The Big Combined Premiership Rugby Cup Thread

[FKAS]

Tigers Vs Wasps in the PRC

STARTING XV
15 Lachlan Shelley [1]
14 Joe Browning [3]
13 Jacob Cusick [6]
12 Joseph Woodward [3]
11 Hosea Saumaki [14]
10 Jed Walsh [1]
9 Sam Edwards (vc) [5]
1 James Whitcombe (c) [24]
2 Tom Horton [1]
3 Will Hurd [10]
4 Cameron Henderson [21]
5 Lewis Chessum [3]
6 Josh Manz [1]
7 Emeka Ilione [3]
8 Sean Jansen (vc) [5]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Archie Vanes [4]
17 Dan Richardson [6]
18 Nephi Leatigaga [69]
19 Tom Manz [1]
20 Finn Carnduff [2]
21 Josh Goodwin *
22 Morgan Meredith [2]
23 Marcus Ramage [1]

* Leicester Tigers senior debut & Loan player

Wasps: 15 Olly Hartley, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Will Simonds, 11 Ollie Dawkins, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Harry Craven; 1 Rodrigo Martinez, 2 Michael van Vuuren, 3 Elliot Millar-Mills, 4 Cam Dodson, 5 Theo Vukasinovic, 6 Fyn Brown, 7 Kieran Curran, 8 Greg Fisilau

Replacements: 16 Corbin Thunder, 17 Archie McArthur, 18 Robin Hardwick, 19 Alfie Bell, 20 James Tunney, 21 Mason Winterburn, 22 Reikiti Maasi-White, 23 Luke Mehson

Two mainly young teams with a bit of experience here and there. Tigers threw the ball around a bit Vs Sale and Wasps always tend to anyway so finger crossed for an entertaining game.

[Banquo]

has Odogwu been crocked?

[Raggs]

has Odogwu been crocked?

Yep, same with Martinez, getting him back is awesome news for Wasps.

[FKAS]

Tell me about that substitute hooker Raggs. Corbin Thunder, what a name. Sounds like a left wing political group or an 80s hair metal band.

I'm expecting Odogwu to score a couple against that Tigers midfield. Don't think either Tigers centre has turned 20 yet. The flyhalf hasn't either. The fullback is a pick up from the Shute competition in Australia and is supposed to be fairly rapid but didn't really see any of that Vs Sale in the last round so hopefully he can at least chase down some of the Wasps breaks.

[Puja]

Tell me about that substitute hooker Raggs. Corbin Thunder, what a name. Sounds like a left wing political group or an 80s hair metal band.

Either way, he's going to fill a stage at Glastonbury.

This competition is even more pointless than usual, with going midweek. Surely it must be cheaper to just not play it than open a stadium for it at this point.

Bit of a step down for Whitcombe - he was backup to Genge last year and now appears to be 3rd/4th choice behind Van Wyk and Leatigaga based on selections this season. Mind, Leicester do like building leadership through captaincy in this comp - JVP was captain last year - so maybe they're holding Whitcombe back from first team action so that the PRC is his main competition while it's on? Who knows.

Puja

[Raggs]

Tell me about that substitute hooker Raggs. Corbin Thunder, what a name. Sounds like a left wing political group or an 80s hair metal band.

I'm expecting Odogwu to score a couple against that Tigers midfield. Don't think either Tigers centre has turned 20 yet. The flyhalf hasn't either. The fullback is a pick up from the Shute competition in Australia and is supposed to be fairly rapid but didn't really see any of that Vs Sale in the last round so hopefully he can at least chase down some of the Wasps breaks.

He's South African I believe, quite explosive if I remember what I've read correctly.

[Banquo]

Tell me about that substitute hooker Raggs. Corbin Thunder, what a name. Sounds like a left wing political group or an 80s hair metal band.

I'm expecting Odogwu to score a couple against that Tigers midfield. Don't think either Tigers centre has turned 20 yet. The flyhalf hasn't either. The fullback is a pick up from the Shute competition in Australia and is supposed to be fairly rapid but didn't really see any of that Vs Sale in the last round so hopefully he can at least chase down some of the Wasps breaks.

He's South African I believe, quite explosive if I remember what I've read correctly.

lightning in the loose

[jimKRFC]

Bristol side to face Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership Rugby Cup (7.45pm KO):

15. Ioan Lloyd, 14. Deago Bailey, 13. Joe Jenkins, 12. James Williams, 11. Harry Rowson; 10. Sam Worsley, 9. Tom Whiteley (c); 1. Toti Benz-Soloman, 2. Bryan Byrne, 3. Jono Benz-Soloman, 4. Morgan Eames, 5. Joe Owen, 6. Aaron Tull, 7. Macenzzie Duncan, 8. Ed Harvey.

Subs: 16. Fred Davies, 17. Andrew Turner, 18. George Kloska, 19. Jimmy Halliwell, 20. Jake Kerr, 21. Oscar Lennon, 22. Dylan Power, 23. Harry Ascherl.

13 Academy and Ex-Acadamy players and an all Bristolian back row! Very young side so curious to see what Exe send out. Hopefully an evenly match team & a good game.

Just noticed the replacement forwards are 3 props and 2 hookers!

[chris18501]

Sale Sharks:
15 Elliot Gourlay, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Joe Bedlow, 12 Tom Curtis, 11 Sammy Adu, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 Nye Thomas; 1 Ben Carlile, 2 Ethan Caine, 3 Joe Jones, 4 Dom Barrow, 5 Alex Groves, 6 Matt Postlethwaite, 7 Sam Dugdale (captain), 8 Reuban Birch.

Replacements: 16 Harry Thompson, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 Cal Ford, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Ewan Murphy, 21 Huw Davies, 22 Cal Morris, 23 Arron Pope.


Newcastle:
15 Louie Johnson, 14 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 13 Zach Kerr (captain), 12 Ewan Greenlaw, 11 Iwan Stephens, 10 Josh Thomas, 9 James Blackett; 1 Conrad Cade, 2 Ollie Fletcher, 3 Mark Tampin, 4 Matthew Dalton, 5 Josh Peters, 6 George Bennett-Teare, 7 Marcus Tiffen, 8 Matt Deehan.

Replacements: 16 Mark Dormer, 17 Mike Rewcastle, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Rory Ward, 20 Will Hopes, 21 Ben Douglas, 22 Jeremy Civil, 23 Oliver Melville.

[FKAS]

Tell me about that substitute hooker Raggs. Corbin Thunder, what a name. Sounds like a left wing political group or an 80s hair metal band.

Either way, he's going to fill a stage at Glastonbury.

This competition is even more pointless than usual, with going midweek. Surely it must be cheaper to just not play it than open a stadium for it at this point.

Bit of a step down for Whitcombe - he was backup to Genge last year and now appears to be 3rd/4th choice behind Van Wyk and Leatigaga based on selections this season. Mind, Leicester do like building leadership through captaincy in this comp - JVP was captain last year - so maybe they're holding Whitcombe back from first team action so that the PRC is his main competition while it's on? Who knows.

Puja

I quite like the competition mid week as it stops that one (and there's always one) DOR deciding to put out a full first team against someone's development side. We've got pretty much an A league competition where players coming back from injury can get game time and young players can develop. I don't really give a toss about winning the thing but it's good that a very young Tigers outfit gets the experience of playing together against (roughly) similar strength opposition.

Re Whitcombe I hope he's back in the first team soon as I've not been that impressed by van Wyk so far. Last season Whitcombe was third/second choice depending on whether he or Leatigaga was in favour behind Ellis. Starting jobs generally went to Whitcombe as big Nephi struggles to do more than 30 mins let's face it. Quite like that he captaining the side and getting good minutes under his belt though.

Looking forward to seeing more of the 9 and 10 combo. Edwards looks mature well beyond his years (plays like Wigglesworth) and young Walsh looks quick footed and attacking minded.

[Margin_Walker]

Teams for LI v Saints tomorrow night.

London Irish:
15 Logan Trotter, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Tom Hitchcock, 11 Michael Dykes, 10 Rory Jennings, 9 Hugh O’Sullivan, 1 Tarek Haffar, 2 Patrick Harrison, 3 Ciaran Parker, 4 Ed Scragg, 5 Chunya Munga, 6 Jack Cooke (c), 7 Isaac Curtis-Harris, 8 Ben Atkins.

Replacements:
16 Joseph Vajner, 17 Jamie Jack, 18 Mikey Summerfield, 19 Hallam Chapman, 20 Izzy Moore-Aiono, 21 Ollie Allan, 22 Jacob Atkins, 23 Alex Harmes.

Northampton
15 James Ramm
14 Courtnall Skosan
13 Tom Litchfield
12 Joel Matavesi
11 Ollie Sleightholme
10 James Grayson
9 Callum Braley (c)

1 Marty Mulhall
2 Robbie Smith
3 Ehren Painter
4 Brandon Nansen
5 Tom Lockett
6 Kayde Sylvester
7 Aaron Hinkley
8 Sam Graham

Replacements:
16 Aston Gradwick-Light
17 George Patten
18 Oisín Heffernan
19 David Ribbans
20 Henry Pollock*
21 Archie McParland*
22 Toby Thame
23 George Hendy

[Scrumhead]

Interesting Olly Hartley has played both his games so far at 15. I was hoping he’d be Odendaal’s understudy at 12 for Wasps this season.

Speaking of 12s, I thought Hitchcock looked decent for Irish last week.

[Margin_Walker]

Yeah, Hitchcock worked well with Morisi last week. He's not the tallest, but he's built like a truck and seems to be able to get over the gain line.

Heard a lot about Hartley, but haven't seen him play (outside of the odd highlight)

Interesting team from Saints. Strong backline in particular, but also a couple of schoolboys (Pollock and McParland) on the bench. Pollock especially looks a real talent at openside.

[Raggs]

Interesting Olly Hartley has played both his games so far at 15. I was hoping he’d be Odendaal’s understudy at 12 for Wasps this season.

Speaking of 12s, I thought Hitchcock looked decent for Irish last week.

Same, was hoping we'd see him at 12. Hope he doesn't get moved to 15, we could do with a great hype at 12.

[jimKRFC]

Exeter side for the Bristol game:
15 Dan John, 14 Arthur Relton, 13 Sean O’Brien, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Facundo Cordero, 10 Will Becconsall, 9 Sam Maunder
8 Rus Tuima, 7 Ross Vincent, 6 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 5 Corey Teague, 4 Lewis Pearson, 3 Fin Richardson, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Josh Iosefa-Scott

Subs;
16 Max Norey, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Matt Johnson, 19 Joe Bailey, 20 Ben Grubb, 21 Orson James, 22 Tom Wyatt, 23 Frankie Nowell

No idea how strong that is but a few more names recognisable to me as premiership squad players, so think Exeter start as favourites for this one.

[fivepointer]

Quite a few of that Exeter side have Prem appearances behind them. There's a few young lads too, including Jack Nowell's brother on the bench.

[FKAS]

I hope Bristol have named an experienced 12, going to be tough on a development squad member to spend a game trying to mark Kata.

[jimKRFC]

I hope Bristol have named an experienced 12, going to be tough on a development squad member to spend a game trying to mark Kata.

12 is James Williams, stepping up from the Championship - some big lumps there so hopefully he'll be ok!

[Epaminondas Pules]

Tell me about that substitute hooker Raggs. Corbin Thunder, what a name. Sounds like a left wing political group or an 80s hair metal band.

I'm expecting Odogwu to score a couple against that Tigers midfield. Don't think either Tigers centre has turned 20 yet. The flyhalf hasn't either. The fullback is a pick up from the Shute competition in Australia and is supposed to be fairly rapid but didn't really see any of that Vs Sale in the last round so hopefully he can at least chase down some of the Wasps breaks.

Woodward’s first year out of school. He’s got a lot about him mind.

[FKAS]

Tell me about that substitute hooker Raggs. Corbin Thunder, what a name. Sounds like a left wing political group or an 80s hair metal band.

I'm expecting Odogwu to score a couple against that Tigers midfield. Don't think either Tigers centre has turned 20 yet. The flyhalf hasn't either. The fullback is a pick up from the Shute competition in Australia and is supposed to be fairly rapid but didn't really see any of that Vs Sale in the last round so hopefully he can at least chase down some of the Wasps breaks.

Woodward’s first year out of school. He’s got a lot about him mind.

He certainly has.

Been a good first half with both teams throwing the ball about a bit. Wasps look more organised in attack but Tigers have them with the rolling maul and Wasps discipline looks a bit iffy. If He'd Walsh didn't have a foot shaped like a 50p tonight Tigers could be in front. He's been charged down and missed touch two or three times each.

[FKAS]

Woodward had a couple of neat touches in attack but it was defence in the second half where he was most noticeable with a breakdown turnover and ripping the ball from a Wasps forward.

Good game, both teams went hammer and tongs. Lot of young guys showing a lot of promise. Sam Edwards the young scrum half got man of the match. The Wasps 8, Ilione (4 turnovers and a try) and Chessum Jnr all given mentions in the MOTM running.

[Margin_Walker]

Crazy game at Brentford.

Saints 0 - 19 up at half time with LI getting completely hosed in the scrum and Grayson apparently controlling the game really well.

Different story once the likes of Ribbans and Painter left the field for Saints and LI came back. Even then Saints were winning 21 - 26 and running the clock down deep in the LI half before fumbling with a couple of seconds to go. LI ended up winning with a penalty try in injury time.

[FKAS]

Heard a couple of season ticket holders regretting not attending the Tigers game tonight in person. I'm guessing there might be a few down Brentford way as well.

The mid week PRC seems to at least be providing some entertainment.

[Margin_Walker]

Think the move to midweek has been good (albeit possibly not for attendances)

Work much better as a development competition now though, with clubs forced to go full second string rather than the occasional 50:50 squads you'd see even in the pool stages before.

[FKAS]

That's true, the teams are more equally matched and so the development players are getting better exposure and the fans are getting a better viewing product. I doubt attendances will ever he high but BT might continue their interest and televise a few more games. Good for their line up (one of their major sports now providing mid week action) and potentially helps generate a bit more income come TV deal time..