Aviva Premiership Round 16

Saturday 24 February

14:00 Exeter v Northampton
Exeter have yet to win in the premiership in 2018 and having been well clear at the Top as 2017 drew rto a close, now face a three way fight for the home spots in May's play-offs. Injury issues at hooker, and missing other key players to both England and injury, they need to halt their losing streak. While Northampton's form (or commitment?) has improved under Gaffney surely they are the kind of team that Chiefs would wish to face right now?

14:30 Bath v Sale
The only consistency with Bath is their inconsistency. Sale will be looking to secure a rare away win that could move them above their hosts and into the top 6. Sale should be much closer to full strength than Bath and that could play a major part in the final result, even if I still feel that the Sale pack is too lightweight to grind out wins on the road.

14:30 Gloucester v Wasps
After a shaky start to the season which saw them down near the bottom after 4 rounds, Wasps have markedly improved. Gloucester are starting to look like the team of old. Coach Ackermann is starting to build a gnarly pack that can squeeze out all but the best, and son Ackermann leads a combative back row. Injuries in the backs may hamper them but Wasps faltering display against Chiefs and growing shortage of midfield players should provide some comfort.

14:30 Harlequins v Newcastle
Harlequins have conceded more points than any other team in the Premiership so far this season. Perhaps last weeks game was a microcosm of their season as for almost an hour they were the more cohesive team and looked very solid in defence. I was starting to feel that Tigers could play all weekend and not create a chance, then suddenly Leicester score two tries in less than two minutes pretty much out of nothing. Throw in the intercept try right at the end and they had conceded over 30 points again. Missing key players with England (and Horwill injured?) will seriously hamper them against a Falcons side that may still be struggling to score points consistently (only Wuss, just, and LI have scored less points) but are in the Top 6 on merit.



Sunday 25 February

13:00 London Irish v Worcester BT Sport
The home side are now 16 points behind their visitors. Probably already doomed, but a home win would at least pause the opening of the relegation trapdoor. Too often though this season they have been plucky losers, and that will probably be the pattern of this game.

15:30 Saracens v Leicester BT Sport
Both sides missing a fair few key players. Saracens though have a strength in depth to cope, while Tigers continue to play like a bunch of guys who met in the car park pre-game for the first time.

It's the right time to play Exeter, maybe a good performance will see us within 20 points.

I'll go Exeter, Bath, Wasps, Newcastle, Worcester, Saracens.

I am going Worcester as the only away winner.

LondonTiger wrote:I am going Worcester as the only away winner.

I am inclined to agree, although as Quins have become the new Gloucester in being consistently inconsistent, I could easily see Newcastle winning that game.

I think quite a few away teams will start as favourites this time round.

Wasps,Worcester and Newcastle


Quins will still be missing their spine.

Agree with your predictions Scottrf.

Wasps picked up a few more injuries they could have done without last weekend. If Glaws turn up their pack should be able to cause quite a few problems for Wasps. Containing that Wasps backline will always be a problem but Cips limped off last weekend and he's the one that really makes it tick.

I wonder if we beat quins again we'll see the same response for a small section of the Quins support. Ie Embarrassing, pathetic...how can we lose to the falcons!

Same as Bath last week.

GeordieFalcon wrote:I wonder if we beat quins again we'll see the same response for a small section of the Quins support. Ie Embarrassing, pathetic...how can we lose to the falcons!

Same as Bath last week.

The Falcons were the whipping boys for quite a while. Some people are slow in realising that's no longer the case.

Bath also took quite a kicking. Can't be happy with that given the expectations of top 4 that they have.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:I wonder if we beat quins again we'll see the same response for a small section of the Quins support. Ie Embarrassing, pathetic...how can we lose to the falcons!

Same as Bath last week.

The Falcons were the whipping boys for quite a while. Some people are slow in realising that's no longer the case.

Bath also took quite a kicking. Can't be happy with that given the expectations of top 4 that they have.

Weve been sh1te for 20 years Sam...thoroughly cr@p.

Recently however we're not so easy to beat. And whilst it is only a small minority...it just riled me a little.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:I wonder if we beat quins again we'll see the same response for a small section of the Quins support. Ie Embarrassing, pathetic...how can we lose to the falcons!

Same as Bath last week.

The Falcons were the whipping boys for quite a while. Some people are slow in realising that's no longer the case.

Bath also took quite a kicking. Can't be happy with that given the expectations of top 4 that they have.

Weve been sh1te for 20 years Sam...thoroughly cr@p.

Recently however we're not so easy to beat. And whilst it is only a small minority...it just riled me a little.

Take the opportunity to enjoy rubbing it in. Certainly less fun when you're SH!TE like Tigers are currently.

Leicester Tigers (v Saracens away, Sunday 3.30pm)

15 Telusa Veainu

14 Adam Thompstone

13 Manu Tuilagi

12 Gareth Owen

11 Jonah Holmes

10 Matt Toomua (c)

9 Sam Harrison

1 Greg Bateman

2 Tatafu Polota-Nau

3 Logovi’i Mulipola

4 Mike Fitzgerald

5 Graham Kitchener

6 Mike Williams

7 Brendon O’Connor

8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements

16 Tom Youngs

17 Michele Rizzo

18 Pat Cilliers

19 Harry Wells

20 Luke Hamilton

21 Harry Simmons

22 Joe Ford

23 Mathew Tait

Wells has won to player of the month awards and is still on the bench behind Fitzgerald who hasn't been in form for a season and a half. Harrison struggling for form is kept in despite young Simmons looking electric. Ford kept on the bench despite only covering one position badly when we have two youngsters who can cover more of the backline as well as 10 but are again overlooked.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Take the opportunity to enjoy rubbing it in. Certainly less fun when you're SH!TE like Tigers are currently.

Would this be a bad time to mention we're thoroughly enjoying having Cockers up at Edinburgh, he's doing a cracking job for us

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Richard Barrington, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Juan Figallo, 4 Dominic Day, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 6 Calum Clark, 7 Schalk Burger, 8 Jackson Wray
Replacements: 16 Scott Spurling, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Max Malins, 23 Rotimi Segun

Sarries are missing a few but will still get the 5 points at home with that team.

TheMildlyFranticLlama wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Take the opportunity to enjoy rubbing it in. Certainly less fun when you're SH!TE like Tigers are currently.

Would this be a bad time to mention we're thoroughly enjoying having Cockers up at Edinburgh, he's doing a cracking job for us

He's a good coach but he was too comfy at Tigers. Needed to go and freshen things up a bit for his own good and ours. He ended up in a position where all the other coaches had played for him and where any coach who hadn't disagreed with him was ousted quickly. The problem is our board then bodged the appointment and brought back a coach who had accomplished next to nothing after leaving and so we've stagnated further.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:I wonder if we beat quins again we'll see the same response for a small section of the Quins support. Ie Embarrassing, pathetic...how can we lose to the falcons!

Same as Bath last week.

The Falcons were the whipping boys for quite a while. Some people are slow in realising that's no longer the case.

Bath also took quite a kicking. Can't be happy with that given the expectations of top 4 that they have.

Weve been sh1te for 20 years Sam...thoroughly cr@p.

Recently however we're not so easy to beat. And whilst it is only a small minority...it just riled me a little.

Take the opportunity to enjoy rubbing it in. Certainly less fun when you're SH!TE like Tigers are currently.

Ah not my style to gloat...certainly not with our standards through the years.

Falcons close to injury free.

Newcastle Falcons team to face Harlequins (Saturday, 2.30pm, Twickenham Stoop)

15 Simon Hammersley
14 Vereniki Goneva
13 Chris Harris
12 Josh Matavesi
11 Sinoti Sinoti
10 Toby Flood
9 Michael Young

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

Replacements
16 Santiago Socino
17 Sam Lockwood
18 Trevor Davison
19 Sean Robinson
20 Callum Chick
21 Sonatane Takulua
22 Joel Hodgson
23 Maxime Mermoz

Harlequins team to play Newcastle Falcons (Harlequins appearances)

15. Aaron Morris (16)
14. Charlie Walker (82)
13. Joe Marchant (50)
12. Jamie Roberts (48)
11. Alofa Alofa (49)
10. Marcus Smith (21)
9. Jono Kitto (8)

1. Mark Lambert (227)
2. Joe Gray (146)
3. Kyle Sinckler (115)
4. Ben Glynn (18)
5. James Horwill (Captain, 51)
6. Luke Wallace (156)
7. Dave Ward (137)
8. James Chisholm (52)

16. Charlie Piper (7)
17. Cameron Holenstein (3)
18. Will Collier (120)
19. Charlie Matthews (158)
20. Archie White (16)
21. Dave Lewis (11)
22. Demetri Catrakilis (2)
23. Tim Visser (55)

Glaws

15. Jason Woodward; 14. Charlie Sharples, 13. Billy Twelvetrees, 12. Mark Atkinson, 11. Henry Trinder; 10. Billy Burns, 9. Callum Braley; 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. Richard Hibbard, 3. John Afoa; 4. Ed Slater (capt), 5. Mariano Galarza; 6. Jake Polledri, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ruan Ackermann

Replacements:

16. Motu Matu'u, 17. Paddy McAllister, 18. Fraser Balmain, 19. Tom Savage, 20. Freddie Clarke, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Matt Scott, 23. David Halaifonua

Wasps
15. Willie Le Roux
14. Christian Wade
13. Juan De Jongh
12. Jimmy Gopperth
11. Josh Bassett
10. Rob Miller
9. Dan Robson
1. Matt Mullan
2. Tom Cruse
3. Jake Cooper-Woolley
4. James Gaskell
5. Will Rowlands
6. Ashley Johnson
7. Thomas Young
8. Guy Thompson

Replacements:
16. TJ Harris
17. Simon McIntyre
18. Marty Moore
19. Kearnan Myall
20. Ben Harris
21. Joe Simpson
22. Brendan Macken
23. Owain James

formerly known as Sam wrote:Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Richard Barrington, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Juan Figallo, 4 Dominic Day, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 6 Calum Clark, 7 Schalk Burger, 8 Jackson Wray
Replacements: 16 Scott Spurling, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Max Malins, 23 Rotimi Segun

Sarries are missing a few but will still get the 5 points at home with that team.

Not as convinced of the 5 pointer as you. I think Sarries will win by 10.

They've been grounding out wins during the IW.

Plus the bench isn't particularly strong, an early injury could shake things up.

In the IW, funny things can happen.

Sarries to win by three full scores. Sure the bench looks weak, but they will be out of sight before any replacements are made.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

GeordieFalcon wrote:I wonder if we beat quins again we'll see the same response for a small section of the Quins support. Ie Embarrassing, pathetic...how can we lose to the falcons!

Same as Bath last week.

The Falcons were the whipping boys for quite a while. Some people are slow in realising that's no longer the case.

Bath also took quite a kicking. Can't be happy with that given the expectations of top 4 that they have.

Weve been sh1te for 20 years Sam...thoroughly cr@p.

Recently however we're not so easy to beat. And whilst it is only a small minority...it just riled me a little.

Enjoy it mate, Quin's are crap now and some fans can't get their heads around it. You boys look too strong for us this weekend again sadly!

Great to finally see the Cat back

The prem is now showing what a strong head coach can do. Looking in at results like bath etc the players in opposition to Newcastle are probably rated more highly but the coaches vice versa (in general).

Gloucester showing that.

Definite home win for Gloucester, even if Danny was playing it would be a tough call to see us winning.
Shame Armitage didn't make the 23, his size would have benefited us with Goppeth at 10. I reckon Goppeth will move across at some point.
It will be a cracking game, even if we lose. Gloucester by 10+

kingelderfield wrote:Definite home win for Gloucester, even if Danny was playing it would be a tough call to see us winning.
Shame Armitage didn't make the 23, his size would have benefited us with Goppeth at 10. I reckon Goppeth will move across at some point.
It will be a cracking game, even if we lose. Gloucester by 10+

Rob Miller is at 10 and Gopperth at 12. An interesting call, signals that they don't back Gopperth to get the backline moving. Also gives a chance to Miller to stake a claim with no backup 10 confirmed for next season.

Well, that provided some much needed rugby cheer for the weekend. Bonus point win away at sarries

Well done Falcons.

I expected you boys to win but you trounced us. Ho hum, can't day I'm enjoying this role reversal tbh

A last minute decision saw me head down to Barnet, and the effort we saw today, especially from the pack, was light-years ahead of the last few months. If that is the effect of Bakewell then he has been a great signing.

We thought the premiership would be competitive this year, and it has been. Overall, though, you'd have to say it has happened because a lot of teams have been playing worse than expected.

Yea it does seem like a lot of teams are going through slumps and others are all over the shop.

Feels like the 12-16 seasons were the top of a curve and things have gone down hill slightly these last two seasons.

The league is exciting this season, if nothing else for the unpredictability - however it does feel as if the quality of the sides is not great. I guess the performances in the Champions Cup would support this.

Saracens decided to copy England and Leicester decided to be more like Scotland this weekend....


It's interesting how my comment of early injury could shake things up came to fruition.

I also said in the IW funny things can happen and so it proved.


Only crumb of comfort was Malins 2 very classy tries. Hopefully he'll continue to develop.

It wasn't just injuries though. That was still a very experienced Saracens team and for 40 minutes they looked as though they would rather be at home watching "Say yes to the dress" (or some other inane "reality" show).

At least against Clermont, Sarries looked as if they wanted to play. Yesterday they were nigh on apathetic, slow to organise, weak in contact and disinterested in defence. In fact a pretty good Leicester impression based on our form this season.

Wasn't just injuries agreed but losing Clark and Vailanu did not help.

Especially when Saracens were struggling at the breakdown.

Yes there was sufficient experience on the pitch to expect more from the players but also credit must go to Leicester.

Which game vs Clermont? They rolled over at Allianz Park.


Earle was the worst player on the pitch by some distance. Shirking tackles and butchering 2 tries.

Manu looked good for Tigers.

Interestingly I thought - Manu was largely anonymous, though the two things he did do were rather influential, though I have no idea why he passed to Holmes potentially risking losing that 4th try.

Depends what you like in a player.

Burger put in lots of work but a lot of it was huff and puff. Made lots of carries but didn't seem to make much ground if any, made plenty of tackles but Sarries' defence was a whole was poor.

Saracens didn't have many people making line breaks or getting over the gain line.

Manu's overall workrate might have not been high but I felt he his touch of class helped put Leicester out of sight.

For Saracens, Malins offered that X factor off the bench, too little too late but still promising.

I think in a team you want a balance of X factor and workrate but Saracens error count was too high.


Isiekwe continues to impress me - have to factor in he's only 19 and I felt he was one of Sarries better players.


An in form, fully fit Manu is a deadly player. It's just obviously he's struggled injury wise in the last few years.

The thing with Manu is every game he has gotten betetr now.

Towards the end against Quins he started running harder into contact, and this week he was doing that most game, also the fact he did it on a pitch he has had previous injury problems with and looked comfortable is a massive plus.

2 clean breaks, 7 defenders beaten, 53 meters run, 1 try and 1 try assist. Not bad considering it's the first time he has played 5 games in a row for a while. Needs to work on defence more. Hopefully Eddie leaves him alone till at least the AI's.

How bad was Earle....how good was Mallins!

Manu's involvements were positive. He wasn't involved enough but hopefully that'll come as he plays more games and shakes off the rust, baby steps for him which is frustrating but having been out so long we'll have to be patient.

A cohesive display from out forwards was very welcome viewing. Plenty still to work on but after the turgid garbage we've seen this season it's a good step forward. For too png we've been less than the some of our parts where as this was more the expected level from the players we have. Saracens looked tired but we dominated the first half in excellent fashion.

I would comment about things here, but all I will do is b!tch and moan about Saints losing to Exe when up by 13 with 10 to go. My highly trained and detailed match analysis: Rat Turds.

p.s. Happy to see Newcastle playing well. It has been quite a while and they are starting to look real good.