Premiership Round 10

December already? What happened to 2021?

Friday 3rd 19:45
Gloucester v Bristol

Saturday 4th all 15:00
Exeter Chiefs v Saracens
London Irish v Newcastle Falcons
Northampton Saints v Bath
Worcester Warriors v Wasps

Sunday 5th 15:00
Leicester Tigers v Harlequins

Some good matchups this weekend.

Gloucester v Bristol

Gloucester: Evans; Rees-Zammit, Harris, Atkinson, Thorley; Hastings, Meehan; Rapava-Ruskin, Singleton, Gotovtsev, Clarke, Alemanno, Ackermann, Ludlow (capt), Morgan.

Replacements: Socino, Elrington, Ford-Robinson, Davidson, Reid, Chapman, Twelvetrees, Moyle

Bristol: Piutau; Fricker, Purdy, O'Conor, Leiua; Sheedy, Randall; Woolmore, Thacker, Afoa, Attwood, Joyce, Vui, D Thomas, Luatua (capt).

Replacements: Kerr, Y Thomas, Challenger, Heenan, Harding, Whiteley, Radradra, Morahan

Falcons for L.Irish

15 Mike Brown,
14 Tom Penny,
13 Max Wright,
12 Luther Burrell,
11 Adam Radwan,
10 Will Haydon-Wood,
9 Louis Schreuder;

1 Adam Brocklebank,
2 George McGuigan,
3 Trevor Davison,
4 Greg Peterson,
5 Sean Robinson,
6 Philip van der Walt,
7 Gary Graham (captain),
8 Callum Chick.

Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Rob Farrar, 20 Connor Collett, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Pete Lucock.

What's happened to Fearns?

Saints vs Bath

Northampton: Furbank; Freeman, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Skosan; Biggar, Mitchell; Waller, Matavesi, Painter, Ribbans, Moon, Wilkins, Ludlam (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: Fish, Auterac, Hill, Ratuniyarawa, Coles, James, Litchfield, Sleightholme.

Bath: De Glanville; Rokoduguni, Butt, Ojomoh, Muir; Cipriani, Spencer; Boyce, Dunn, Stuart, McNally, Ewels (capt), Ellis, Underhill, Bayliss.

Replacements: Du Toit, Vaughan, Rae, Williams, De Carpentier, Richards, Fox, Hamer-Webb

Irish (Falcons above)

London Irish: Parton, Rowe, Rona, van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins, Jackson, Phipps, Goodrick-Clarke, Creevy, Hoskins, Mafi, Simmons, Rogerson (capt), Pearson, Cracknell.

Replacements: Willemse, Dell, Parker, Nott, Gonzalez, White, Jennings, Williams.

Non Native American Chiefs vs Non Muslim Middle Easterners

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Slade, Whitten, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds, J Maunder; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Iosefa-Scott, Gray, Hill, Ewers, Armand, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Yeandle, Kenny, Nixon, Capstick, Kiresten, S Maunder, H Skinner, Hendrickson.

Saracens: Malins; Lewington, Lozowski, Tompkins, Daly; Goode (co-capt), Davies; M Vunipola, Lewis, Koch, Itoje, Isiekwe, Wray (co-capt), Earl, B Vunipola .

Replacements: Pifeleti, Mawi, Clarey, Swinson, McFarland, Christie, van Zyl, Morris.

formerly known as Sam wrote:What's happened to Fearns?

Must be injured Sam.

i really dont fancy our chances v Irish...thing it could be a long day at the office.

GeordieFalcon wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:What's happened to Fearns?

Must be injured Sam.

Just wondered if he'd left the field last weekend with an obvious injury. He'll be a loss at this time of year especially if it's a lengthy injury.

Its been confirmed now...hes injured

Some stats from this season...

Newcastle Falcons have scored 63% of their tries in the first half of games (12/19), the highest ratio of any team in the Premiership this season; they have scored the fewest second half tries in the league this term (7).

Newcastle Falcons have enjoyed 53.7% territory on average in 2021/22, only Leicester Tigers (53.8%) and Sale Sharks (56.9%) have had more territory in the Premiership this season.

George McGuigan has made 82 successful lineout throws for Newcastle Falcons, a joint-high in the Premiership this season, alongside Harlequins’ Jack Walker; however, he has also lost 12 throws, the most of any player in the league in 2021/22.

Worcs Wasps

Worcester Warriors: Shillcock; Nanai, Venter (co-capt), Beck, van der Merwe; Smith, Simpson; Sutherland, Annett, Judge, Garvey, G Kitchener, Hatherell, Hill (co-capt), Vailanu.

Replacements: Baldwin, Waller, Tyack, Batley, Lewis, Chudley, Searle, Lawrence.

Wasps: Watson; Kibirige, McHenry, Gopperth, Bassett; Umaga, Porter; Hislop, Frost, Toomaga-Allen, Fifita, Stooke, Shields (capt), Young, T Willis.

Replacements: Oghre, West, Millar-Mills, de Chaves, Carr, Barbeary, Wolstenholme, Minozzi.

Tom West and Barbaery back....thats a boost for Wasps!

A lot of returning players for Bristol as well. A few sides are looking stronger after the PRC break in fact.

Seeing the sides for Tigers vs Quins I'd hope for Tigers win at home. The starting XVs are both very strong but Quins having more absentees mean I'd hope for the Tigers bench will have more impact. Montoya being such a powerful hooker should hopefully be able to really pressure Walker.

The Quins backs should be absolute lethal ball in hand but I'd hope Tigers can cause some issues in defence with Marchant and Northmore missing. I rate Huw Jones very highly (hoped Tigers might sign him at one time in fact) but defence has never been Shugs strongest suit and it will be his first Premiership start for Quins.

It should be a cracker. Marler vs Cole, two excellent back rows, Youngs vs Care, Ford vs Smith. The Tigers back three with Steward and Nadolo is gigantic as well up against a smaller but extremely skilled back three for Quins with Green and Lynagh.

GeordieFalcon wrote:i really dont fancy our chances v Irish...thing it could be a long day at the office.

I hope you're right - Irish need to follow up the win from last week. I think it will be close.

Never a try...held up. What do the TMOs actually look at

Rees-Zammitt......is it me or is he just not quite reaching the heights he should be at the moment?

No 7&1/2 wrote:Rees-Zammitt......is it me or is he just not quite reaching the heights he should be at the moment?

He's very quick and pretty good under the high ball but I would like to see more footwork and invention from him. I just feel he should be more exciting a player.

LZR is only 20 still remember. He's already an excellent winger with all the time to improve. At the same age Jonny May was a squad player for Gloucester still being used at centre as well as wing. He was also a bit of a headless chicken at times. Anthony Watson was in his first season with Bath and playing well albeit struggling to score tries. JJ at the corresponding age had just been moved to centre by LI after impressing the season before on the wing.

LZR has 17 tries from 27 Prem apps and 5 tries in 10 caps for Wales. That's a strike rate of a 0.63 tries an appearance in the Premiership. For reference Jonny May's is 0.49.

There are parts of his game that need to develop as is the case for all 20-year-old players but he's already a fantastic winger and has a higher ceiling than most to keep getting better.

It's his game I find a bit underwhelming. Never been overly enthused by a simple strike rate. The defending for that kick was frankly uncommitted.

I agree with Carlos that LRZ is only a kid, barely out of nappies. Give him some time. He is certainly ahead of most of players his age.

To be fair, I also agree strike rate is only one measure amongst many....

Really worried about the quins game this weekend. Not least because if we lose qe'll never hear the end of it from Sam about Fords performance over Smith

Goode is better than both. Not sure if I mean Alex or Andy though.

I’m sure you mean Andy.  

Best England fly half.  

Ever.

doctor_grey wrote:I’m sure you mean Andy.  

Best England fly half.  

Ever.

To be fair, he was really a fly one and a half, I have see smaller locks

I want our pack (Saints) to go out with the attitude they had against Bris and dominate from the off, will not be so easy without Lawes, he is a class above any of them. Quick ball and that backline will do the rest.

Interesting to see that Mitchell has the most tries/try assists of any player in the Prem so far this season, seems to have learnt quite a lot from his time with the England camp.

Other good news, Sleights is back, that's really are making life difficult for the selectors now, Sleights, Freeman, Skosan, Collins, Naiyaravoro and that is without Gillespie (who I rate very highly) and Long-Martinez.

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:I’m sure you mean Andy.  

Best England fly half.  

Ever.

To be fair, he was really a fly one and a half, I have see smaller locks

A fly-prop

I once watched an England U20 match where Mallinder was playing at FH and was the biggest player on the pitch (Kitchener the younger was taller but on the bench)

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:I want our pack (Saints) to go out with the attitude they had against Bris and dominate from the off, will not be so easy without Lawes, he is a class above any of them. Quick ball and that backline will do the rest.

Interesting to see that Mitchell has the most tries/try assists of any player in the Prem so far this season, seems to have learnt quite a lot from his time with the England camp.

Other good news, Sleights is back, that's really are making life difficult for the selectors now, Sleights, Freeman, Skosan, Collins, Naiyaravoro  and that is without Gillespie (who I rate very highly) and Long-Martinez.

did you see the article from today’s Telegraph about Saints?Written by Will Greenwood. Very complementary. Seems like a jinx and a half to me.

yappysnap wrote:Really worried about the quins game this weekend. Not least because if we lose qe'll never hear the end of it from Sam about Fords performance over Smith

You're always going to compare players head to head games particularly when they are both vying for the same spot in the national team. It'll be interesting to see how Ford goes having not played in three weeks. The problem on the last occasion for Quins was mainly that they tried to play far to much in the wrong areas of the pitch. That is a common fault of Care's so I wonder whether Smith will take a stronger grip on proceedings as they had a very similar issue Vs Sale and suffered as a result. Smith certainly has it in the locker to go toe to toe with Ford in a tactical kicking game.

Plus Green Vs Steward at 15 should be a good watch for the contrasting styles.

Some Saracens backline!
And decent lock pairing

They're playing with a bar of soap today.

Never seen so many dropped balls

Wow Billy...

This ref is having a shocker

GeordieFalcon wrote:Wow Billy...

Needs to save his breath for running and stop wasting it on moaning at the ref doesn't he.

GeordieFalcon wrote:This ref is having a shocker

He's made some odd calls though I'm not agreeing with every observation from the BT commentators mainly because Austin likes to try and create discussion and Dayglo doesn't really know what's going on half the time.

To be fair on the Simmonds one under the post that wasn't in at the side but he also never supports his bodyweight competing for the ball nor makes any effort to lift the ball.

Falcons getting royally humped

It's a matter of time now before that new ruck block is outlawed. Perhaps we'll have to get to the 6 nations and England using it before its properly noticed. Completely legal but Healey is right its not to the spirit.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Falcons getting royally humped

Newcastle still in with a shout in the second half if they keep it tight. Looser game suits LI a bit more.

We shall see. I didnt have much confidence for today...

GF too soon to worry - don't forget LI like to make it interesting. They either go way behind from the start and then catch up or go way ahead and give up the lead to make us all sweat. Today it could be option 2.

Looks like BT picked the worst game to show.

No 7&1/2 wrote:It's a matter of time now before that new ruck block is outlawed. Perhaps we'll have to get to the 6 nations and England using it before its properly noticed. Completely legal but Healey is right its not to the spirit.

It is as much in the spirit as the caterpillar. The caterpillar slows the game down whilst the reverse caterpillar encourages the scrum half to use it quickly.

Slow play is the curse of the game so I would allow the new move but ban the caterpillar.

LI always a good watch these days - even if it's bad for the blood pressure some times

2 properly horrible clear outs aimed at Itojes knees there.

With my England hat on, I think that Nick Isiekwe has looked good in a rather poor/ technical game.

Hill absolutely blew that on the Sarries line, Simmonds was walking in.

Christ, Falcons being properly tuned.