The Big Combined Premiership Rugby Cup Thread

[Margin_Walker]

That's a very strong Prem Cup team from Bristol. Could get messy if they get going.

[Scrumhead]

Both of Pollocks’ parents are Scottish….

Pollocks! I didn’t know that.

I did enjoy his post match interview on that SA tour:

[Puja]

Leicester:
15 Kini Murimurivalu [39]
14 Lachlan Shelley [2]
13 Jacob Cusick [7]
12 Joseph Woodward [4]
11 Hosea Saumaki [15]
10 Jed Walsh [2]
9 Sam Edwards (vc) [6]
1 James Whitcombe (c) [25]
2 Tom Horton [2]
3 Will Hurd [11]
4 Tom Manz [2]
5 Lewis Chessum [4]
6 Josh Manz [2]
7 Emeka Ilione [4]
8 Sean Jansen (vc) [6]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Archie Vanes [5]
17 Nephi Leatigaga [71]
18 Tim Hoyt [1]
19 Rob Carmichael [1]
20 Finn Carnduff [3]
21 Josh Goodwin [1] *
22 Morgan Meredith [3]
23 Joe Browning [4]

* Loan player from Nottingham Rugby

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Alex Tait, 13 George Wacokecoke, 12 Ewan Greenlaw, 11 Iwan Stephens, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Michael Young (captain); 1 Phil Brantingham, 2 Charlie Maddison, 3 Mark Tampin, 4 Matthew Dalton, 5 George Merrick, 6 Marcus Tiffen, 7 Matt Deehan, 8 Tom Marshall.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Conrad Cade, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Luke Coulston, 20 Vereimi Qorowale, 21 Josh Barton, 22 Louie Johnson, 23 Zach Kerr.

[Puja]

Leicester resisting the temptation to give gametime to the first XV, given that we're due to have three weekends off in a row (Wasps, bye week, Worcester). A decent shout to give the A-side the game, I think - hopefully the first XV are being given a brief holiday and then a mini-pre-season, including a friendly if they can arrange it.

Newcastle with Ollie Fletcher on the bench - is that son of John? He'll've had some impressive coaching in his time if that's the case.

Puja

[FKAS]

Not only is that Bristol side oddly strong for the competition on their website they've called their subs "System Players" which is fairly horrific.

Tigers keeping with the side they've used for most the competition so far. I agree with that, the young lads ran Sale very close and then beat Wasps. Good results given the Sale team was quite a bit more experienced and they were well matched Vs their Wasps opponents. Would be a bit of a slap in the face to the development boys to say well done and drop them for some bruised first teamers to play half heartedly after the grueling start and physical game on Sunday. Not to mention Reffell and Weise will be playing internationally during the AIs so giving Ilione and Jansen more game time makes sense. The only change I'd have made would have been at 10 where I thought Meredith did enough off the bench last time out to have a chance at starting over Walsh, Walsh was great off the tee but his kicking from hand had me questioning if he was wearing square toed shoes.

Fairly handy Falcons team with their OC having played and scored at the weekend as well as a few others that have had Prem game time this season.

[jimKRFC]

Not only is that Bristol side oddly strong for the competition on their website they've called their subs "System Players" which is fairly horrific.

it is... I've been changing it since they started...

[Puja]

Not only is that Bristol side oddly strong for the competition on their website they've called their subs "System Players" which is fairly horrific.

it is... I've been changing it since they started...

I've been using the new Thanks button on the board mostly as a "Like" function to approve of something without doing a whole new post, but I think this is the first time I've used it when I'm truly thankful for something a poster has done.

Puja

[FKAS]

Not only is that Bristol side oddly strong for the competition on their website they've called their subs "System Players" which is fairly horrific.

it is... I've been changing it since they started...

I've been using the new Thanks button on the board mostly as a "Like" function to approve of something without doing a whole new post, but I think this is the first time I've used it when I'm truly thankful for something a poster has done.

Puja

Very much so.

[francoisfou]

Leicester:
15 Kini Murimurivalu [39]
14 Lachlan Shelley [2]
13 Jacob Cusick [7]
12 Joseph Woodward [4]
11 Hosea Saumaki [15]
10 Jed Walsh [2]
9 Sam Edwards (vc) [6]
1 James Whitcombe (c) [25]
2 Tom Horton [2]
3 Will Hurd [11]
4 Tom Manz [2]
5 Lewis Chessum [4]
6 Josh Manz [2]
7 Emeka Ilione [4]
8 Sean Jansen (vc) [6]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Archie Vanes [5]
17 Nephi Leatigaga [71]
18 Tim Hoyt [1]
19 Rob Carmichael [1]
20 Finn Carnduff [3]
21 Josh Goodwin [1] *
22 Morgan Meredith [3]
23 Joe Browning [4]

* Loan player from Nottingham Rugby

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Alex Tait, 13 George Wacokecoke, 12 Ewan Greenlaw, 11 Iwan Stephens, 10 Tian Schoeman, 9 Michael Young (captain); 1 Phil Brantingham, 2 Charlie Maddison, 3 Mark Tampin, 4 Matthew Dalton, 5 George Merrick, 6 Marcus Tiffen, 7 Matt Deehan, 8 Tom Marshall.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Conrad Cade, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Luke Coulston, 20 Vereimi Qorowale, 21 Josh Barton, 22 Louie Johnson, 23 Zach Kerr.

Looking forward to watching this as it’ll be my first match at Welford Rd this season. Good experience for young players in front of what I hope will be a good crowd.

[Which Tyler]

That's a very strong Prem Cup team from Bristol. Could get messy if they get going.

Seems to be happening against Bath a fair bit - Gloucester last year, Gloucester this year, and now Bristol - because of the way the fallow weeks work out.
It's part (only part) of makes this competition Bloody Useless (and pretty much did when it was the AWC too, though it's exacerbated in its current guise)

[Epaminondas Pules]

Leicester resisting the temptation to give gametime to the first XV, given that we're due to have three weekends off in a row (Wasps, bye week, Worcester). A decent shout to give the A-side the game, I think - hopefully the first XV are being given a brief holiday and then a mini-pre-season, including a friendly if they can arrange it.

Newcastle with Ollie Fletcher on the bench - is that son of John? He'll've had some impressive coaching in his time if that's the case.

Puja

Yep. Was in the Eng U20s last year. Very highly thought of. Newcastle are being very sensible with bringing through Brantingham, Dormer and Fletcher

[francoisfou]

Tigers 31 Falcons 32. An error strewn first half from Tigers was their downfall in a game that ultimately should have been won. The half-time talk certainly motivated them to come out with intent in the second half and better game management would surely have secured a win. Falcons, however, scored a try in the last minute and the conversion won the game, although it seemed to have faded past the top of the post. Disappointingly, the crowd was sparse, particularly as there won’t now be another home match for several weeks.

[fivepointer]

Decent result for Newcastle.
Bristol won 29-0. Not unexpected given the line ups.

[FKAS]

Tigers 31 Falcons 32. An error strewn first half from Tigers was their downfall in a game that ultimately should have been won. The half-time talk certainly motivated them to come out with intent in the second half and better game management would surely have secured a win. Falcons, however, scored a try in the last minute and the conversion won the game, although it seemed to have faded past the top of the post. Disappointingly, the crowd was sparse, particularly as there won’t now be another home match for several weeks.

4,100 on a Wednesday night in the middle of half term week isn't bad. A lot of people will be on holiday, those traveling from around the county or further might have had issues finishing work and then getting to the ground or might not have wanted to take the family to a late finish. A development competition also doesn't encourage the occasional fans to turn up.

Losing by a point to a more experienced Falcons team is disappointing given the position we were in but it'll be good experience to the youngsters. IIRC Tigers only had three players over the age of 22 in the starting line up and another two on the bench, of which one was 23.

[jimKRFC]

Decent result for Newcastle.
Bristol won 29-0. Not unexpected given the line ups.

Bristols first 0 point conceded to Bath since 1962 - got to be happy with that!

[francoisfou]

Tigers 31 Falcons 32. An error strewn first half from Tigers was their downfall in a game that ultimately should have been won. The half-time talk certainly motivated them to come out with intent in the second half and better game management would surely have secured a win. Falcons, however, scored a try in the last minute and the conversion won the game, although it seemed to have faded past the top of the post. Disappointingly, the crowd was sparse, particularly as there won’t now be another home match for several weeks.

4,100 on a Wednesday night in the middle of half term week isn't bad. A lot of people will be on holiday, those traveling from around the county or further might have had issues finishing work and then getting to the ground or might not have wanted to take the family to a late finish. A development competition also doesn't encourage the occasional fans to turn up.

Losing by a point to a more experienced Falcons team is disappointing given the position we were in but it'll be good experience to the youngsters. IIRC Tigers only had three players over the age of 22 in the starting line up and another two on the bench, of which one was 23.

4,100! I suppose that’s above average for a PRC fixture. My next match may be Clermont which should hopefully be close to full.

[FKAS]

Tigers 31 Falcons 32. An error strewn first half from Tigers was their downfall in a game that ultimately should have been won. The half-time talk certainly motivated them to come out with intent in the second half and better game management would surely have secured a win. Falcons, however, scored a try in the last minute and the conversion won the game, although it seemed to have faded past the top of the post. Disappointingly, the crowd was sparse, particularly as there won’t now be another home match for several weeks.

4,100 on a Wednesday night in the middle of half term week isn't bad. A lot of people will be on holiday, those traveling from around the county or further might have had issues finishing work and then getting to the ground or might not have wanted to take the family to a late finish. A development competition also doesn't encourage the occasional fans to turn up.

Losing by a point to a more experienced Falcons team is disappointing given the position we were in but it'll be good experience to the youngsters. IIRC Tigers only had three players over the age of 22 in the starting line up and another two on the bench, of which one was 23.

4,100! I suppose that’s above average for a PRC fixture. My next match may be Clermont which should hopefully be close to full.

Ha that'll be like chalk and cheese, midweek PRC vs the Clermont Bearpit on the weekend isn't comparable.

[francoisfou]

4,100 on a Wednesday night in the middle of half term week isn't bad. A lot of people will be on holiday, those traveling from around the county or further might have had issues finishing work and then getting to the ground or might not have wanted to take the family to a late finish. A development competition also doesn't encourage the occasional fans to turn up.

Losing by a point to a more experienced Falcons team is disappointing given the position we were in but it'll be good experience to the youngsters. IIRC Tigers only had three players over the age of 22 in the starting line up and another two on the bench, of which one was 23.

4,100! I suppose that’s above average for a PRC fixture. My next match may be Clermont which should hopefully be close to full.

Ha that'll be like chalk and cheese, midweek PRC vs the Clermont Bearpit on the weekend isn't comparable.

Indeed, not comparable at all!

[jimKRFC]

Glaws & Bris sides for their game.

Glos:
15. Josh Hathaway (Aberystwyth/Hartpury)* 14. Alex Hearle (Worcester Warriors) 13. Tom Seabrook (Spartans RFC)* 12. Seb Atkinson (Bromsgrove/Worcester Warriors)* 11. Jake Morris (Old Pats/Bournside)* 10. George Barton (C) (Longlevens)* 9. Matty Jones* 1. Alex Seville* 2. Henry Walker (Bromsgrove School)* 3. Ciaran Knight (Matson RFC)* 4. Andrew Davidson 5. Freddie Thomas* 6. Jack Clement* 7. Rob Nixon (Sir Thomas Rich's School)* 8. Jake Polledri*

16. Seb Blake (Cheltenham Tigers)* 17. Archie McArthur* 18. Bryan O'Connor (Crosshaven RFC)* 19. Danny Eite (Hartpury)* 20. Jack Bartlett (Dursley RFC)* 21. Tom Miles* 22. Morgan Adderly-Jones (Hove RFC/Hartpury)* 23. Alex Morgan*

*Denotes academy player or graduate, brackets junior club socks.

Bristol:
15. Noah Heward (debut), 14. Sami Hamid (debut), 13. Harry Ascherl (4 apps), 12. James Williams (2 apps), 11. Harry Rowson (3 apps), 10. Tom Whiteley (11 apps), 9. Oscar Lennon (5 apps); 1. Aristot Benz-Salomon (2 apps), 2. Jake Kerr (23 apps), 3. George Kloska (18 apps), 4. Charlie Rice (2 apps), 5. Joe Owen (1 app), 6. Aaron Tull (2 apps), 7. Dan Thomas (c) (115 apps), 8. Ed Harvey (1 app).
System players: 16. Fred Davies (1 app), 17. Tom Sims (2 apps), 18. Jay Tyack (2 apps), 19. Arthur Thomas (debut), 20. Macenzzie Duncan (5 apps), 21. Pete Carter (1 app), 22. Jac Lloyd (2 apps), 23. Freddie Owsley (debut).

[Puja]

Glaws playing two games this weekend! Here's their XV against Exeter in the PRC:

Team News v Exeter

15. Josh Hathaway*
14. Alex Morgan*
13. Jack Reeves*
12. Morgan Adderly-Jones*
11. Jake Morris*
10. George Barton*
9. Ben Meehan (C)

1. Alex Seville*
2. Seb Blake*
3. Kirill Gotovtsev
4. Andrew Davidson
5. Arthur Clark*
6. Freddie Thomas*
7. Jack Clement*
8. Jack Bartlett*


16. Finn Theobald-Thomas*
17. Archie McArthur*
18. Bryan O’Connor*
19. Danny Eite*
20. Rob Nixon*
21. Matty Jones*
22. Tom Riman*
23. Kyle Moyle

*Denotes academy player or graduate

[Which Tyler]

LIrish vs Bath
kids and emergency back-ups with two injury returnees

15 Sam Harris, 14 Tom de Glanville, 13 Jordan Venter, 12 Max Wright, 11 Will Butt, 10 George Worboys, 9 Tom Carr-Smith; 1 Juan Schoeman, 2 Tom Doughty, 3 Archie Griffin, 4 Michael Etete, 5 JJ Tonks, 6 Tom Ellis, 7 Wesley White, 8 Richard de Carpentier

16 Jasper Spandler, 17 Archie Stanley, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Ethan Staddon, 20 Frankie Read, 21 Louie Hennessey, 22 Gabe Goss, 23 Nahum Merigan

[Margin_Walker]

My knowledge of the quality of Baths squad players is pretty lacking, so whilst I've heard of a good chunk of them, outside of the likes of de Glanville, Schoeman etc how strong a line up is that compared to previous PRC teams this season?

LI squad:

[Puja]

My knowledge of the quality of Baths squad players is pretty lacking, so whilst I've heard of a good chunk of them, outside of the likes of de Glanville, Schoeman etc how strong a line up is that compared to previous PRC teams this season?

How strong, you say?

capture.jpg

That's the 13, back when he was 17 years old.


As a serious answer, it looks more experienced than yours, especially in the backs. It's not outrageous, but TdG, Wright, Butt, Schoeman, Doughty, Ellis, White, and de Carpentier all have significant first team experience, albeit some of that because of Bath's injury woes. The only real 1st XXIII players are TdG, Butt, Ellis, and White, and those are coming back from injury and not in the starting XV rn.

Puja

[Margin_Walker]

Ha, got to love the SA schools system. They grow them big and strong on that biltong.

Cheers, we'll see how it goes. Actually a fairly important game for LI commercially with an additional home fixture (hopefully not a midweek rail strike day one) at stake.

[FKAS]

The Bath fullback the Sam Harris from the England under 20s squad in the summer? If it is he looked pretty handy and probably deserved more game time than he got, got a decent boot on him as I seem to remember him taking the kicks to touch at one point.