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By Narbia
#14586
I don't know how good Tom Homer was at Bath, but I guess he now replaces departed Freddy. I always thought TH was a bit inconsistent in performance when he was with us.

Freddy never got a sniff at his natural position of #10 - so I'm in two minds about his departure, although his defence was a bit iffy.

Whereas Paddy Jackson played a great game as a stand in #15, and I'm not too impressed with his play so far at #10. I expect he's got a ton more to offer in the next few summer games.
By Margin_Walker
#14588
Homer has been very good for Bath recently. It's a signing that improves our team from last year as he'd slot straight in a 15 for me.

I'm not sure Veitokani was ever really on the radar as a ten for us. Fiji weren't keen on playing him there and he was only really playing at 10 in the NRC for Drua, which isn't a great standard.

May have been slightly less exposed defensively there, but whether or not he could run a premiership game in winter there is open to question.

I'd take Homer over him any day personally. But you never know, Freddie may get picked up by someone and prove some of us wrong.
By GC89
#14589
Totally agree with MW - Homer is a big step up on an inconsistent Freddie. Even at the World Cup against a Uruguay side (who admittedly did play out of their skins), he mixed moments of magic with some real horrorshows. At Championship level we could take that risk, but at Premiership level I just couldn't see it happening.

Homer has really developed over the past couple of seasons into a really good running full back. His last couple of years at Irish were underwhelming and he left on slightly questionable grounds, but he is now a very good player and well ahead of what we currently have. Let's not forget we still have a young option in Parton who still has plenty of development left in him.

As for Paddy, he should be our starting 10 every week and it sounds like Kidney made it clear last night that we are going to put faith in him to run things, which considering what he is being paid has to be the correct approach.
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By Narbia
#14590
I hope my suspicions are unfounded then. But I just never think we were that strong at 10 or 15 (since Delon).

Myler with his kicking prowess is a bit of a loss, but a bit of a luxury in restricted finances.

Yip, PJ has got to step up. We all know he's an ex Ireland international, let's see some of that on the park.

It just seems like forever since I've seen a live game and I'm working from inherently biased memory. :raving:
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By MattM
#14600
Kidney was asked about another fly half coming in to replace Myler. His response was "It's about time Paddy played a few games" so he is clearly expected to eat up the minutes when the season restarts.

As an aside, Declan's sense of humour was on display last night, aside from the comment on Paddy above he mentioned that Sean O'Brien turned up to training recently wearing a watch and Kidney gave him some good natured stick about it. "what would Joe Schmidt have said about that?"
#14638
I'm no doctor, so open to correction, but assuming no underlying complications, broken ribs aren't a long term injury.

Probably food for the, 'we always look at injury prone players' brigade, but you don't get 98 caps before your 31st birthday if you're a sicknote.
By Florida
#14651
With the new season still a few months away, personally I wouldn't be worried about a couple of broken ribs.

I did have to wonder if we'd have foreign player space to fit another aussie into the team. Although having a quick poke around it seems the only ones that don't have heritage that would allow them to qualify as EQP or under kolpak would be Phipps, Rona and Simmons (if we pick him up).
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By GC89
#14699
Despite his 90+ caps, can't help but feel that Simmons is a bit of a step down on Botha. However, would be a solid alternative at this short notice and obviously has lots of experience and leadership qualities. Hope we start getting some news soon and the excitement coming out of last Thursday's zoom call wasn't a false dawn.
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By MattM
#14703
I wonder if Simmons (who got injured at the weekend... Typical!) was already on the cards to replace Franco/Barney rather than Botha.

Would have been a good upgrade under those circumstances.
By Ecksile
#14729
From Tom Homer on the web site " It will be great to see some familiar faces around the club.”

Just out of interest, who would those familiar faces be from 5 years ago? Surely not too many?
By Hsmith18
#14738
Exactly, creevy will fill the gap left by porecki over the next couple of seasons. Hopefully by that time Arkins will be premiership ready. I've got high Hopes for cornish too!
By Florida
#14742
Lo and behold, the other board are already raising injury concerns. Given the guy is averaging 20 games a season (in line with the other Jaguars players) I think he'll be just fine.
By GC89
#14743
As long as we aren't paying over the odds for him then a good signing. Haven't watched any Jaguares Rugby this season, but note he had fallen behind Montoya in the pecking order for Argentina, although I guess that isn't necessarily a criticism.
By GC89
#14788
Another one that we expected and one that I am reasonably happy with. Looks mobile and powerful from the clips I have seen. Line-out throwing looks like it needs a bit of work, but I am sure he can learn a lot of Creevy (if true) and Matu'u. Two experienced heads to develop Cornish, Atkins and Vajner (who seems to be very well regarded).
#14810
Ha, Gray was the other way round to be fair. Went to sevens after us.

Could go either way with a signing from 7s, but I doubt he's costing a lot and there's the recent precedent of it working out very well with McConnochie for Bath.

In other news, it looks like there was something in the Abendenon story from a month or two back. He opted to stay in France though after turning down offers from us and Leicester

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/the-2-pr ... in-france/
By GHA
#14812
Ah yes, I was half confused half forgetting. Christian Lewis Pratt came from 7s and then disappeared...

Like you say, it's hard to judge from 7s highlights - it's easy to make good ones IMO - but fingers crossed he comes good
By Florida
#14816
Slightly different circumstances wherein CLP was only ever a short term signing.

Personally I think this is a really smart bit of business, we're getting a young lad that already has a heap of games at a high level and has the potential to make a huge impact.
By Florida
#14821
Definitely Simmons, which means Fisslers finally got something right.

So the signings so far - 1 x 22 yo, 1 x 23 yo and 2 30+ yo, we're doing very well at mixing youth and experience. Definitely assembling a strong squad for now, but clearly also got an eye on the future. So far I'm very impressed.
By GC89
#14824
Botha staying in Japan is a real shame, but if that is the worst of it then I think we have done ok overall. Simmons is pretty much as good as we could have hoped for as a replacement at this short notice.
By Florida
#14825
Botha is a real shame as he had a great cameo for us, but if his heart wasn't in it then fair enough and good luck to the lad. It'll be interesting to see what the club do now recruitment wise.

Ok, that's out the way.

Simmons, again a fantastic bit of work, a great replacement for Franco. We're slowly assembling a pack that should be able to bully a few others and should get Paddy some decent ball.
By GC89
#14826
Indeed. Still a lot for some of these guys to prove on the pitch, but imagine being told a few years ago that we would have a pack with Creevy, Kepu, Simmons, Coleman and O'Brien in it!
User avatar
By Narbia
#14827
GC89 wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 9:18 am
Indeed. Still a lot for some of these guys to prove on the pitch, but imagine being told a few years ago that we would have a pack with Creevy, Kepu, Simmons, Coleman and O'Brien in it!
:dance: Quite. I hope some of the other site's posters can come over here and contribute, whilst their site is down. :hug:
By Hsmith18
#14830
Simmons is a very good signing. Certainly softens the blow of losing Botha!
Are we still expecting another lock to join with immediate effect? Off the top of my head, we only have Mafi, munga and nott available?
By Florida
#14831
Hsmith18 wrote:
Fri Jul 31, 2020 1:20 pm
Simmons is a very good signing. Certainly softens the blow of losing Botha!
Are we still expecting another lock to join with immediate effect? Off the top of my head, we only have Mafi, munga and nott available?
Well, from Stevie's excellent zoom call write up -
Signings to come are; another Hooker, 2nd Row, back rowers, ex LI fullback Tom Homer having a medical today

With Ruan Botha Deccie said that there are still contractual discussions, an announcement either way is likely in 2 weeks. Sounds like still discussing and that he could leave. Dec mentions if he leaves we will get a replacement.

So yes, going by that we are very much expecting another 2nd row to join (hopefully with immediate effect).

I don't know about the rest of you folks but I've gone from frustrated at the lack of info coming from the club to super excited and really looking forward to the season resuming
By GC89
#14946
Neal is solid enough and can cover centre and wing (which is helpful if Kerr is out injured as per the other forum). He did pretty well at Wasps and won't let anyone down.

De Chaves is fine as a short-term back-up, but would really prefer a proper lock to come in before the season starts. The prospect of Mafi, Nott, Munga and De Chaves being our only options is a little bit worrying given that two of the four are probably better suited to the back row, one is 19 and the other is pretty average!
#14947
De Chaves makes a lot of sense on a short term deal. Proper lock rather than a hybrid and knows a lot of the players. Still a bit short of real quality there, but should hopefully be able to get by.

Neal is decent cover too.
By GHA
#14950
GC89 wrote:
Wed Aug 05, 2020 4:00 pm
De Chaves is fine as a short-term back-up, but would really prefer a proper lock to come in before the season starts. The prospect of Mafi, Nott, Munga and De Chaves being our only options is a little bit worrying given that two of the four are probably better suited to the back row, one is 19 and the other is pretty average!
Rob Simmons?
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