Premiership Round 20

Here we go again

Saturday 12th March
Worcester Warriors v Exeter Chiefs 14:30
Leicester Tigers v London Irish 15:00
Newcastle Falcons v Saracens 15:00
Sale v Gloucester 15:00

Sunday 13th March
Bristol v Harlequins 15:00
Northampton Saints v Wasps 15:00

Can't believe how fast the season has gone. Round 20 already.....

Tough game for Irish tomorrow.
Think we can get something there though.

Doing really well this season.
Is the top 4 to much of an ask? We shall see.

Interesting day tomorrow father in law is a massive tigers fan.
Bragging rights and all that.

(Not to mention England v Ireland later on).

I think Irish are a bit of a weird team this season with those 4 draws.  From what I remember from those draws, they could have won most of them.  They certainly have the talent to be top 4.  I think Creevy is a great player and terrific leader. If he was with Saints, I can guarantee they would not be giving up games late as they seem to do on a weekly basis.

Newcastle Falcons team v Saracens (Saturday, 3pm, Kingston Park Stadium)

15 Mike Brown,
14 Adam Radwan,
13 George Wacokecoke,
12 Pete Lucock,
11 Nathan Earle,
10 Will Haydon-Wood,
9 Louis Schreuder;

1 Trevor Davison,
2 George McGuigan,
3 Mark Tampin,
4 Greg Peterson,
5 Rob Farrar,
6 Sean Robinson,
7 Josh Basham,
8 Callum Chick (captain).

Replacements: 16 Charlie Maddison, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Will Montgomery, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Max Wright.

Saracens: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo , 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Alex Goode (captain), 9 Aled Davies; 1 Richard Barrington, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 3 Vincent Koch, 4 Theo McFarland, 5 Tim Swinson, 6 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Andy Christie, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Dom Morris, 23 Alex Lewington.

Referee: Ian Tempest.

Leicester Irish. Arundell on bench for LI instead of the U20's

Leicester: Hegarty; Potter, Scott, Kelly, Nadolo; Burns, Wigglesworth; Whitcombe, Montoya, Heyes, Wells, Snyman, Liebenberg (capt), Reffell, Wiese.

Replacements: Clare, Van Wyk, Leatigaga, Green, Robinson, Van Poortvliet, Moroni, Ashton.

London Irish: Stokes; Cinti, Rona, Van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, Phipps (capt); Goodrick-Clarke, Creevy, Van der Merwe, Munga, Simmons, Cracknell, O'Brien, Tuisue.

Replacements: Cornish, Gigena, Hoskins, Coleman, Rogerson, Martin Gonzalez, O'Sullivan, Arundell.

Sale Gloucs

Sale: James, Roebuck, R. du Preez, Van Rensburg, Reed, MacGinty, de Klerk; Rodd, Ashman, Oosthuizen, JL du Preez, De Jager, Ross, Curry, D du Preez.

Replacements:Langdon, McIntyre, Jones, Wiese, Taylor, Quirke, Doherty, Metcalf.

Gloucester: Moyle, Carreras, Seabrook, Twelvetrees, Thorley, Barton, Meehan, Elrington, Socino, Balmain, Clarke, Alemanno, Reid, Ludlow, Ackermann.

Replacements: Walker, Ford-Robinson, O'Connor, Davidson, Clement, Chapman, Hillman-Cooper, Morgan.

Warriors Chiefs

Worcester: Heward; Humphreys, Morris, Beck, Hearle; Smith, Heinz; McCallum, Annett, Judge, Batley, G Kitchener, Hill (capt), Kvesic, Vailanu.

Replacements:Miller, Owen, Owlett, Forsythe, Clegg, Simpson, Searle, Doel.

Exeter: Hodge; Woodburn, Whitten, Hendrickson, O'Flaherty; J Simmonds, S Maunder; Hepburn, Innard, Williams, Kirsten, Armand, Ewers, Vermeulen, Grondona.

Replacements: Norey, Kenny, Schickerling, Witty, Capstick, J Maunder, H Skinner, Cordero

Bears Quins

Bristol: Lane; Leiua, Radradra, Frisch, Purdy; Sheedy, Green; Y. Thomas, Byrne, Armstrong, Attwood, Vui, Luatua (c), Jeffries, Harding.

Replacements: Kerr, Challenger, Afoa, Joyce, Heenan, Strang, Eden, O'Conor.

Harlequins: Green; Murley, Jones, Esterhuizen, Beard; Edwards, Care; Kerrod, Walker, Collier, Symons, Tizard, Lewies (c), Lawday, White.

Replacements: Riley, Garcia Botta, Louw, Hammond, Wallace, Steele, Northmore, Lynagh.

Saints Pests. Willis starts!

Northampton: Furbank; Skosan Dingwall (capt),Hutchinson Collins; Grayson Mitchell; Waller, Matavesi, Hill, Ribbans, Ratuniyarawa, Coles, Harrison, Augustus.

Replacements: Haywood, Iyogun, Carey, Nansen, Tonks, James, Francis, Sleightholme.

Wasps: Watson; Odogwu, Spink, Mills, Bassett; Umaga, Robson; West, Oghre, Alo, Cardall, Stooke, Shields (capt), J Willis, T Willis.

Replacements: Frost, Hislop, Toomaga-Allen, Fifita, Carr, Porter, Atkinson, Gopperth.

lostinwales wrote:Saints Pests. Willis starts!

Northampton: Furbank; Skosan Dingwall (capt),Hutchinson Collins; Grayson Mitchell; Waller, Matavesi, Hill, Ribbans, Ratuniyarawa, Coles, Harrison, Augustus.

Replacements: Haywood, Iyogun, Carey, Nansen, Tonks, James, Francis, Sleightholme.

Wasps: Watson; Odogwu, Spink, Mills, Bassett; Umaga, Robson; West, Oghre, Alo, Cardall, Stooke, Shields (capt), J Willis, T Willis.

Replacements: Frost, Hislop, Toomaga-Allen, Fifita, Carr, Porter, Atkinson, Gopperth.

Alex Waller breaks the premiership record for a prop with 231 appearances beating Duncan Bell's record and to add more, Dave Ribbans celebrates his 100th appearance for Saints.

Well done Mr Waller and at the tender age of 32 could we'll skip past 300 yet.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Well done Mr Waller and at the tender age of 32 could we'll skip past 300 yet.

Hey Sam, how many appearances did Graham Rowntree have for Tigers? Understanding not all were in the Premiership.

doctor_grey wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Well done Mr Waller and at the tender age of 32 could we'll skip past 300 yet.

Hey Sam, how many appearances did Graham Rowntree have for Tigers?  Understanding not all were in the Premiership.

398 for Rowntree. Coley has 280 odd. Not sure on the split between league and cups etc.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Well done Mr Waller and at the tender age of 32 could we'll skip past 300 yet.

Hey Sam, how many appearances did Graham Rowntree have for Tigers?  Understanding not all were in the Premiership.

398 for Rowntree. Coley has 280 odd. Not sure on the split between league and cups etc.

Jeez, I forgot about Dan Cole and the 100 or so years he has been playing at Tigers.  I doubt we will see many players getting even close to these numbers of games played.   200+ games in a career is huge.  Let alone at club level.  Great player.

Red for Irish after 28 mins - potentially ruining a good game

And now a yellow too - jeez ...

Red fair enough but officials dire everywhere else ... missed forward pass in build-up to try, offsides, suspect yellow

And now a quick tap allowed well in front of the mark - how do they allow Dickson on the pitch?

Now a high tackle with contact to head and no bend, not high force so there is mitigation but surely only down to yellow?

Heaf, did all questionable decisions go against Irish? None against Tigers? Just asking :p

Almost certainly not - with Dickson officiating it's a lottery ...and to be fair I didn't say they did - I was just giving some examples of his incompetence

PS A Tigers fan even said on the LI forum that Reffell was offside for his try and they didn't even check ...

Heaf wrote:PS A Tigers fan even said on the LI forum that Reffell was offside for his try and they didn't even check ...

He was onside.

Heaf wrote:Almost certainly not - with Dickson officiating it's a lottery ...and to be fair I didn't say they did - I was just giving some examples of his incompetence

Dickson is improving but is still employed above his competency level.

Not seen the game yet but sounds like a good one though much like the England one and stopped as a contest after the red card.

Heaf wrote:Almost certainly not - with Dickson officiating it's a lottery ...and to be fair I didn't say they did - I was just giving some examples of his incompetence

Have to agree, there are many of them. One of the worst refs I've seen.

Always prefer refs who corporate with players and explain what they want. I don't want to watch a game with 20 or 30 pens.

Margin_Walker wrote:

Heaf wrote:PS A Tigers fan even said on the LI forum that Reffell was offside for his try and they didn't even check ...

He was onside.

Fair enough - to be honest hadn't looked myself

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Heaf wrote:Almost certainly not - with Dickson officiating it's a lottery ...and to be fair I didn't say they did - I was just giving some examples of his incompetence

Dickson is improving but is still employed above his competency level.

Not seen the game yet but sounds like a good one though much like the England one and stopped as a contest after the red card.

Yes, the amount of red cards ruining games is a problem - at least three that I'm aware of yesterday. Undoubtedly the players need to learn but I'm left wondering if there's a better solution to the problem they are trying to fix ...

Heaf wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Heaf wrote:Almost certainly not - with Dickson officiating it's a lottery ...and to be fair I didn't say they did - I was just giving some examples of his incompetence

Dickson is improving but is still employed above his competency level.

Not seen the game yet but sounds like a good one though much like the England one and stopped as a contest after the red card.

Yes, the amount of red cards ruining games is a problem - at least three that I'm aware of yesterday.  Undoubtedly the players need to learn but I'm left wondering if there's a better solution to the problem they are trying to fix ...

The orange card makes sense for me. Twenty minute sin bin and then the offending player is replaced. Keep the red card for then acts of serious foul play like eye gouges etc the real nasty stuff.

Rona then would have left LI a man down for 20 before being replaced by Arundell which would have still negatively effected the team but maybe helped the spectle.

I'd go with that ...

Wasps lucky 1st try as replay 10 minutes later showed he dropped it - to be fair to the officials nobody else spotted it at the time either ...

Saints.....protected.....a.....lead.
Not sure how to celebrate. Perhaps with some nitrous oxide, a bottle of scotch, and a cheeseburger.

Was a bit of a roller-coaster that one - how many disallowed tries? Wasps also lucky to still go away with a LBP with young Grayson seemingly unable to hit a cow's a*se with a banjo ...

Oddly, Grayson, Jr has usually been pretty accurate as a kicker and has been criticised for not getting the attack moving.  Today it seems to have been the opposite.  

This was a weird game, a*ses and banjos not withstanding!

Well, I must be losing my mind as you said I would Doc, I had a weird dream that Saints actually saw out a match and defended a lead until the final whistle.

When I wake up do I need to go and see a Dr. doctor?

Heaf wrote:Red for Irish after 28 mins - potentially ruining a good game

Just seen it and it's a stone wall red card. Awful technique always wanting a big shoulder shot and no attempt to bend. Shame as up to that point it was an end to end game. Arundell looks a handful early doors but I suspect Sinfield will be rather annoyed with some of the Tigers defensive organisation and particularly Burns who's jumped out the line a couple of times.

Heaf wrote:Red fair enough but officials dire everywhere else ... missed forward pass in build-up to try, offsides, suspect yellow

Not a suspect yellow that was a rolling maul steadily moving towards the tryline which suddenly drops a metre short. It was cynical. Didn't see an obvious forward pass but the Prem TV coverage isn't great and doing a lot of replays.

Dickson is definitely making some odd calls.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Heaf wrote:Red fair enough but officials dire everywhere else ... missed forward pass in build-up to try, offsides, suspect yellow

Not a suspect yellow that was a rolling maul steadily moving towards the tryline which suddenly drops a metre short. It was cynical. Didn't see an obvious forward pass but the Prem TV coverage isn't great and doing a lot of replays.

Dickson is definitely making some odd calls.

My problem with that was that Dickson binned Coleman because he was the last guy to get up. If you watch the replay, he's 100% whiter than white in that maul. If you're determined to bin someone, why not use the TMO quickly and find someone who has actually done something wrong?

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Heaf wrote:Red for Irish after 28 mins - potentially ruining a good game

Just seen it and it's a stone wall red card. Awful technique always wanting a big shoulder shot and no attempt to bend. Shame as up to that point it was an end to end game. Arundell looks a handful early doors but I suspect Sinfield will be rather annoyed with some of the Tigers defensive organisation and particularly Burns who's jumped out the line a couple of times.

Yep had no problem with the red card call - really annoying though as apart from this match we'll be missing Rona for a few more and he's been one of our best players ...

Heaf wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Heaf wrote:Red for Irish after 28 mins - potentially ruining a good game

Just seen it and it's a stone wall red card. Awful technique always wanting a big shoulder shot and no attempt to bend. Shame as up to that point it was an end to end game. Arundell looks a handful early doors but I suspect Sinfield will be rather annoyed with some of the Tigers defensive organisation and particularly Burns who's jumped out the line a couple of times.

Yep had no problem with the red card call - really annoying though as apart from this match we'll be missing Rona for a few more and he's been one of our best players ...

I think your 12 van Rensburg has been one of the signings of the season, from pretty much unheralded to consistent very good performances. Probably on half of what Rona is as well. Might be a chance for Will Joseph at 13 as well.

I know the frustration of losing a key player to an unnecessary to red card...

Yep van Rensburg has been great too - it's encouraging the way the squad has developed this year and we finally have some depth - hopefully we'll keep most of them together for a while yet ...

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:Well, I must be losing my mind as you said I would Doc, I had a weird dream that Saints actually saw out a match and defended a lead until the final whistle.

When I wake up do I need to go and see a Dr. doctor?

NO!!!! You need to go back to sleep and maybe Saints will win another one. You're really the only hope we have. For the last few weekends before each match I would sacrifice a virgin chicken but no luck.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60754388


Leicester are cheats then.

Yes just seen that...tut tut naughty boys.

Does this cover the year they just beat us for relegation?

16-20. I think they'd take the slap on the wrists.

No 7&1/2 wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60754388


Leicester are cheats then.

But very much less cheats than Sarries and am I pushing it to say they "were" cheats as they haven't been for ages.

Oh and can we call them Poopie cheats too?

Ha. Like being a bit pregnant.

In fairness, they cheated in the past. They have to accept that and they have.

Reading on twitter though some people want them relegated which is crazy.

To be fair the fact they cheated and were still wholly cr@p is the laughable part....