[DavenportSharky]

Referee: Adam Leal.

Assistant referees: Simon Harding, Peter Allan.

TMO: Stuart Terheege.

Time keeper: Paul Box.

[DavenportSharky]

Reed tattoo
Warr girlfriend
Jonny Hill was at Genge’s wedding
Sam James to be offered new contract
TT fit again
Thoughts on Falcons

[DavenportSharky]

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.

[DavenportSharky]

https://www.salesharks.com/wp-content/u ... ONS-SQ.jpg

[DavenportSharky]

Sale Sharks Starting XV:  

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 ©, 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.  

[Surbiton_Shark]

Like the look of our team - definitely some rotation

Biggest danger is underestimating Falcons - we've done that before..and paid the price

[Olyy]

Interesting side,

Asher covering tighthead from the bench - still no sign of Joe Jones?
Hopefully Harper can start getting back on track as he's getting more game time

Good to see Curtis back in the 23, hopefully he can get some game time

[SSR]

I also worry about underestimating the opposition. Their back three are very highly rated youngsters. We have seen what free running full backs can do in previous games.
I don't recognise many of their scrum but they managed a close range try against Sarries.
I worry a bit about our replacement props and hope the ref does not take against us.
Is Schonert injured ? What about McIntyre? That said I am not unhappy about giving our
U20s prop a run out and hope Wills gets to stretch his legs.
Just hope the changes don't spoil the cohesion we are building.

[dinogyro]

I think they will miss Carreras. He seems to be a spark to a lot of the good stuff they do. And he seems to be everywhere.

[RinTin]

I don't think it is underestimating Newcastle to say this should be a comfortable win.

We are at home, we are at 90% full strength starters, we are second in the league and NC are fielding a weakened and inexperienced team.

I agree with many that NC are a bogey team (thinking December 22), but we should be comfortably winning this.

[LJK]

A lot of talk by Alex etc about the threat of Falcon's back three, presumably before their team announced. I don't know many of the names on their list at all but apparently the announced backs are also potent, but surely can't be on the scale of Radwan and Carreras.? Hope so, as games v N'cl have often been tough before.
Unbelievably the match marks the one third way through the season mark and it would be good to stay in the top 3 at this mark, with 3 very hard games to follow before the half way point.

[dinogyro]

One third of the way through? That went quick! Not enough games with only ten teams from my selfish viewpoint.

[Halifaxshark]

I don’t know any of the Newcastle 23, apart from Chick at 8.

The unavailable list for them is quite extensive!

[Flumpty]

I don’t know any of the Newcastle 23, apart from Chick at 8.

The unavailable list for them is quite extensive!

I have a real soft spot for the Budgies and they are the 2nd team whose result I look for each weekend.
Except for a while when Dean Richards didn't release the details, they always seemed to have a long list of players unavailable (usually through injury) - as an aside, they always seemed to have a huge squad !

[Olyy]

Looks like the game's on the Discover+ app!

Good job I saw this mentioned elsewhere, was about to buy the PRTV pass on my lunch break

[RinTin]

Well spotted!

Just been on the app - to find it don't click on TV Guide, instead click on Sports then scroll across.

[Beardedshark]

That is an excellent spot. Unfortunately I’m out at 7.30, obviously I can’t record it, do we know if it is available later on some form of catch-up I could watch later tonight or do I have to wait for it to be available on the prem rugby site?

[Halifaxshark]

Joe Jones playing for Coventry tomorrow.

[Olyy]

Joe Jones playing for Coventry tomorrow.

Just spotted that as well, very strange

[HerefordShark]

Looks like the game's on the Discover+ app!

Good job I saw this mentioned elsewhere, was about to buy the PRTV pass on my lunch break

I just went to buy my pass, but fair play to PRTV, they did warn it's being broadcast on discovery+ before taking my money!

[Olyy]

Focus and discipline has been poor this first 20

Carpenter a joy to watch on attack

[RugbyMarvel]

Biggest improvement this year, our hands.

Offloads better judged and executed. Passing in general crisper. Everyone looks to be able to move the ball on well whilst moving at pace.

Started a bit slow today in general but then felt our way into the game and have started to manage it well. Reed electric

[Bucks1861]

That kick off by RdP and then the debacle to give away the first try. Three (or four?) consecutive penalties for the second try for Newcastle. Just 🫣


But thereafter good work. Good hands. Lovely 4th try for Aaron

2nd half come on boys.

[Olyy]

With Ross' form do we bring Joe Jones back from Coventry and put Asher back to loosehead?
It's just but working with him as third choice

[Olyy]

Defence not good enough tonight

[Bucks1861]

Mistakes for two more tries. 🫣

[Olyy]

Asher on and we win a scrum penalty on his side
Looking good ball in hand too

Very promising

[Shireshark]

5 points are 5 points but that was hugely uninspiring.

[Olyy]

Kicking still a concern, though Rob nails the final one of the night
Another full 80 for Gus as well, he's gonna be bollocksed by the time Raffi is back

Very happy with the 5pts, and there was some lovely bits of attack in there, but focus/intensity looked off and defence was pretty poor

[ale shark]

40-22 FT

Top and positive points difference!

[LJK]

Harper has begun to feel a safe bet and seems less scrum penalty prone than Schonert (not that there were that many scrums tonight). His even younger replacement looked the business too in his short appearance... great steps to evade a tackle.
Harrison just looks off the pace now. Don't understand why so often the front row are changed after only 5 mins or even less of the 2nd half. Tonight as soon as LCD and Harrison came on, after about that time, it started to go wrong for 30 mins of squeaky bum time as N'cl scored their 2 tries. Unless injuries happen why not let them go to the usual 70/75 mins mark to maintain the cohesion,?
Agree that Carpenter is something very special at just 22 years old. He is the kind of player that generally makes great forward progress and tonight showed some good offloading in tackles too.

[Beardedshark]

That is an excellent spot. Unfortunately I’m out at 7.30, obviously I can’t record it, do we know if it is available later on some form of catch-up I could watch later tonight or do I have to wait for it to be available on the prem rugby site?

It appears you can. Full match available on discovery app

[LJK]

Think the stress of the squeaky bum time watching Sale again losing a healthy lead in the 2nd half, affected my brain. When asking above about replacing the forwards so early in the 2nd half, my maths went wrong! Of course the generally regular sort of time they are changed is about 55/60 mins.

[ageinghoody]

Something that happened again last night has puzzled me for sometime and I wonder if anyone more educated in the dark arts of the scrum can enlighten me.

In yesterday's example Harper was penalised for not pushing straight. From my view the reason was that the other side of the scrum had collapsed, was anchored to the ground, and so everyone still on their feet was pivoting around that fulcrum. It would appear impossible to keep moving in a straight line when being dragged down by deadweight on one shoulder.

I recall a few similar previous examples, most memorably during the World Cup but also last season. I'm getting the impression that, more often than not, the clearly dominant pack in a particular scrum gets penalised in this way. So, is everyone else supposed to stop pushing the instant one side of the front row goes down?

[stevene]

reflecting on Friday few comments:

Resting a few and Bath having a tough slog vs Briz should help next week.
Regardless of the result a step up in performance is needed next Friday.
Its good to realise what we miss when Ford isnt at 10. RDP is great but Ford just has that extra feel for the game at 10.
Interesting to see Harper get the start and I suspect this was a decent game for him to start. I suspect Schonert is still well ahead of him in the pecking order but did less wrong than in other games. However did get try line fever getting held up over the line when he shouldnt really have taken that option.
Opoku-Fordjour looks quite the prospect. Clearly a naturally strong individual (more so than his physical appearance at this age) and quite the potential talent. Not sure his scrummaging at 3 (think he is also a LH?) is entirely legal but often that gets missed when you get the shove on. I also thought Bamber looked quietly effective and impressive when he came on again.
Reedy continues to play with confidence although he got turned over when he shouldnt which led to one of their 2nd half tries.
LCD more impressive week on week which was good to see.
Carpenter definitely adds more threat at FB but he does have a good return kick in him a bit too much which puts us under too much pressure.
Warr does look a bit beaten up at the mo. Took another knock to the ribs which is a concern.

Hopefully the rest and rotation plays dividends next week Certainly can't afford to start either half like that.

[Flumpty]

Just in case anyone has missed it from the current grumps and malaise on the board.

BP win and we're on top of the pile

[Yareet]

Just in case anyone has missed it from the current grumps and malaise on the board.

BP win and we're on top of the pile

I was saying this to a mate yesterday. We’re playing in third gear yet still getting BP wins and are top o’t’ league.

Once we hit our straps, we’ll be awesome!

[LJK]

A win next Friday v Bath is key I feel, as I can't see us winning away at Quins. Then before the last 'first half of the season' game v Sarries, we have the 2 Euro games. Think it will depend on injuries and who is rested for those, as to how we fare against the inevitably resurgent Sarries. Either way it is a fascinating few weeks against the top teams both in England & Europe

[RugbyMarvel]

It was an odd performance. Moments of really good attack but then switched off early in the second half (and didn’t seem to actually wake up in the first half until 15 minutes).

A third of the way into the season and great, we are top of the table. But take that with a pinch of salt, as we now have to face the three sides that also currently make up the top 4. 3 big matches ahead and got to consolidate our good start to the season - hoping for 9 points from the three matches but have a feeling it could be more like 5/6. The fact we won’t have Tom Curry, Tuilagi , JL Du Preez or Raffi about for a bit longer, does make me worry that the likes of Van Rhyn, Wiese, Bedlow and Warr will start to creak a bit without any rest.

Against Bath, if fit, reintroduce Si Mac / Schonert and Ford into the squad. Think we otherwise stick with the same side for both this match and the week after.

[poyntonshark]

I think/hope that the lack of intensity was largely down to complacency. The early Newcastle score woke us up and we largely dominated the first half. Thought we were actively poor for 20/30 minutes of second half. A team that takes as much pride in defence as ours, really shouldn't be conceding 4 ties to Newcastle juniors (although those juniors did give a good account of themselves). We showed in parts just hw good we can be, but really should be putting that side to the sword much more comfortably. AS @Yareet says our position and the BPs without yet putting in a complete performance is hopefully a good thing. I initially thought Gus Warr an odd choice for MOM, in that second half period I felt we lost large chunks of territory directly as a result of Warr being too slow, either in gaining his position or in decision making, but I couldn't immediately name an alternative.

I have a question for the refs/ law officionados. The Second half try for Newcastle off the back of the lineout maul. Whilst I liked the try, smart rugby in my opinion. Was it entirely legal?

Law 16.11 states:-

11. Players must not:

a. Intentionally collapse a maul or jump on top of it.
b. Attempt to drag an opponent out of a maul.
Sanction: Penalty.
c. Take any action to make opponents believe that the maul has ended when it has not.
Sanction: Free-kick.

Surely their initial dummy to our right contavenes part c. above. Or, was the dummy one way and their movement the other way simultaneous enough to counter that?

[Yareet]

I think/hope that the lack of intensity was largely down to complacency. The early Newcastle score woke us up and we largely dominated the first half. Thought we were actively poor for 20/30 minutes of second half. A team that takes as much pride in defence as ours, really shouldn't be conceding 4 ties to Newcastle juniors (although those juniors did give a good account of themselves). We showed in parts just hw good we can be, but really should be putting that side to the sword much more comfortably. AS @Yareet says our position and the BPs without yet putting in a complete performance is hopefully a good thing. I initially thought Gus Warr an odd choice for MOM, in that second half period I felt we lost large chunks of territory directly as a result of Warr being too slow, either in gaining his position or in decision making, but I couldn't immediately name an alternative.

I have a question for the refs/ law officionados. The Second half try for Newcastle off the back of the lineout maul. Whilst I liked the try, smart rugby in my opinion. Was it entirely legal?

Law 16.11 states:-

11. Players must not:

a. Intentionally collapse a maul or jump on top of it.
b. Attempt to drag an opponent out of a maul.
Sanction: Penalty.
c. Take any action to make opponents believe that the maul has ended when it has not.
Sanction: Free-kick.

Surely their initial dummy to our right contavenes part c. above. Or, was the dummy one way and their movement the other way simultaneous enough to counter that?

I'd guess this is the case - not least as I believe that there doesn't need to be any sideways movement from the ball carrier; just release his bind and the maul is over whilst the dummy player makes a more obvious move the other way.

[Olyy]

[Yareet]

Saw this on the TNT review show. Also had Reedy as top try scorer for the week. The fantasy team had Reed, Carps and RdP.

For a team that’s “just south African muscle”, we seem have a lot of backs doing well - and English ones at that.

[FarnhamShark]

The backs do look a lot better this season. Friday should be a good reference point - Bath's backs look awesome, at least on paper, and Lawrence in particular looked very good against Bristol last weekend.

[Olyy]

Saw this on the TNT review show. Also had Reedy as top try scorer for the week. The fantasy team had Reed, Carps and RdP.

For a team that’s “just south African muscle”, we seem have a lot of backs doing well - and English ones at that.

Think it was 15 academy grads last week, 16 this week

Funny how that doesn't get much of a mention