully Cockers and Mauger haven't worked out how poor Halaifonua's defensive positioning is...

by formerly known as Sam Fri 29 Jan 2016, 12:43 pm

LondonTiger wrote:
BamBam wrote:Unsurprising that Manu has got a niggle after that long a lay off, shame though

He would probably have been rested this week anyway. Agreed not surprising and hopefully short.

Could be political as well. If Manu has a niggle and a rest England won't be looking at him for the rest of the six nations.

HKC, Burns has been playing well but kicking tactically is not an area of his game he likes to use. Expect us to run the ball more than necessary rather than kicking to the corner. The scrum will be interesting as Bateman is the size of a prop and Balmain is a big boy. Rest of our pack is fairly beefy as well. Shame I won't be able to watch it live.

by ChequeredJersey Fri 29 Jan 2016, 1:45 pm

Italian international scrum-half Tito Tebaldi makes his first Aviva Premiership start and partners captain Nick Evans in the half backs. George Lowe joins Harry Sloan in the centres as the back three remains unchanged.

Among the forwards, Rob Buchanan is the only change to the front row, as James Horwill and Charlie Matthews complete the front five. Dave Ward starts in the back row alongside Luke Wallace and Mat Luamanu.

Among the replacements, first year Academy member Calum Waters will look to make his first senior appearance for the Club.

In injury news, Karl Dickson underwent surgery on a hand injury sustained last week. The scrum-half is expected to be out for up to ten weeks.

Nick Easter will be available for selection next week having been absent from the squad for personal reasons.

Harlequins team
15. Ross Chisholm
14. Marland Yarde
13. George Lowe
12. Harry Sloan
11. Charlie Walker
10. Nick Evans©
9. Tito Tebaldi

1. Mark Lambert
2. Rob Buchanan
3. Will Collier
4. James Horwill
5. Charlie Matthews
6. Luke Wallace
7. Dave Ward
8. Mat Luamanu

16. Joe Gray
17. Owen Evans
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. George Merrick
20. James Chisholm
21. Calum Waters
22. Ben Botica
23. Tim Swiel

Newcastle Falcons
15 Simon Hammersley 14 Alex Tait 13 Chris Harris 12 Juan Pablo Socino 11 Giamba Venditti 10 Craig Willis 9 Michael Young 1 Rob Vickers 2 Scott Lawson 3 Taione Vea 4 Mark Wilson 5 Sean Robinson 6 Will Welch 7 Nili Latu 8 Ally Hogg

16 George McGuigan 17 Eric Fry 18 Paddy Ryan 19 Mouritz Botha 20 Richard Mayhew 21 Sonatane Takulua 22 Andy Goode 23 Adam Powell

by ChequeredJersey Fri 29 Jan 2016, 1:46 pm

yappysnap wrote:Saints
Sale
Gloucester
Bath
Quins
Worcester

Do you ever actually pick Sarries to win, Yappy?!

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 1:47 pm

ChequeredJersey wrote:
yappysnap wrote:Saints
Sale
Gloucester
Bath
Quins
Worcester

Do you ever actually pick Sarries to win, Yappy?!

not yet.

by Scottrf Fri 29 Jan 2016, 1:50 pm

Wishful thinking.

Can we stop the Brookes for England calls please. We need him.

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 1:54 pm

Scottrf wrote:Wishful thinking.

Can we stop the Brookes for England calls please. We need him.

will be fun when you arr missing him and Hill in a few weeks Very Happy

by ChequeredJersey Fri 29 Jan 2016, 2:00 pm

Ive just realised when we play Tigers we won't have Roberts, Robshaw, Marler, Care, Brown, Clifford and possibly Visser, and they will only be missing Youngs and Cole (and Slater to injury) :/. Damn Eddie, not picking your players

by Scottrf Fri 29 Jan 2016, 2:01 pm

We have Denman, no idea who would bench.

Looking forward to the game tonight. Feel like we will play slightly better rugby than we have been.

by ChequeredJersey Fri 29 Jan 2016, 2:04 pm

formerly known as Sam wrote:Daley not included even though released by England. Interesting choice, also no Mullan. I suspect that won't help Wasps against a strong looking Saints team.

?Daly got a niggle we think?

by beshocked Fri 29 Jan 2016, 2:46 pm

http://www.premiershiprugby.com/matchcentre/fixtures/37989.php#0mJcdf7RseokElSb.97

Bath are capable of winning but Allianz Park has become a daunting prospect for any team who isn't Exeter or Saints.

Current form and head to head aren't in Bath's favour.

Should be a fascinating encounter.

Plenty with something to prove. In particular

Itoje to EJ
Barritt and Wigglesworth
Wray, Barrington and Ransom to the Saracens coaches.

Priestland to Welsh selectors.
Rokodiguini to EJ
Garvey,Auterac and Webber.

9-13 I think Sarries are quite a bit stronger. They have cohesion. Wigglesworth-Hodgson have been playing together for years.

Two key forwards battles I think will be Brits vs Webber and Hamilton vs Day. Both Webber and Brits have lots to prove. Webber hasn't had the easiest time at Bath, Brits has moved down the hooker pecking order, more used as a super sub off the bench against tiring legs these days. Both will need to hit their jumpers. Hamilton is behind both Itoje and Kruis in the 2nd row pecking order. Day will need to be on the top his game as the engine room is crucial. Especially with Sarries being so strong at set piece this season.

No Kruis or George makes Sarries slightly more vulnerable. Brits and Hamilton have big jobs to do to keep Sarries imposing at set piece time.

by WELL-PAST-IT Fri 29 Jan 2016, 2:57 pm

Scottrf wrote:We have Denman, no idea who would bench.

Looking forward to the game tonight. Feel like we will play slightly better rugby than we have been.

Denman has all usefulness of a chocolate saucepan, we are into the academy for the bench unless Ethan can swap to TH, he played a few games there last year.

Priority has to go into a good academy TH next year or even a good import, Brookes and Hill are going to be away for a lot of the year, especially with the summer tour, they will need resting when they get back

by HongKongCherry Fri 29 Jan 2016, 3:07 pm

formerly known as Sam wrote:
LondonTiger wrote:
BamBam wrote:Unsurprising that Manu has got a niggle after that long a lay off, shame though

He would probably have been rested this week anyway. Agreed not surprising and hopefully short.

Could be political as well. If Manu has a niggle and a rest England won't be looking at him for the rest of the six nations.

HKC, Burns has been playing well but kicking tactically is not an area of his game he likes to use. Expect us to run the ball more than necessary rather than kicking to the corner. The scrum will be interesting as Bateman is the size of a prop and Balmain is a big boy. Rest of our pack is fairly beefy as well. Shame I won't be able to watch it live.

Just checking, but I presume you're busy rather than not able to watch it as it'll be streamed live on Bet365 if you have an account with money in it.

by formerly known as Sam Fri 29 Jan 2016, 3:35 pm

HongKongCherry wrote:
formerly known as Sam wrote:
LondonTiger wrote:
BamBam wrote:Unsurprising that Manu has got a niggle after that long a lay off, shame though

He would probably have been rested this week anyway. Agreed not surprising and hopefully short.

Could be political as well. If Manu has a niggle and a rest England won't be looking at him for the rest of the six nations.

HKC, Burns has been playing well but kicking tactically is not an area of his game he likes to use. Expect us to run the ball more than necessary rather than kicking to the corner. The scrum will be interesting as Bateman is the size of a prop and Balmain is a big boy. Rest of our pack is fairly beefy as well. Shame I won't be able to watch it live.

Just checking, but I presume you're busy rather than not able to watch it as it'll be streamed live on Bet365 if you have an account with money in it.

I don't gamble. I'm shockingly bad at it so no Bet365 account. What's the minimum to open an account?

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 3:53 pm

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 3:54 pm

ChequeredJersey wrote:
formerly known as Sam wrote:Daley not included even though released by England. Interesting choice, also no Mullan. I suspect that won't help Wasps against a strong looking Saints team.

?Daly got a niggle we think?

nope, Young just said that with the game being tonight, getting the four players released by england/Wales/Italy two days ago was too late to include them.

by HongKongCherry Fri 29 Jan 2016, 3:54 pm

And you don't need to bet, just have money in the account.

by ChequeredJersey Fri 29 Jan 2016, 4:09 pm

LondonTiger wrote:
ChequeredJersey wrote:
formerly known as Sam wrote:Daley not included even though released by England. Interesting choice, also no Mullan. I suspect that won't help Wasps against a strong looking Saints team.

?Daly got a niggle we think?

nope, Young just said that with the game being tonight, getting the four players released by england/Wales/Italy two days ago was too late to include them.

Ha! He may as well have stayed with England for more experience then

by **Ozzy3213** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 4:19 pm

Saints by less than 7
Sale by more than 7
Tigers by less than 7
Saracens by more than 7
Falcons by less than 7
Worcester by less than 7

Sad

by **Ozzy3213** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 4:39 pm

That said, life is all about timing, and with Falcons and Worcester playing on Sunday, if by some miracle we could sneak a win on Saturday, that could heap an awful lot of pressure onto those sides.

by formerly known as Sam Fri 29 Jan 2016, 5:44 pm

Thanks HKC I might have a look at that, time allowing.

by Heaf Fri 29 Jan 2016, 6:47 pm

Ozzy3213 wrote:That said, life is all about timing, and with Falcons and Worcester playing on Sunday, if by some miracle we could sneak a win on Saturday, that could heap an awful lot of pressure onto those sides.

Tough job made tougher with Franks out - that's a disaster for us Sad

by **Ozzy3213** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 8:17 pm

Well my first prediction is looking like it's out of the window. Saints have been appalling so far, Wasps are absolutely ripping them apart.

by formerly known as Sam Fri 29 Jan 2016, 8:23 pm

Love the fluent cohesion of Wasps. Tom Wood doing nothing to suggest his non-selection was an error, he's got nowhere near the breakdown.

by **Ozzy3213** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 8:31 pm

formerly known as Sam wrote:Love the fluent cohesion of Wasps. Tom Wood doing nothing to suggest his non-selection was an error, he's got nowhere near the breakdown.

They are certainly very easy on the eye. Wood, along with most other Saints players is miles off the pace here. Not sure what has happened to them this season, they seem to be really lacking in intensity.

by formerly known as Sam Fri 29 Jan 2016, 9:08 pm

If Wasps weren't playing Gopperth I think they'd have a TBP already. Smith is able to distribute closer to the line than him.

Obviously some harsh words were said at half time because Saints have come out firing this second half. They are letting the decisions get to them and frustrate them further which isn't doing them any favours with the referee or with their decision making. They are trying to hard at times.

by WELL-PAST-IT Fri 29 Jan 2016, 9:33 pm

Wasps 9/10
Saints 5/10
Ref 2/10

by nathan Fri 29 Jan 2016, 9:41 pm

To be fair, you should swap saints and ref scores around.

Saints were woeful, were looking for penalties instead of just getting on with their own gameplan. Perhaps it's because things aren't clicking for them and they are getting frustrated.

They will never be able to build pressure with a 60% success at the line-out.

Just what has happened with them this year?

by nathan Fri 29 Jan 2016, 9:41 pm

Were*

Stupid mobile version doesn't have an edit button

by **LondonTiger** Fri 29 Jan 2016, 9:43 pm

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:Wasps 9/10
Ref 5/10
Saints 2/10

Wasps 9/10 in first half, but 5/10 in second. Otherwise looks about right.

by ChequeredJersey Fri 29 Jan 2016, 11:39 pm

What has happened to Saints this season?

by BigTrevsbigmac Sat 30 Jan 2016, 12:24 am

12 first choice players out & first win at Franklin Gdns for 11 years(?)
Well done Wasps Yahoo

by **LondonTiger** Sat 30 Jan 2016, 8:15 am

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:12 first choice players out & first win at Franklin Gdns for 11 years(?)
Well done Wasps

Surely not 12 first choice players out?

Agree it is a lot, but Cooper-Woolley, Smith, Hughes, Gopperth & Halai all seem to be first choice players (when fit)

by kingelderfield Sat 30 Jan 2016, 10:36 am

I think you have to give it up for George Smith, he'll be 36 this year.

It does worry me that this may say a lot about the standard of english and NH rugby that a guy like him can dominate a premiership game, but fairs fair the guy is absolutely class.

I hope everybody now understands what a unique position openside is?

by BigTrevsbigmac Sat 30 Jan 2016, 11:34 am

LondonTiger wrote:
BigTrevsbigmac wrote:12 first choice players out & first win at Franklin Gdns for 11 years(?)
Well done Wasps

Surely not 12 first choice players out?

Agree it is a lot, but Cooper-Woolley, Smith, Hughes, Gopperth & Halai all seem to be first choice players (when fit)

Ciiiadini normallyy gets the nod Tiger but there isn't much in it I agree. The others are first choice that's true. Dai took the gamble and rested the (available) English squad guys & it paid off.

by formerly known as Sam Sat 30 Jan 2016, 11:49 am

kingelderfield wrote:I think you have to give it up for George Smith, he'll be 36 this year.

It does worry me that this may say a lot about the standard of english and NH rugby that a guy like him can dominate a premiership game, but fairs fair the guy is absolutely class.

I hope everybody now understands what a unique position openside is?

The guy is a legend of the game though. If he came over and did nothing we'd be saying what a waste of budget he's holding up the progression of English youngsters etc. Instead he's getting the Wasps playing a more intelligent offloading game and we're seeing English talent flourish around him. A great move by Dai to freshen his team up.

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