Aviva Premiership 16/17 - Round 19

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

And what would be the point of flogging a bunch of knackered players, most of whom won't get within a mile of international caps, against second rate opposition? Would we learn anything?

I learnt a fair amount from the Saxons tour last year.

By that logic why is there any tours during the summer including lions.

 

[Timbo]

The Lions isn't a development tool. Obviously not the same.

The Saxons last year was a very strong 'best of the rest' taking on a good South African A team. The games were competitive and the standard pretty high. Even then I can't think of a single player that's used that tour to really kick on and make a dent in Eddie Jones' plans. AND there were two long term injuries out of the two games, with Lewington out for around 8 months. That said, the nett result of last years Saxons tour was probably worth it, if nothing else both matches were pretty fun to watch. But I can't see much worth in a 3rd/4th string team taking on second rate opposition.

 

[BPM]

The Lions isn't a development tool. Obviously not the same.

The Saxons last year was a very strong 'best of the rest' taking on a good South African A team. The games were competitive and the standard pretty high. Even then I can't think of a single player that's used that tour to really kick on and make a dent in Eddie Jones' plans. AND there were two long term injuries out of the two games, with Lewington out for around 8 months. That said, the nett result of last years Saxons tour was probably worth it, if nothing else both matches were pretty fun to watch. But I can't see much worth in a 3rd/4th string team taking on second rate opposition.

Since the Saxons tour of SA, Ewels and Taylor have established themselves in the main EPS and Robson, Devoto, Haley and Roko have featured in the extended squad. Sam Jones probably would have too but for the judo sessions.

There is definitely a place for the Saxons, but not in a season when a Lions tour will take 10-15 of our best players.

It's not impossible, but with a couple of exceptions, I don't genuinely believe any of the Saxons squad Tigs named are going to force their way in to the EPS, let alone the match day 23 between now and 2019, so I'd question it's worth right now.

The Lions tour and Argentina give us an opportunity to test our realistic depth. We're pretty much half way through the World Cup cycle, so I think we need to be focusing on circa 50 'likely candidates' rather than broadening further - basically our Lions tourists plus the squad for Argentina and a couple who may be injured.

 

[Timbo]

Aye, as I said last years tour was productive overall.

 

[Which Tyler]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How's your balance, Roko? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheClash?src=hash">#TheClash</a> <a href="https://t.co/RH3f1ll6SI">pic.twitter.com/RH3f1ll6SI</a></p>&mdash; BT Sport Rugby (@btsportrugby) <a href="https://twitter.com/btsportrugby/status/850729925040590848">8 April 2017</a></blockquote>
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