London Irish vs Bath - Sat 3pm

[Puja]

London Irish:
15 Henry Arundell, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Agustin Creevy, 3 Lovejoy Chawatama, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Ben Donnell, 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Matt Rogerson (c).

Replacements:
16 Isaac Miller, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Oliver Hoskins, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Caolan Englefield, 23 James Stokes.

[Puja]

Great to see Joseph getting a go at 13 for Irish - I'd rather see him develop there than at wing from an England perspective.

Also nice to see McConnochie making a comeback after a rubbish time with injury.

Big news from the Bath camp:


After a year of the dodgiest haircut known to humankind, raising money for MND, Tom Dunn's finally been allowed to cut his hair sensibly. Fair play to the lad - hope he raised a few quid with it.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

I see we've gone from 3 locks on the bench, to none at all...

[Epaminondas Pules]

Joseph vs Joseph is really exciting, as is the battle of the back threes. That Irish side is looking good.

[Puja]

Joseph vs Joseph is really exciting, as is the battle of the back threes. That Irish side is looking good.

Shit, I hadn't even spotted that subplot. That's gonna be fascinating!

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Hoping this is televised just so I can watch Arundell at 15.

[Puja]

Hoping this is televised just so I can watch Arundell at 15.

Unfortunately no - Tigers vs Saracens. More likely to be relevant to the top of the table, less likely to be as entertaining.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Hoping this is televised just so I can watch Arundell at 15.

Unfortunately no - Tigers vs Saracens. More likely to be relevant to the top of the table, less likely to be as entertaining.

Puja

Boo.

[fivepointer]

I'd have Irish on tv every week. So far they havent been on once.

Still theres bound to be some highlights to enjoy. A lot of quality in both back lines.

[Margin_Walker]

LI are on it today and not a huge amount of resistance so far from Bath.

35 - 5 at HT

Flinging it wide and playing at a very high tempo. First half hat trick for OHC, with Loader getting the other two. Hamer-Webb with Bath's try from a nice Gallagher break.

Bath unlucky with injuries with McNally and Van Velze going off with bad looking arm/shoulder injuries.

[Banquo]

jeez you have to wonder wtaf w Bath

[Banquo]

jeez you have to wonder wtaf w Bath

chapeau to Bath second half

[Mellsblue]

Bath are making a living at making partial come backs against relaxed oppo.

[fivepointer]

47-38
Decent comeback by Bath in a game featuring 13 tries. Great entertainment i'm sure.

[I R Geech]

Bath currently below Worcester, a team no longer eligible to play. Some crumb of comfort that they are the most consistent team over the past couple of seasons.

[Which Tyler]

Sounds like ade the right decision to not watch - even if I made the wrong decision about what to watch instead.

[Margin_Walker]

Frustrating second half in the end for a LI point of view. Whilst the result never really felt in doubt, better teams wouldn't have let Bath score that many.

Couldn't really get the same pace of game going and the accuracy wasn't there. Also got on the wrong side of the Dickson and didn't adjust to stem the penalties.

[Epaminondas Pules]

That’s not uncommon with such a one sided first half.

[Spiffy]

Has Loader been out injured? Have not seen him for a while before today. A couple of seasons ago he looked well capable of making the England squad.I suppose he's still young enough to do it. A beautifully balanced runner who glides along with decent speed.

[Margin_Walker]

Yeah, he's been out injured.

He's a guy who gets lots of medium term 2, 3, 4 month injuries. As a result he never has enough time to play a full season to properly make an impression (or even a decent chunk of a season). The contrast with OHC who came through at the same time is pretty stark. OHC is never injured*

Loader's got a real opportunity here, as he's got all of the tools to be a threat in this league.

*touch wood

[Epaminondas Pules]

It’s a hell of a back three to face!

[Margin_Walker]

It’s a hell of a back three to face!

Yeah, it's a real handful when it's fizzing. Loader could really add something if he can stay fit.

He's not got amazing top speed, but he is very explosive, powerful and has a great step. Really useful in the opposition 22 as he'll find a way to get over the tryline if he gets a one on one.

[Banquo]

It’s a hell of a back three to face!

Yeah, it's a real handful when it's fizzing. Loader could really add something if he can stay fit.

He's not got amazing top speed, but he is very explosive, powerful and has a great step. Really useful in the opposition 22 as he'll find a way to get over the tryline if he gets a one on one.

fun team to play in I'd think.

[Mellsblue]

… and to watch. So glad Sarries beat Tigers yesterday. Leicester grinding down Northampton last week was very disappointing.

[FKAS]

… and to watch. So glad Sarries beat Tigers yesterday. Leicester grinding down Northampton last week was very disappointing.

It's an 80 minute game. If you only turn up for twenty minutes you can't expect to win.

Having seen the scoreline for this game I suspect BT are disappointed they didn't televise this one. Sounds like the highlights might be lengthy.