2017/18 Aviva Premiership Round Five

Friday 29th September

Newcastle vs London Irish (19:45)
Worcester vs Saracens (19:45)
Sale vs Gloucester (20:00)

Saturday 30th September

Leicester vs Exeter (15:00)
Northampton vs Harlequins (15:00)

Sunday 1st October

Wasps vs Bath (15:00)

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May as well get the thread up early.

At the start of the season, London Irish might have had targeted fixtures against Newcastle but the Falcons have been in good form, so Irish will need to show their first match form to come away with anything. Worcester have shown some fight but it'd be a surprise if Saracens don't handle them comfortably. A resurgent Gloucester would fancy their chances at Sale. However, it's not clear they are resurgent, and Sale can turn up at home.

Looking forward to the game at Welford Road. Don't know if they'll all be available, or selected, but Youngs, Ford, Slade, May and Nowell could be most of the England back line. Leicester will need alot of  home grit to hold off the reigning champions, who looked good at the weekend.

Unsure if Marcus Smith is clear to play at the weekend. It will hurt Quins' chances if not, and, anyway, Saints have picked themselves up very well after that disastrous opening match.

Wasps vs Bath promises a lot of attacking intent. In truth, though, both sides have flattered to deceive. Wasps had little to offer going forward last weekend, and Bath have relied on Rokodoguni to get them over the line. The injury count seems high, so we'll see who actually gets named.

Im not sure we have been in good form per say. I think we have shown grit and determination and never say die attitude that has got us over the line in the first 2 games of the season. We certainly didn't play any fantastic rugby - it was very much a defensive set of tactics.

Against Bath we finally opened up and at times played some great rugby, but Bath dominated 40 minutes as well..so we could still have lost that.

Hopefully we keep the shackles off and the lads go out on Friday and play more of that kind of rugby. IF we do...then I think Irish will find it difficult.
If we revert to the defensive tosh from the first 3 games then Irish have a chance.

My picks:
Falcons
Saracens
Sale
Tigers
Saints
Wasps

All home wins except Sarries who should hammer Wuss.

As a Quins fan this weekend could be tough, if Marcus Smith is out then we might struggle in attack. And the Saints power game could really hammer our lighter players.

That loss against Irish is looking more and more important.

My humble and likely to be incorrect predictions

Newcastle vs London Irish (19:45)
From current form a big Falcons win is on the cards I think, 15+ points win.

Worcester vs Saracens (19:45)
Even with the injury issues for Saracens it is very hard to see anything beyond a comfortable away win, if Worcester defend well then it might be a close away win.

Sale vs Gloucester (20:00)
1 convincing win and 1 very horrible close loss at home for Sale so far. I am going to go with a close home win for Sale here.

Leicester vs Exeter (15:00)
Exeter showed a lot of class last week, but then again Leicester are never to be written off. Going for a close away win, but I hold no confidence on that.

Northampton vs Harlequins (15:00)
Saints run of 3 wins to continue at home, but will be close methinks, 5 point win.


Wasps vs Bath (15:00)
Wasps attacking threat to get them back into winning ways. Single score win.

Falcons V Irish Friday night

15 Alex Tait
14 DTH van der Merwe
13 Chris Harris
12 Juan Pablo Socino
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Craig Willis
9 Sonatane Takulua

1 Rob Vickers
2 Santiago Socino
3 Jon Welsh
4 Calum Green
5 Will Witty
6 Mark Wilson
7 Will Welch (captain)
8 Nili Latu

Replacements
16 Scott Lawson
17 Sami Mavinga
18 Trevor Davison
19 Sean Robinson
20 Ally Hogg
21 Sam Stuart
22 Joel Hodgson
23 Josh Matavesi

Our injury list is starting to really look quite impressive and I think this is the only 23 players fit and available. Despite the fact Sale have been stuttering, I can't see anything than a loss up at Sale. Great to finally have Williams available, as his game control will be a much needed boost once he's fully match fit.


Glaws
15. Jason Woodward; 14. David Halaifonua, 13. Henry Trinder, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Henry Purdy; 10. Billy Burns, 9. Willi Heinz (capt); 1. Val Rapava Ruskin, 2. Richard Hibbard, 3. Gareth Denman; 4. Ed Slater, 5. Jeremy Thrush; 6. Freddie Clarke, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ruan Ackermann

Replacements:

16. Motu Matu'u, 17. Josh Hohneck, 18. John Afoa, 19. Tom Savage, 20. Jacob Rowan, 21. Callum Braley, 22. Owen Williams, 23. Ben Vellacott

Unavailable for selection:

Mark Atkinson, Fraser Balmain, Tom Denton, Gareth Evans, Lloyd Evans, Mariano Galarza, Tom Hudson, Tom Marshall, Ben Morgan, Ross Moriarty, Tom Seabrook, Matt Scott, Charlie Sharples, Andy Symons, Ollie Thorley

Strong looking Glos team that.

yappysnap wrote:Strong looking Glos team that.

The unavailable one?

GeordieFalcon wrote:Im not sure we have been in good form per say. I think we have shown grit and determination and never say die attitude that has got us over the line in the first 2 games of the season. We certainly didn't play any fantastic rugby - it was very much a defensive set of tactics.

Against Bath we finally opened up and at times played some great rugby, but Bath dominated 40 minutes as well..so we could still have lost that.

Hopefully we keep the shackles off and the lads go out on Friday and play more of that kind of rugby. IF we do...then I think Irish will find it difficult.
If we revert to the defensive tosh from the first 3 games then Irish have a chance.

I think your underselling the Falcons to be honest GF, Our set piece has been fairly good ths year, defended really well and put the squeeze on when we've had to.

I think Flood/Mermoz will open the game out a bit more when they become available.

Latu at 8 generally opens up our game a bit more as he slots in as a pivot as apposed to Hogg, Is Callum Chick injured? Looked like he needed to improve against Worcester so might just have been given time off.

London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 James Marshall, 9 Scott Steele, 1 Ben Franks, 2 David Paice (c), 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 6 Josh McNally, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Ofisa Treviranus

Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Teofilo Paulo, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Tom Fowlie

Wins for Sarries, Sale, Tigers, Saints and Bath.

Im not sure driver.
I think Willis showed he's very capable young FH...whos going to get better and better.

I just think we've had tactics dictating the first few games. Its not a coincidence we barely attacked in the first few games, then suddenly against bath we play an attacking offloading game. They were given instructions to do so...

Against Bath, you even had Will Welch acting as link man etc. We didn't see any of that in the first 3 games.

Yeah I think Calum Chick is injured.

Kay and Bayfield pointed out that Eddie Jones' England training squad didn't spend time with their clubs this week. In matches of small margins, that could have an effect.

Ozzy3213 wrote:Wins for Sarries, Sale, Tigers, Saints and Bath.

Bath? We've lost st home to falcons and you're predicting will be the second team in a few years to beat wasp at home? Interesting optimism

From that I'd say Worcester are going to take a proper pasting.

James O'Connor on the bench for what looks a strong Sale side. That would be an interesting game vs Glaws.

Bathite wrote:

Ozzy3213 wrote:Wins for Sarries, Sale, Tigers, Saints and Bath.

Bath? We've lost st home to falcons and you're predicting will be the second team in a few years to beat wasp at home? Interesting optimism

We're not that bad a team when we play that type and tempo of rugby Bathite.....

I think the pick of the games has to be Leicester-Exeter.

Exeter look to be the form team at the moment, don't look unbeatable though. Leicester haven't had the best start but beating the current AP champions will be a good opportunity to send a message.

I think Exeter will win a tight encounter though wouldn't be surprised if Leicester do.

As for the other games.

Saints to win by 10.

Saracens by 17 (try bonus I hope).

Sale to win by 5 points.

Newcastle to win by 15

I genuinely think Wasps are vulnerable and I think Bath will win by 5 points.


On a side note it's nice to see quite a few Saracens academy players in the 23 vs Worcester.

10 is quite a good number - obviously some have developed a bit more than others!

Bathite wrote:

Ozzy3213 wrote:Wins for Sarries, Sale, Tigers, Saints and Bath.

Bath? We've lost st home to falcons and you're predicting will be the second team in a few years to beat wasp at home? Interesting optimism

Nothing to do with optimism Bathite. Both teams are off the back of defeats, two in Wasps case. Both have injuries and will be relying on some fringe players to get the job done, but Wasps have more pressure on them being at home and not wanting to go to three losses on the bounce. Especially with fringe players, that pressure can lead to more mistakes. This will be close, but I just feel that Blackadder will have addressed some of Bath's issues from last week better than Young will have Wasps.

Very nervous about the visit of Chiefs tomorrow. Tigers have looked much better over the last 2 weeks but I've not seen anything to suggest that the struggles with big mauling packs that have plagued this squad for a number of years have been dealt with. After the loss against Bath, Tigers really cannot afford any more home losses if they are to push for a top 2, and any more than a couple of defeats at WR will also start to rule out a playoff spot.

Anyway, team's up.

1. Ellis Genge, 2. Tom Youngs (c), 3. Dan Cole, 4. Harry Wells, 5. Dom Barrow, 6. Mike Williams, 7. Luke Hamilton, 8. Sione Kalamafoni, 9. Ben Youngs, 10. George Ford, 11. Jonny May, 12. Matt Toomua, 13. Matt Smith, 14. Nick Malouf, 15. Telusa Veainu

Replacements: 16. George McGuigan, 17. Greg Bateman, 18. Logovi'i Mulipola, 19. Valentino Mapapalangi, 20. Brendon O'Connor, 21. Sam Harrison, 22. Joe Ford, 23. Mathew Tait

15 Ahsee Tuala
14 George North
13 Rob Horne
12 Luther Burrell
11 Tom Collins
10 Harry Mallinder
9 Nic Groom
1 Alex Waller
2 Mikey Haywood
3 Kieran Brookes
4 Michael Paterson
5 David Ribbans
6 Courtney Lawes (capt)
7 Jamie Gibson
8 Teimana Harrison

16 Reece Marshall
17 Francois van Wyk
18 Jamal Ford-Robinson
19 Api Ratuniyarawa
20 Sam Dickinson
21 Cobus Reinach
22 Stephen Myler
23 Ben Foden

New props on the bench and good to see Api.

We are going to need to be careful with Lawes, he is playing far too much rugby and at some stage it is going to catch up with him and he will be crocked or knackered for half a season.

Once you get past a certain point, a few weeks rest is just not enough, the body can take months to mend if over abused.

Whe is Francis set to return, I thought he had recommenced training a few weeks ago?

I think if we absolutely needed Francis he could play. I believe he's fit. Maybe he'll get some Wanderers gametime first.

Quins missing Robshaw, Brown, Marler, Horwill. Pretty confident.

15. Aaron Morris (10)
14. Marland Yarde (78)
13. Joe Marchant (41)
12. Jamie Roberts (33)
11. Tim Visser (37)
10. Marcus Smith (4)
9. Danny Care (228)

1. Mark Lambert (213)
2. Dave Ward (Captain, 121)
3. Kyle Sinckler (104)
4. George Merrick (63)
5. Charlie Matthews (141)
6. Ben Glynn (4)
7. Jack Clifford (70)
8. Mat Luamanu (42)

16. Elia Elia (1)
17. Lewis Boyce (1)
18. Will Collier (112)
19. Dino Lamb (-)
20. Archie White (3)
21. Dave Lewis (-)
22. Tim Swiel (43)
23. Alofa Alofa (31)

Nice to see Henry Thomas back although after ten months out - not sure how long he will last. The forwards really need a little more effective aggression as at times they lost out against that meaty Falcons pack. If Bath keep the ball away from the Wasps backline they could do well - big if though.

Pretty weak looking Quins side......not particularly optimistic about this one!
We are also starting Ben Glynn in the back row! I know he has covered there but was of the opinion he was back up 2nd row at best.
So, not the strongest starting 15 and little or no impact from the bench.....great.

Quins already looking threadbare in the pack.

Really not looking forward to this one now. Still the backs look good. Yes

Yeah you still have a good backline, although I don't know Aaron Morris.

Scottrf wrote:Yeah you still have a good backline, although I don't know Aaron Morris.

Will struggle to be worse than Brown has been so far.

Unfortunately I can see Tigers taking a kicking at home which will go down very badly after the home loss to Barf. The Chiefs looked in ominous form against Wasps whilst we battled well against an injury ravaged Quins pack.

Strong start from LI, 3 up.

Scottrf wrote:Yeah you still have a good backline, although I don't know Aaron Morris.

He's a pretty good all rounder, probably not as good defensively as Brown but younger and more energetic.

Your pack looks very physical, I think you'll probably do us in the scrums and in contact unless you have another off day

Hearing Solomena's scored pretty much off the kickoff for Sale.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Strong start from LI, 3 up.

Then Falcons turn up and run in two. First one a nice backline move on first phase and the second some PI magic.

Falcons have turned up! Beautiful passing....2 tries in 2 mins.

Nice timing Sam.

Great kick from Takalua.

What happened - we blinked and now are 17-3 down - seems LI defence is MIA again

Heaf2 wrote:What happened - we blinked and now are 17-3 down - seems LI defence is MIA again

Great for 10mins Head. Looks like 3 tries

Irish 9 lucky to not be in the bin, no way was he on his feet when trying to turn the ball over.

Are falcons brilliant on attack or Irish rubbish?

Jeez

Heaf2 wrote:What happened - we blinked and now are 17-3 down - seems LI defence is MIA again

First one is lack of communication, outside centre doesn't take control and call the outside man as his. Leaves your inside covering the run of two players and as such he only makes an arm tackle which isn't enough.

Second was Goneva stepping two tight five forwards and creating space for an offload.

First time I've heard a coach tell BT to bugger off lol

It's seems that unfortunately the only 2 players in the team that know how to defend are both injured ...

And to make matters worse Worcester are only 7 behind Sarries at the moment ...

Just reading about Scott Baldwin lol

nathan wrote:Are falcons brilliant on attack or Irish rubbish?

Seems a bit of both Nathan. Some of our offloading this season has been sublime, we've certainly stepped up a level. Not sure why though tbh, we've not got many new signings on show.

Worcester are going to have to go some to get relegated.

Kind of sums up our season so far. We started strong and had a good 15 minutes on top, and finished strong, dominating the last 10 but only have 3 points to show for it. When Falcons had their 15 minutes on top tgey rannin 3 tries. That's been every game for us so far. Any mistake we make gets punished but we're not punishing our opponents on the scoreboard.

Tough night.

Glaws have dominated territory and possession so far, yet have been utter gash. Our lineouts are pathetic and we couldn't catch a cold. An embarrassing 40 minutes.