Aviva Round 13

Friday
19.45 - Worcester vs Bath (BT Sport)
Worcester looking much harder to beat now and with Bath on 3 losses in a row they have a lot of work to do if they want to win away.

Saturday
15.00 - Leicester vs London Irish
Good news for Leicester is LI do not look like they are going to get many wins in the 2nd half of the season at home or away, so this would be a good time for Leicester to stop the rot.

15.00 - Saints vs Gloucester (BT Sport)
Gloucester riding high and Saints fallen off the horse. Saints have a lot to put right at home and have to do so against a side full of belief.

15.00 - Sale vs Quins
Sale have started to show the tough nut teams have come to expect. Quins will have to make sure their forwards dominate the collision and keep Sale on the back foot if they are to win.

15.00 - Newcastle vs Exeter
Newcastle enjoying 3 wins in a row and at home, however they face a team with 7 wins in a row and are the champs. Newcastle have a lot of work to do if they want to get it to 4 wins.

Sunday
15.00 - Wasps vs Saracens (BT Sport)
Saracens been looking ordinary by their standards but have got 2 wins on the trot, Wasps are at home and enjoying a winning run that only Exeter can look down on, should be a cracker to watch.

We always get beat off Exeter and I can't see that changing this weekend unless some rotation from the visitors.

Yup not a hope in hells chance of anything this weekend...

Away wins on Saturday methinks

LondonTiger wrote:Away wins on Saturday methinks

If that happens at Welford Road the Crumbie will be calling for blood. We could be looking for another head coach. Might help the three way relegation battle though we'd be getting close to that as well.

Quins had a good game last week so will be poopie at Sale......

formerly known as Sam wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Away wins on Saturday methinks

If that happens at Welford Road the Crumbie will be calling for blood. We could be looking for another head coach. Might help the three way relegation battle though we'd be getting close to that as well.

It should not be an LI win, but performances since October do not fill me with hope. Most of the people around me in the Robin Hood Stand will be resorting to gallows humour, bar a Mr Angry Character who will be lambasting the ref and Ben Youngs for the full 80.

Oh come on. Leicester are bad, but Irish are a Championship team.

Irish don't have enough in the forwards to trouble Tigers. With front foot ball Tigers backs will cause all kinds of problems.

Tigers will win comfortably. We should be more competitive with Arno Botha and Van Zyl in the squad, but will take them a bit of time to bed in. A LBP would be great for us but can't see it. Also see Worcester winning tonight which pretty much seals our fate.

Well ive gone..

Worcester
Leicester
Gloucester
Sale
Exeter
Wasps

Warriors:
Pennell; Heem, Willison, Mills, Adams; Olver, Hougaard; Waller, Singleton, Milasinovich, O'Callaghan (capt), Spencer, Denton, Lewis, Van Velze.

Replacements: Haupt, Bower, Kerrod, Phillips, Faosiliva, Dowsett, Shillcock, Humphreys.


Bath:
Watson; Jack Wilson, Joseph, Tapuai, Brew; Priestland, Cook; Obano, Dunn, Thomas, Phillips, Stooke, Garvey (capt.), Grant, Mercer.

Replacements: Van Vuuren, Noguera, Lahiff, Douglas, Bayliss, Fotuali'i, Burns, James Wilson.

Referee: JP Doyle.

Leicester Tigers (v London Irish, Welford Road, Saturday 3.00pm)

15 Jonny May
14 Nick Malouf
13 Manu Tuilagi
12 Matt Toomua
11 Adam Thompstone
10 George Ford (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi’i Mulipola
2 Tatafu Polota-Nau
3 Dan Cole
4 Mike Fitzgerald
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Mike Williams
7 Brendon O’Connor
8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements

16 Harry Thacker
17 Kyle Traynor
18 Greg Bateman
19 Harry Wells
20 Valentino Mapapalangi
21 Sam Harrison
22 Joe Ford
23 Mathew Tait



London Irish:
15 Greig Tonks, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 James Marshall, 9 Scott Steele, 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 6 Mike Coman (c), 7 Max Northcote-Green, 8 Ofisa Treviranus

Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma

Falcons for Exeter

1 Vickers
2 Cooper
3 Welsh
4 Green
5 Robinson
6 Welch (C)
7 Graham
8 Wilson

9 Young !!!???
10 Flood
11 Sinoti
12 Matavesi
13 Harris
14 Goneva
15 Hammersley

16 Lawson 17 Lockwood 18 S.Wilson 19 Olmstead 20 Latu 21 Takulua 22 Hodgson 23 Socino

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE NEWCASTLE FALCONS

15 Lachie Turner
14 James Short
13 Ian Whitten
12 Sam Hill
11 Olly Woodburn
10 Gareth Steenson
9 Nic White
1 Alec Hepburn
2 Jack Yeandle (capt)
3 Tomas Francis
4 Mitch Lees
5 Ollie Atkins
6 Dave Ewers
7 Matt Kvesic
8 Sam Simmonds

16 Elvis Taione
17 Carl Rimmer
18 Greg Holmes
19 Toby Salmon
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 Will Chudley
22 Henry Slade
23 Phil Dollman

all the match officials:

Friday 5 January

Worcester Warriors v Bath Rugby
Sixways, 7.45pm (BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 4K UHD)
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe and Paul Dix
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Citing Officer: Nick Wood

Saturday 6 January

Leicester Tigers v London Irish
Welford Road, 3pm
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Peter Allan and Simon McConnell
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Citing Officer: Grant Seely

Northampton Saints v Gloucester Rugby
Franklin’s Gardens, 3pm (BT Sport 3 and BT Sport 4K UHD)
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace and Wayne Falla
TMO: David Sainsbury
Citing Officer: Paul Hull

Sale Sharks v Harlequins
AJ Bell Stadium, 3pm
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady and Tim Wigglesworth
TMO: Keith Lewis
Citing Officer: Shaun Gallagher

Sunday 7 January

Newcastle Falcons v Exeter Chiefs
Kingston Park, 3pm
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Jamish Smales and John Meredith
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Citing Officer: Pete Larter

Wasps v Saracens
Ricoh Arena, 3pm
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Adam Leal and Greg Macdonald
TMO: Sean Davey
Citing Officer: Paul Burke

Billy back:

1. Mako Vunipola (133)
2. Christopher Tolofua (12)
3. Vincent Koch (31)
4. Maro Itoje (84)
5. Nick Isiekwe (21)
6. Michael Rhodes (62)
7. Schalk Burger (39)
8. Billy Vunipola (80)

9. Richard Wigglesworth (199)
10. Owen Farrell (164)
11. Chris Wyles (241)
12. Brad Barritt (208)
13. Duncan Taylor (110)
14. Nathan Earle (31)
15. Alex Goode (247)

16. Jamie George (185)
17. Richard Barrington (122)
18. Juan Figallo (74)
19. Will Skelton (18)
20. Jackson Wray (189)
21. Ben Spencer (118)
22. Alex Lozowski (45)
23. Sean Maitland (31)

Wasps team to play Saracens

15. Willie Le Roux
14. Christian Wade
13. Juan De Jongh
12. Gaby Lovobalavu
11. Marcus Watson
10. Danny Cipriani
9. Dan Robson
1. Ben Harris
2. Ashley Johnson
3. Jake Cooper-Woolley
4. James Gaskell
5. Kearnan Myall
6. James Haskell
7. Thomas Young
8. Nizaam Carr

Replacements:

16. Tom Cruse
17. Tom West
18. Marty Moore
19. Joe Launchbury
20. Guy Thompson
21. Joe Simpson
22. Rob Miller
23. Guy Armitage

SAINTS V GLOUCESTER TEAM NEWS
Aviva Premiership Rugby, Round 13
Franklin’s Gardens
Saturday 6 January, 2018
Kick-off: 3.00pm

SAINTS
15 Ahsee Tuala
14 Ben Foden
13 Rob Horne
12 Luther Burrell
11 Ken Pisi
10 Harry Mallinder
9 Nic Groom

1 Campese Ma’afu
2 Dylan Hartley (capt)
3 Jamal Ford-Robinson
4 Api Ratuniyarawa
5 Courtney Lawes
6 Tom Wood
7 Jamie Gibson
8 Teimana Harrison

Replacements:
16 Mikey Haywood
17 Francois van Wyk
18 Kieran Brookes
19 Michael Paterson
20 Ben Nutley
21 Cobus Reinach
22 James Grayson
23 Tom Stephenson

Injury update:
Tom Collins (foot), Alex Waller (arm), Jamie Elliott (hamstring), Rory Hutchinson (back), George North (knee), Piers Francis (concussion), Stephen Myler (ribs), and Nafi Tuitavake (calf) are unavailable for selection.

Gloucester Rugby:

15. Tom Marshall; 14. Jason Woodward, 13. Henry Trinder, 12. Andy Symons, 11. David Halaifonua; 10. Owen Williams, 9. Willi Heinz (capt); 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. James Hanson, 3. John Afoa; 4. Ed Slater, 5. Mariano Galarza; 6. Ruan Ackermann, 7. Jake Polledri, 8. Ben Morgan

Replacements:

16. Motu Matu'u, 17. Cameron Orr, 18. Fraser Balmain, 19. Tom Savage, 20. Lewis Ludlow, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Billy Twelvetrees, 23. Charlie Sharples

Unavailable for selection:

Tom Denton, Paddy McAllister, Ross Moriarty, Val Rapava Ruskin, Jacob Rowan

Great to see Billy V back!

Sharks:

15.James O'Connor; 14.Denny Solomona, 13.Sam James, 12.Rohan Janse Van Rensburg, 11.Byron McGuigan; 10.AJ MacGinty, 9.Faf De Klerk; 1.Ross Harrison, 2.Rob Webber, 3.WillGriffJohn, 4.Bryn Evans, 5.Andrei Ostrikov, 6.Cameron Neild, 7.Ben Curry, 8.Jono Ross (capt).

Replacements:

16.Marc Jones, 17.James Flynn, 18.Halani Aulika, 19. George Nott, 20.TJ Ioane, 21.WillCliff, 22.Mike Haley, 23.Will Addison.

I'll go:

Worcester
Leicester
Gloucester
Quins
Exeter
Saracens

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Great to see Billy V back!

Maro playing too. Happy days for England

Harlequins squad to face Sale Sharks (Harlequins appearances)

15. Ross Chisholm (83)
14. Charlie Walker (80)
13. Alofa Alofa (43)
12. Jamie Roberts (44)
11. Tim Visser (50)
10. Marcus Smith (16)
9. Danny Care (236)

1. Joe Marler (162)
2. Dave Ward (Captain, 132)
3. Kyle Sinckler (111)
4. George Merrick (74)
5. Ben Glynn (14)
6. James Chisholm (45)
7. Chris Robshaw (251)
8. Mat Luamanu (56)

16. Elia Elia (11)
17. Lewis Boyce (10)
18. Phil Swainston (6)
19. Charlie Matthews (152)
20. Renaldo Bothma (4)
21. Jono Kitto (4)
22. James Lang (12)
23. Henry Cheeseman (10)

Interesting Exeter back row...

6 Ewers
7 Kvesic
8 Simmonds

Power, pace and breakdown. If it had panned out, that back row could be starting for England...

Mike Brown missing for Quins.....
Backs replacements look a bit weak.

propdavid_london wrote:Mike Brown missing for Quins.....
Backs replacements look a bit weak.

They look unfamiliar, but that's not the same as weak. Quins have had better benches this season than they have for a while. Kitto is injury cover, but he's experienced and has been pretty good so far. Lang is not as exciting as Smith but a good backup, and Cheeseman can play centre, back three or back row (!)

That won't, of course, stop us from playing terribly for half the game, working our way back into contention and then ballsing it up at the end. For that is the Quins Away Way.

Lang has certainly had a lot of experience this season too.
Cheesman is more of an unknown - I would prefer Harry Sloan in there (presumably still injured) and we are still waiting for Saili to come back too. Any idea on what the status of Marchant is?

When everyone is fit there looks to be a fairly decent selection and bench.

Sadly I suspect you are right about the game prediction.

At least we haven't got Ward covering the back row anymore - and Both looks to be quite handy.

If our starting 15 can not get injured, and R Chisholm doesn't leak too many point with daft decision-making, we really should win this game.

Bench isn't up to much though, getting a bit thin....don't fancy us holding onto a slender lead...

I'm going....

Worcester
Leicester
Gloucester
Sale
Exeter
Saracens

Let's see the impact Alan Gaffney has at Saints in his first week at the club.  Hopefully, they get a good jolt at home.  On paper, Saints should be good.  Unfortunately, this season most games were not played on paper, so let's see.  Not that I am worried about Relegation, but it is starting to feel a bit like 2005-2006-2007 all over again, with that malaise spreading its ugly cloud over the club.  Saints need a few quick wins.  I think (hope) they get one here.  A few sugared-up espressos wouldn't hurt the team either.  

For the rest of the matches:
Worcester over Bath - Worcester looking pretty good and picking up steam.
Leicester over London Irish - London Irish looking like favourites for relegation all over again.
Sale over Quins - Sale look mediocre.  Quins look mediocre.  Sale are at home.
Exeter over Newcastle - improved Falcons playing rock solid Exe.  I think Exe grinds 'em down. But should be close.
Wasps over Saracens - Wasps turn up the heat and Saracens still just a bit off the pace.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Interesting Exeter back row...

6 Ewers
7 Kvesic
8 Simmonds

Power, pace and breakdown. If it had panned out, that back row could be starting for England...

Instead they have (arguably) 2 6N players starting in Francis and Simmonds, and one on the bench in Slade. Seems very low for a team leading the AP by a decent margin.

(Honorable mentions for Nowell and LCD - but all of the above are currently fringe players when everyone is fit)

lostinwales wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:Interesting Exeter back row...

6 Ewers
7 Kvesic
8 Simmonds

Power, pace and breakdown. If it had panned out, that back row could be starting for England...

Instead they have (arguably) 2 6N players starting in Francis and Simmonds, and one on the bench in Slade. Seems very low for a team leading the AP by a decent margin.

(Honorable mentions for Nowell and LCD - but all of the above are currently fringe players when everyone is fit)

Harry Williams the other tighthead will be the likely understudy to Cole. He normally starts for Chiefs in what's an area of strength.

Chiefs have a developing squad, mix of AP experience and young talent coming through. One of the best coached teams going. No superstar names but very impressive performances.

Well got that wrong.....huge win for Bath!

Let's hope you're wrong about Irish too - but somehow I doubt it

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Well got that wrong.....huge win for Bath!

Me too. Just when I thought Bath were starting to build their path to the dung pile, they play well. Hoping my predictions, especially Saints, are better..........

What a painful first 40. Do we have the most powderpuff pack in the league?

LondonTiger wrote:What a painful first 40. Do we have the most powderpuff pack in the league?

We miss Genge or anyone with power.

Scrum has been going OK, lineout is once again a worry but for the ref seems only interested in calling ours not straight.

May isn't doing too bad at fullback but let's be honest he's a winger.

Manu is quite

We continually go from side to side although we've started to straighten up a bit more

Good finish by may

Some good attacking play from the backs on show from Sale and Quins. Quins forwards have the edge though.

Care's kicking has been absolutely on fire this season...Walker should have stuck that one!

TMO far too involved in the Northampton-Gloucester game, a problem that is steadily engulfing the sport as the lines of authority get blurred.

Duty281 wrote:TMO far too involved in the Northampton-Gloucester game, a problem that is steadily engulfing the sport as the lines of authority get blurred.

There's a lot I'm unhappy with the reffing of the game. We need to sort out when a player is tackled and held.

How many stoppages for Irish...

Joe Marler probably just got himself banned for the 6N.

No arguments either....totally out of line. Shoulder to the head at a ruck.

Frak me, I'll be glad when Irish are relegated. Stoppage after stoppage

Poor from my ford

This ref is absolutely diabolical, why is he not playing any advantages?

An absolute Frak disgrace