Prem Round 6

Friday
Bath v Bristol - 19.45 (TNT Sports)
Sale v Newcastle - 19.45 (Prem TV)

Saturday
Leicester v Northampton - 15.05 (TNT Sports)
Harlequins v Saracens - 17.30 (TNT Sports)

Sunday
Exeter v Gloucester - 15.00 (TNT Sports)

Bit of a weekend of derby games.

East Midlands Derby should be good. Tigers desperately need a result in that one and should hopefully have all their big names back. Saints are in good form and will want a result at WR to keep momentum going as well as the obvious bragging rights.

Newcastle Falcons team v Sale Sharks (Friday, 7.45pm, Salford Community Stadium)

15 Ben Redshaw,
14 Louis Brown,
13 Zach Kerr,
12 Cameron Hutchison,
11 Iwan Stephens,
10 Josh Thomas,
9 James Elliott;

1 Phil Brantingham,
2 Bryan Byrne,
3 Murray McCallum,
4 Tim Cardall,
5 Kiran McDonald,
6 John Hawkins,
7 Guy Pepper,
8 Callum Chick (captain).

Replacements: 16 Charlie Maddison, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 John Kelly, 20 Josh Bainbridge, 21 Josh Barton, 22 Louie Johnson, 23 Oliver Spencer.

Not available for selection: Jamie Blamire, Mateo Carreras, Sam Clark, Sam Cross, Ben Douglas, Isaac Keller, Matias Moroni, Richard Palframan, Tom Penny, Adam Radwan, Sam Stuart, Marcus Tiffen, George Wacokecoke.

Sale Sharks:
15 Joe Carpenter,
14 Tom Roebuck,
13 Sam James,
12 Sam Bedlow,
11 Arron Reed,
10 Rob du Preez,
9 Gus Warr;

1 Bevan Rodd,
2 Agustin Creevy,
3 James Harper,
4 Cobus Wiese,
5 Jonny Hill,
6 Ernst van Rhyn,
7 Ben Curry (captain),
8 Dan du Preez.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Nye Thomas, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Alex Wills.

Referee: Adam Leal.

Ref: Christophe Ridley
TJs: Joe James & Greg MacDonald
TMO: Stuart Terhegee

Bath:
1 Beno Obano
2 Tom Dunn
3 Will Stuart
4 Fergus Lee-Warner
5 Charlie Ewels
6 Miles Reid
7 Sam Underhill
8 Jaco Coetzee

09 Ben Spencer
10 Finn Russell
11 Will Muir
12 Cameron Redpath
13 Ollie Lawrence
14 Joe Cokanasiga
15 Matt Gallagher

16 Niall Annett, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 GJ van Velze, 20 Alfie Barbeary
21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Max Ojomoh


Bristol:
1. Ellis Genge
2. Gabriel Oghre
3. Max Lahiff
4. Ed Holmes
5. Joe Batley
6. James Dun
7. Harry Thacker
8. Magnus Bradbury

09. Harry Randall (c)
10. Callum Sheedy
11. Gabriel Ibitoye
12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg
13. Virimi Vakatawa
14. Piers O'Conor
15. Rich Lane

16. Will Capon, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. Kyle Sinckler, 19. Josh Caulfield, 20. Dan Thomas
21. Kieran Marmion, 22. James Williams, 23. Max Malins

Very young Falcons backline for what could be a tough time against Sale, who at least appear to be resting a couple.

Harry Thacker at 7 appears again for Bristol. Bit of an odd move with him and Oghre similar players. It was a tactic I thought Tigers could have made more use of when we had Bateman as a hooker in the squad, big converted prop who was great in the tight and at scrum time but who's lineout wasn't great. Playing both at the same time would have provided some potential advantages.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Very young Falcons backline for what could be a tough time against Sale, who at least appear to be resting a couple.

Harry Thacker at 7 appears again for Bristol. Bit of an odd move with him and Oghre similar players. It was a tactic I thought Tigers could have made more use of when we had Bateman as a hooker in the squad, big converted prop who was great in the tight and at scrum time but who's lineout wasn't great. Playing both at the same time would have provided some potential advantages.

It is Sam...but how long do we persevere with Connon at 10 whos proving he just cant do it?

Some good young players....just get them playing. Hutchinson is a Scottish 12...a hard carrying direct 12...hopefully he can be the fulcrum for these lads to work around.

Same in the pack...Brantingham etc...

Geordie wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Very young Falcons backline for what could be a tough time against Sale, who at least appear to be resting a couple.

Harry Thacker at 7 appears again for Bristol. Bit of an odd move with him and Oghre similar players. It was a tactic I thought Tigers could have made more use of when we had Bateman as a hooker in the squad, big converted prop who was great in the tight and at scrum time but who's lineout wasn't great. Playing both at the same time would have provided some potential advantages.

It is Sam...but how long do we persevere with Connon at 10 whos proving he just cant do it?

Some good young players....just get them playing. Hutchinson is a Scottish 12...a hard carrying direct 12...hopefully he can be the fulcrum for these lads to work around.

Same in the pack...Brantingham etc...

It's the difference of drip feeding one or two into an otherwise experienced backline Vs going for one or two experienced players.

Falcons do need an injection of quality at half back. Hutchinson at 12 I think could work out well for you. The lock combo should be good, they are both the right age and experience to be solid in this league.

Yeah easy to do with a wealthy club though Sam. What have we got.

Gotta just go for it

Is Barbeary planning to audition for a remake of Boys From the Black Stuff?

That was a fantastic try from Bristol. Fantastic to see Ibitoye living up to his potential - really smart play - and Malins actually finishing something for once.

Poorfour wrote:That was a fantastic try from Bristol. Fantastic to see Ibitoye living up to his potential - really smart play - and Malins actually finishing something for once.

Thought the same thing. Not just making the pass, but reading the defense and making the right pass. All at full speed.

Geordie wrote:Yeah easy to do with a wealthy club though Sam. What have we got.

Gotta just go for it

Given your injuries not many options but Orlando could be there as well to provide two centres with experience etc.

That being said it appears to be four tries a piece so far.

Well that was much better.

The pack really came through...Brantingham was excellent as was Cadsall and McDonald...and MaCallum was having fun out there.

Thomas at 10 didn't have an easy night.. but he's young...see how he goes. Maybe Johnson will get a run next week.

Ben Redshaw won't be with us long..he'll be a wanted man. 18 year old and just so mature and quality.

How did Opoku-Fordjour go?

Did a couple of flashy sidesteps and not alot else.

The scrum go OK when he came on.

Chewing my way through the East Mids derby, one for the purist so far. Northampton must be infuriating to support, they seem to fall into all of the obvious traps. I could have told you before the game that Reffell would be hunting at the breakdown, but they aren't committing enough men to rucks or supporting their players in attack. Don't think much of Furbank's performance at the moment. It isn't like they are lacking fullbacks either.

Furbank is generally awful in the mental side of the game. Always seems to bottle things especially when he has time to think. The breakdown is the wild west with Dickson allowing everyone to go off their feet to compete and in that weather is always going to create a scrappy affair.

Interested to see how Pollock goes, he certainly doesn't seem to lack confidence!

Going backwards at the scrum isn't against the laws though Karl. He's such a bad ref.

No 7&1/2 wrote:The scrum go OK when he came on.

Yeah it was OK but I think Brantingham has gone off by then and he was playing well.

What an awful piece of refereeing there. Why not hold off the whistle and check. Dreadful

Why on earth didn't the ref let that play out? That would have been a Saints try!

Exactly. It's baffling that Dickson still gets Premiership games. He's so bad.

I think Saints are down to 13, but doesn't appear the commentators have clocked it.

Really nice try to end the match.

I only saw the final 30 minutes or so.

Tigers defensive alignment out wide is still falling apart so quickly. Really worrying for the season ahead. If teams get over the gain line or string about 3 phases together the defensive line just falls into disarray.

It seemed that Heyes and Cole did a number on the Waller's though.

I'll watch the match back in full before commenting much more as I missed most the game. I got it on as Tigers were banging away at the line, Cole came on, they got the try and Ethan Waller was binned. Then Tigers played a lot of astonishingly poor and outright dumb rugby against 13 men. Hanro's smart tap and go, strong finish giving them a cushion just as it looked like they'd hit self destruct.

From what little I saw it seemed that Mitchell continued his good England form. The amount that his kicking and defensive work in the back field has improved since being back with England is really impressive.

Freeman was strong as well. Really good player.

The guy that caught my eye most was Pollock though. Only 18-years-old and he didn't look out of place in a midlands derby against Wiese, Reffell and Liebenberg. He seems a hell of an athlete. Rapid for a back row and strong in contact. He just seemed to keep popping up exactly where he was needed in attack and defence. Definitely one I'll be keeping an eye on.

king_carlos wrote:I

The guy that caught my eye most was Pollock though. Only 18-years-old and he didn't look out of place in a midlands derby against Wiese, Reffell and Liebenberg. He seems a hell of an athlete. Rapid for a back row and strong in contact. He just seemed to keep popping up exactly where he was needed in attack and defence. Definitely one I'll be keeping an eye on.

Scottish Qualified apparently

Cumbrian wrote:Why on earth didn't the ref let that play out?  That would have been a Saints try!

The Pollock one? Last replay showed it came off his hand. Bit lucky for Dickson.

My observations were that both scrum halfs kicked pretty inaccurately with Mitchell probably edging it on the iffy kicking, Youngs walked the inaccurate passing contest though. Can't wait to have JVP back.

Freeman was arguably Saints best player, possibly helped by Guy Porter's abject display at 13 for Tigers.

Tigers pack did a number on Saints at the scrum and breakdown. Charging down Mitchell on several occasions, turning over the ball with impunity. Saints conceded a lot of penalties, some of which were easily avoidable especially the one that led to the Liebenburg score.

Tigers really should have put the game to bed more emphatically during the period where Saints were down to 13.

BigGee wrote:

king_carlos wrote:The guy that caught my eye most was Pollock though. Only 18-years-old and he didn't look out of place in a midlands derby against Wiese, Reffell and Liebenberg. He seems a hell of an athlete. Rapid for a back row and strong in contact. He just seemed to keep popping up exactly where he was needed in attack and defence. Definitely one I'll be keeping an eye on.

Scottish Qualified apparently

I'm expecting the England A vs Portugal A fixture to be used to tie a few players in that sort of scenario.

I'd seen Pollock at U18s but it's difficult to read to much there I think. Whereas at U20s teammates and opponents are all more filled out. That's the first I'd seen of him at senior level and he just kept impressing me. Repeatedly throughout the 30 minutes I watched I found myself thinking, "who's that absolute nuisance in that ruck", then a kid wearing 20 would roll out. He just kept being in the right place, doing good stuff and didn't look out of place physically considering he's 18. He gave me Jack Clifford vibes but seems to have more talent for hitting in the tackle.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Cumbrian wrote:Why on earth didn't the ref let that play out? That would have been a Saints try!

The Pollock one? Last replay showed it came off his hand. Bit lucky for Dickson.

My observations were that both scrum halfs kicked pretty inaccurately with Mitchell probably edging it on the iffy kicking, Youngs walked the inaccurate passing contest though. Can't wait to have JVP back.

Freeman was arguably Saints best player, possibly helped by Guy Porter's abject display at 13 for Tigers.

Tigers pack did a number on Saints at the scrum and breakdown. Charging down Mitchell on several occasions, turning over the ball with impunity. Saints conceded a lot of penalties, some of which were easily avoidable especially the one that led to the Liebenburg score.

Tigers really should have put the game to bed more emphatically during the period where Saints were down to 13.

The replay initially looked like it backed Dickson but there was no knock on. It was just a poor decision to blow the whistle when he could have let him jot down the ball and then checked. Its just another in a long line of issues with him.

No 7&1/2 wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Cumbrian wrote:Why on earth didn't the ref let that play out?  That would have been a Saints try!

The Pollock one? Last replay showed it came off his hand. Bit lucky for Dickson.

My observations were that both scrum halfs kicked pretty inaccurately with Mitchell probably edging it on the iffy kicking, Youngs walked the inaccurate passing contest though. Can't wait to have JVP back.

Freeman was arguably Saints best player, possibly helped by Guy Porter's abject display at 13 for Tigers.

Tigers pack did a number on Saints at the scrum and breakdown. Charging down Mitchell on several occasions, turning over the ball with impunity. Saints conceded a lot of penalties, some of which were easily avoidable especially the one that led to the Liebenburg score.

Tigers really should have put the game to bed more emphatically during the period where Saints were down to 13.

The replay initially looked like it backed Dickson but there was no knock on. It was just a poor decision to blow the whistle when he could have let him jot down the ball and then checked. Its just another in a long line of issues with him.

Hits his hand as it bounced through his leg. It was on the last angle. The initial bit when it bobbled in front of him was inconclusive.

The Tigers cover defence also stops because of the whistle so there's no certainty he puts it down. To be fair to Dickson on first viewing it did look like he knocked it on.

king_carlos wrote:

BigGee wrote:

king_carlos wrote:The guy that caught my eye most was Pollock though. Only 18-years-old and he didn't look out of place in a midlands derby against Wiese, Reffell and Liebenberg. He seems a hell of an athlete. Rapid for a back row and strong in contact. He just seemed to keep popping up exactly where he was needed in attack and defence. Definitely one I'll be keeping an eye on.

Scottish Qualified apparently

I'm expecting the England A vs Portugal A fixture to be used to tie a few players in that sort of scenario.

I'd seen Pollock at U18s but it's difficult to read to much there I think. Whereas at U20s teammates and opponents are all more filled out. That's the first I'd seen of him at senior level and he just kept impressing me. Repeatedly throughout the 30 minutes I watched I found myself thinking, "who's that absolute nuisance in that ruck", then a kid wearing 20 would roll out. He just kept being in the right place, doing good stuff and didn't look out of place physically considering he's 18. He gave me Jack Clifford vibes but seems to have more talent for hitting in the tackle.

He looks like he's got plenty of pace and reads the game well. He does need to fill out a bit but he's definitely one to be keeping an eye on.

I think you're spot on re the A team game Vs Portugal. I'm fully expecting us to cap Fin Smith in that one and perhaps add another cap to Coles with the SRU apparently interested in taking him up to Scotland with a view to converting him to SQ before the next world cup. Gus Warr or Nye Thomas from Sale perhaps. Depending on how desperate we are at tighthead would help Tigers to have Hurd in there.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Cumbrian wrote:Why on earth didn't the ref let that play out? That would have been a Saints try!

The Pollock one? Last replay showed it came off his hand. Bit lucky for Dickson.

My observations were that both scrum halfs kicked pretty inaccurately with Mitchell probably edging it on the iffy kicking, Youngs walked the inaccurate passing contest though. Can't wait to have JVP back.

Freeman was arguably Saints best player, possibly helped by Guy Porter's abject display at 13 for Tigers.

Tigers pack did a number on Saints at the scrum and breakdown. Charging down Mitchell on several occasions, turning over the ball with impunity. Saints conceded a lot of penalties, some of which were easily avoidable especially the one that led to the Liebenburg score.

Tigers really should have put the game to bed more emphatically during the period where Saints were down to 13.

The replay initially looked like it backed Dickson but there was no knock on. It was just a poor decision to blow the whistle when he could have let him jot down the ball and then checked. Its just another in a long line of issues with him.

Hits his hand as it bounced through his leg. It was on the last angle. The initial bit when it bobbled in front of him was inconclusive.

The Tigers cover defence also stops because of the whistle so there's no certainty he puts it down. To be fair to Dickson on first viewing it did look like he knocked it on.

Wasn't inconclusive at all. Would have been a try bit for Dicksons trigger happy reaction.

Exeter scrum looking really strong again. Painter and Tuima scrumming together on that side must be a nightmare. But a red would sort things for glaws...

Rubbish yellow - not on the ball carrier and both players involved in the contact were upright - rugby incident for me ...

Now Tempest is letting players play the ball on the ground ... he's losing the plot a bit

Great by Slade. Thw type of play we always hope for from him and rarely get.

No 7&1/2 wrote:Exeter scrum looking really strong again. Painter and Tuima scrumming together on that side must be a nightmare. But a red would sort things for glaws...

Just watching Painter closely....he's a monster in the scrum but he really doesn't offer much st all around the pitch...almost a passenger. .

Can you do that role at international level or do you need to offer more.

Why would Chiefs take that down - Tempest is doing them no favours at the moment

Exeter have had a lot of control and created little. You have say Glaws just about deserve the lead. Which they don't get due to the duff kick.

Not sure - Tempest has made some really bad calls to Exeter's detriment ...

I find him am extremely good ref. But I am comparing him to Dickson.

No 7&1/2 wrote:I find him am extremely good ref. But I am comparing him to Dickson.

Well that's a very low bar

Glaws miles offside at that ruck - but he pings Chiefs for questioning it - maybe get it right in the first place as it was blatant ...

Clements had a nice game. You just wonder how much the loss of Hodge has hampered a young Chiefs side in development.

Not as much as Tempest has hampered them ... he's been woeful

Little lucky to take it in the end but good come back.

Good character to take it despite Tempest almost handing it to Glaws with some poor calls

Was a pretty enjoyable watch. Once Exe blocked that clearance kick, I had a feeling they had another chance in them.

Monye racially abused after the match today.