User avatar
By poyntonshark
#15020
No, you are not alone. Jono's interview earlier also mentioned our usual slow starts. Think we will select best available, though what that means after a long break I'm not sure.
Without checking on any injuries I reckon something like

Oosthuizen
Akker
WGJ
Lood
Beaumont
Jono
T Curry
JLDP

Faf
RDP
Denny
Manu
S James
Marland
Hammers

Bench: Harrison, JCW, Langdon, DDP, B Curry, Cliff, AJ, L James

Looks pretty blyddi handy to me when you write it down.
By Van Cannonball
#15031
Was gonna say I’d be surprised if Josh started, even if fit, and I’d also doubt DDP starting on bench. However, if Lood injured then lineout looking worrying.

I’m definitely not confident away to Quins first back. We’re generally terrible away first game back, largely in defence, so let’s hope we can continue as we left off.
By Olyy
#15032
Lood and Josh being out isn't ideal - shame we couldn't keep hold of Evans until the end of the season

Cooenie
Akker
WGJ
Philips
JLDP
Ross
Tom
DDP
Faf
RDP
Yarde
Manu
Sam
Denny
Hammersley

Langdon
Ross
JCW
Postlethwaite
Ben
Cliff
AJ
Luke/Byron

Centre depth is crazy - Even with Rohan banned there's no place for Hill.



From the training shots released it looks like we're training in seperate units (half in home kit half in away) - dimes did mention about having seperate sides to alternate between due to the schedule

Cliff, Rohan, Luke James in red shirts,
Faf, Manu, Hill and the Du Preez twins in blue
By Van Cannonball
#15033
Not sure we can play that line up and expect to win any lineouts, although scrum and maul would be powerful.

If Lood and Josh are both out then I think Poss might jump the queue. Either that or we’re reliant on the back row jumping up front.
By Olyy
#15034
All our backrowers jump - the du Preez twins especially

Who are you dropping for Postlethwaite? Philips?



Edit:
That does raise a good point though: who is our lineout caller/captain?
It was Evans and Beaumont before, presumably Lood and Beaumont going forwards - but with none of those available....?
We don't really have a proper lineout specialist in the squad atm
By Van Cannonball
#15035
Yes, would be Phillips dropped in that scenario.

Agreed that our back row all jump, but they’d struggle at 2 against a proper jumping lock. Dan has been at 2 in the line quite a bit though so guess he’d be there. It’s just a worry, esp with Webber gone too.

Hopefully either Lood or Josh will play.
By Olyy
#15039
Would Postlethwaite be an obvious improvement to the lineout though?

I rate him very highly but I wouldn't say his lineout work is noticeably better than the Du Preez twins (who are also taller) - and I wouldn't sacrifice the bulk of Philips for an extra jumper (especially with Webber gone - who added a lot of grunt in the tight plays).
By Thekeg
#15040
What is the Lood injury? I think with Beaumont he’s still getting back from old injury, wouldn’t expect him to feature for a bit. Any news on wiese?
User avatar
By poyntonshark
#15043
I did say I hadn't done any injury checking. Makes sense that Beaumont wouldn't come straight back after his lengthy lay off. Disappointing if Lood can't make it though. Not for the first time I had the Du Preez mixed up.

Ammended, probably the same as has already been mentioned

Oosthuizen
Akker
WGJ
Lood/Philips
JLDP
Jono
T Curry
DDP

Faf
RDP
Denny
Manu
S James
Marland
Hammers

Bench: Harrison, JCW, Langdon, Philips/Postlethwaite, B Curry, Cliff, AJ, L James
By AndaleManito
#15060
Can't really argue with that, not sure who will start at 12 and who will take the number 23 shirt though. I could potentially see RJVR start at 12 and Manu in 23, as he can cover wing as well. RDP can cover 15 if AJ comes on at fly half. Really, really looking forward to this, though a little worried about our usual slow start.

Do we have enough fit locks? Wiese can't arrive soon enough!
User avatar
By poyntonshark
#15063
We came to the conclusion that RJVR would still be serving his double contract signing ban.

Manu will miss plenty through England call up and probably injury, if he is fit I'm pretty certain he will start.
By Olyy
#15069
Can Manu really cover wing?
I know he was shoehorned there a number of years ago, but I wouldn't play him there now.
Rohan has played wing far more recently (he played there the season before he joined us - and hated it, ha)
By AndaleManito
#15079
poyntonshark wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 9:45 am
We came to the conclusion that RJVR would still be serving his double contract signing ban.

Manu will miss plenty through England call up and probably injury, if he is fit I'm pretty certain he will start.
ah yeah my bad, forgot about that! In that case I think the only thing that might vary is the starting props, imo there is very little between Harrison/Oosthuizen and JCW/WGJ/Oosthuizen. Morozov a slight drop in quality but is still a great squad player so far (if he can keep his discipline). I really hope he can kick on next year as he looks to have a very high ceiling.
By Olyy
#15080
Looks like Wiese will be arriving on Wednesday (unless it's a surprise new signing) - too soon to play this weekend but does ease the pressure of Lood and Josh being unavailable
By Van Cannonball
#15081
If we assume Marler will start for Quins (and if so it’s absurd that his ban has run down during lockdown but Rohan’s hasn’t) then I think we’d want our strongest scrummaging tight head to counter Marler’s boring in.

I think that’s WGJ but open to challenge on that.

I’d also go Shrek loose head to give strongest possible scrum and hopefully have some dominance there to make up for possible line out issues.

Harrison and JCW on at about 50 mins.
User avatar
By Yareet
#15082
Van Cannonball wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:43 pm
If we assume Marler will start for Quins (and if so it’s absurd that his ban has run down during lockdown but Rohan’s hasn’t) then I think we’d want our strongest scrummaging tight head to counter Marler’s boring in.

I think that’s WGJ but open to challenge on that.

I’d also go Shrek loose head to give strongest possible scrum and hopefully have some dominance there to make up for possible line out issues.

Harrison and JCW on at about 50 mins.
Whilst I agree re: the bans, Marler’s was issued before lockdown whereas Rohan’s was during.

Plus it means Manu gets to play
By Van Cannonball
#15087
If they have the power to delay the start date for Rohan’s ban to kick in, they have the power to do the same for any other bans that were in progress when the league stopped?...
User avatar
By poyntonshark
#15092
They have the power , absolutely. But, probably not the precedent. You know how they like to pretend that Rugby disciplinary matters are a court of law, there's even usually a QC on the panel. The law is FUBAR, hence Rugby's discipline is FUBAR.
User avatar
By Yareet
#15111
Olyy wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:50 pm
Because bans are based on dates not numbers of games

I'd rather it be the latter, but thems the rules
Even if it is games, that's not a perfect solution.

SBW was banned for 4 games after his Lions red card. NZ managed to prove that a intra-squad trial match should be one of the games.
By JohnJ of HM
#15163
Olyy wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:05 pm
Looks like Wiese will be arriving on Wednesday (unless it's a surprise new signing) - too soon to play this weekend but does ease the pressure of Lood and Josh being unavailable
What happened about yesterday's supposed welcome to a new player? Did Wiese not arrive?
By Olyy
#15183
I guess that explains the shots of Hill and Manu both training in the "home" side,

I'd slot Luke straight in for his brother but I imagine Dimes will start Hill - I've always preferred a playmaker/linebreaker combo in the midfield but I'm excited to see what Hill can bring to the table, and having Hill/Manu running at Marcus Smith is definitely going to open up some gaps

I'm also revising my earlier prediction and having Byron starting and Yarde on the bench - didn't realise Yarde and his partner welcomed their first child into the world about two weeks ago, so I imagine he's missed a couple of sessions (and had a few sleepless nights) so Byron will get the nod
By Surbiton_Shark
#15220
Bad news on Sam James

Having one new centre getting used to our defensive pattern would be tricky, playing 2 news ones would be trickier - Luke has been constantly good and getting better so would have him alongside Tuilagi with Hill on the bench
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