Premiership Rugby 18/19 - Rd 18

[TRF_Olyy]

 

[TRF_Olyy]

So glad we spent all that money on Ashton - he's played 8 games, including pre-season

Team: 15.Luke James; 14.Denny Solomona, 13.Sam James, 12.Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11.Byron McGuigan; 10.AJ MacGinty, 9.Faf de Klerk; 1.Ross Harrison, 2.Rob Webber, 3.WillGriff John, 4.Bryn Evans, 5.James Phillips, 6.Jono Ross (capt.), 7.Tom Curry, 8.Josh Beaumont.

Replacements: 16.Curtis Langdon, 17.Valery Morozov, 18.Joe Jones, 19.Josh Strauss, 20.Ben Curry, 21.Will Cliff, 22.Cameron Redpath, 23.Arron Reed

 

[BPM]

Quins:

15. Brown 14. Earle 13. Alofa 12. Tapuai 11. Murley 10. Catrakilis 9. Care 8. Dombrandt 7. Robshaw 6. Clifford 5. Horwill 4. Symons 3. Sinckler 2. Crumpton 1. Boyce

16. Ward 17. Auterac 18. Swainston 19. Glynn 20. Luamanu 21. Hidalgo-Clyde 22. Smith 23. Saili

Fairly evenly matched sides. I could see it going either way, but given it's at the AJ Bell, I think Sale are slight favourites.

The game of the round has to be Wasps vs. Worcester IMO. If Wasps lose, they're in danger of dropping in to the relegation contenders. Their run in is horrible!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Saints vs Gloucester should be good as well - probably the two most exciting attacks in the league atm


I'm not sure if we should be favourites - our form is erratic at best, with really bad implosions in the 2nd half.
Plus this is televised and we always play **** when we are.
That said: we did look good in the first half last week, and extra week of fitness and gelling together for AJ in the backline will hopefully iron out a few creases.
Fullback is still a worry - Luke James is an incredibly talented player (and only 19!) but he's a centre who only converted from backrow a year or two ago. He's doing a decent job at 15, don't get me wrong, but vs Mike Brown...?

 

[BPM]

Quins form is hardly the model of consistency. We ground out our win over Worcester last weekend, but our last two Premiership performances have been pretty poor.

The Saints vs. Gloucester game could be a good one, but I think Thorley, Woodward and Marshall are all out which might limit their attack a little.

It's an important weekend for Quins. If we lose we'll stay in fourth but Saints and Sale will be right on our heels. Our ideal scenario is to win with Saints beating Gloucester.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Realistically we're not chasing top 4 - top 6 is the target and is within our grasp.
I think the table will largely be unchanged for the rest of the season.

 

[BPM]

Yeah - I agree. None of Quins, Gloucester, Saints or Sale are really consistent enough to win enough games to significantly change the makeup of the top 6. No one has an obviously favourable run-in either.

I think the bottom of the table will change a lot more than the top. The relegation battle is still very tough to call IMO.

 

[FLOBALOB]

Quins form is hardly the model of consistency. We ground out our win over Worcester last weekend, but our last two Premiership performances have been pretty poor.

The Saints vs. Gloucester game could be a good one, but I think Thorley, Woodward and Marshall are all out which might limit their attack a little.

It's an important weekend for Quins. If we lose we'll stay in fourth but Saints and Sale will be right on our heels. Our ideal scenario is to win with Saints beating Gloucester.

You want to be careful what you wish for.
Surely its in your best interests to widen the gap with those teams below you.
Wouldn't Saints losing be better ?

 

[BPM]

Well a win would put Quins back in 3rd and as the gap over Saints is 8 points at the moment, it'll either stay the same (or go down to 7 points depending on BPs) if we both win our games.

We play Saints next weekend, so winning that is the best way to widen that gap.

As it happens, I think the more likely reality is more likely 1 point for Quins tonight and 4 for Saints tomorrow which would cut the gap to 5 and make next week a nail-biter!

 

[FLOBALOB]

Well a win would put Quins back in 3rd and as the gap over Saints is 8 points at the moment, it'll either stay the same (or go down to 7 points depending on BPs) if we both win our games.

We play Saints next weekend, so winning that is the best way to widen that gap.

As it happens, I think the more likely reality is more likely 1 point for Quins tonight and 4 for Saints tomorrow which would cut the gap to 5 and make next week a nail-biter!

3rd and 4th are virtually the same thing .

 

[curtbob7]

Toomua at 15 for us. Interesting

 

[BPM]

3rd and 4th are virtually the same thing .

True. We're not in a position to think tactically, but we normally play better against Sarries than we do against Chiefs so I think I'd potentially rather finish 4th ...

 

[Reiser99]

De Klerk was like a monkey on Care's back.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Great by Dombrandt and fantastic try saver by De Klerk. I wish we had him at 9. Dombrandt worth a look at 8 for England?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Forgot Symonds existed/didn't realise he was at Quins (wasn't he at Wasps?)

Remember when he was supposed to be the saviour of English rugby? First Englishman to captain a super rugby side or some crap

 

[TRF_Olyy]

This commentary is appalling as well

 

[Reiser99]

Great by Dombrandt and fantastic try saver by De Klerk. I wish we had him at 9. Dombrandt worth a look at 8 for England?

He's a fantastic player and barring a serious injury or something he'll definitely play for England in the future. However it's too soon for a World Cup. Yes he's played very well, but it's only in the Premiership and it's a huge risk.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

He's a fantastic player and barring a serious injury or something he'll definitely play for England in the future. However it's too soon for a World Cup. Yes he's played very well, but it's only in the Premiership and it's a huge risk.

I haven't seen anything to suggest he could be worse than Hughes.

 

[Reiser99]

I haven't seen anything to suggest he could be worse than Hughes.

True...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I think Dombrandt was onside but that line they just drew to show the line was benter than a 9 bob note