By A38
#34923
I'm sure that we all expected that the pundits would write Worcester off and Stephen Jones in his wisdom has the following headline in The Times:-

Sale Sharks to win, Worcester Warriors to finish bottom: predictions for the Premiership season

And here is his detailed analysis:-

"Worcester Warriors
Yet again this year they have ejected one huge contingent of players and attracted another huge one. That means that yet again the team is going to take ages to bed down, and frankly it is hard to see in their squad a core which is going to threaten the top half.

Prediction: 13th"

Oh well, only to be expected. I would just like to see at the end of the season an article which compares such predictions with what actually happened.
User avatar
By TeflonTed
#34924
For some years I’ve been in the habit of collecting and saving such pieces. With the full intention of writing a really sarky end of season review when we triumph in some way or other.
Haven’t been able to write it yet, but I live in hope.

ps. Having just read TRP pre-season review of prem teams I see that this year they have not offered predictions for end of season placings. Odd that, in their championship review they don’t hesitate to predict Ealing as champions and L Scottish as bottom.
By Fuzzy Dunlop
#34928
"Yet again this year they have ejected one huge contingent of players and attracted another huge one."

Obviously that's true for this season but I don't really think the 'yet again' is, seem to have had a general period of stability in terms of not having first team players departing en masse the last 2 or 3 seasons. Otherwise, the ins and outs have probably been no different to any other team, have they?
User avatar
By poyntonshark
#34941
I do hope you are not suggesting that such a fine journalist would make an inaccurate statement? Particularly when concerning a club, with which, he obviously has an intimate connection........Well, he might have spelled your name right.
User avatar
By TeflonTed
#34974
Well, nice to be mentioned, but the parameters for inclusion in the list of 10 most significant signings include
“ level of need at the destination club.”

Which is why we got 3!

We’re very needy.
By A38
#35100
Another link stolen by me from Shedweb:--

https://dl.orangedox.com/Bajad8taPremiershipPreview

It is a very long document but the section on Worcester includes a data driven analysis with which it is hard to argue all that much.

The section on how opposition teams play Worcester is of particular interest as it chimes with JT's own analysis on his arrival that the last 20 minutes saw performance drop off and as a result games were lost in that period. Hence the concentration on fitness and conditioning, something which was, the rumour mill suggested, not that popular with certain players.
User avatar
By TeflonTed
#35109
Interesting read that. Too much to start commenting on the wealth of detail there.

But I couldn’t help noticing that in the comparative analysis of No 8’s a certain S Vailanu comes out very poorly in attack, and worst of all in defence.

We’ll see!
By Warrior7
#35138
Another take is that no Worcester no.8 from last season even made the list - so at least Vailanu is on there!

Interesting times ahead indeed. I've seen a couple of websites lament Nanai's gametime last season but they seem to be unaware he was injured for most of it. I imagine if he stays fit and the pack are more physical (and we can defend a rolling maul), then we will do a fair bit better than last season - or you'd hope so!
By A38
#35148
The Times this morning doesn't include predictions as to where the clubs will finish this season - probably wisely.

However, Owen Slot does review the season ahead and these extracts are of interest.

He opens with this:-

Don’t, for a moment, be lulled into any slack opinion that the new Gallagher Premiership season, which starts on Friday in Bristol, is going to be in any way a continuation of the last. It is hard to imagine how one could be more divorced from the other, however much Harlequins would like it to be otherwise.

The laws are different, the number of teams are different and the noise from the stands will be very different — because we will get some, and presumably quite a lot.

The relegation issue will be different from last season because we know from the start that no team will be going down. Manu Tuilagi will be different — because he might stay fit (yes, we’ve said that before, haven’t we?) — and the influence of Marcus Smith will be different too.


Further on, after discussing the likely middle ranking teams he comes to:-

The challenge for Worcester Warriors, Newcastle Falcons and London Irish is to elevate themselves into this chasing pack. London Irish got closest last season, playing with some real dazzle. Worcester have spent money that nobody knew they had. Newcastle has become a retirement home for disgruntled Harlequins players. The challenge for these clubs is to use the absence of relegation to their advantage.

Worcester have spent money nobody knew they had! Well, we can't argue with that telling statement, can we?

But there is a prediction for the top team - Exeter:-

Exeter, meanwhile, need to adapt to the new laws, particularly the change when an attacking player is held up over the tryline. In this instance, the defending team will now be rewarded with a tryline drop-out. This has been interpreted as the anti-Exeter law, as it may denude them of their trademark tryline pick-and-go. Rob Baxter, the Chiefs’ director of rugby, and his coaches will enjoy the challenge of ensuring that it doesn’t hamper them.

Exeter are, nevertheless, still the team to beat. Sale and Bristol will argue vociferously otherwise.


Elsewhere Stuart Barnes writes very approvingly of NIck David:-

The most underestimated signing
Every time I watched Nick David at Worcester, I thought: “What a shame he is not playing for a better team.” Well, the wing has joined Harlequins, where he has an opportunity to showcase the finishing, power, work rate and all-round excellence of his game.

Worcester have replaced him with a Scottish Lion in Duhan van der Merwe. He will be unavailable for large chunks of the season. It’s an understated, excellent signing on Harlequins’ part.

Elsewhere, The Times calls him a full back rather than a wing.
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