Exeter vs Bristol

[Slater582]

Fisilau has injured his foot in the gym. Josh Hodge expected to return around the start of the Six Nations apparently.

Even as LANE hat trick cant get Bristol a point. Dogged effort from them but they were under the cosh pretty much throughout.

Tuima a deserved MotM.

Tuima did lots of very good stuff, but his carrying reminded me a lot of Borthwick, except a much bigger bloke. For his size he carries really quite poorly. He doesn't fight through contact the way you'd expect someone of his size to.

Agreed. I really want to like Tuima - there's a lot there to like in terms of the physical base - but he's not yet good at imposing that frame on contests. It could come, with time. I think the move to the second row is a good one for him.

Puja

Hadn't realised it was a permanent switch. From the Telegraph;

Rusi Tuima, the Suva-born 23-year-old who might just be on the verge of a breakthrough campaign, is among the heftiest and most promising. The nephew of Akapusi Qera, the feted Fiji international, and the cousin of Joe Cokanasiga, not to mention the brother of Lagi, the talented Red Roses centre, Tuima possesses serious pedigree. He has had to be patient, biding his time on loan with Plymouth Albion, but, in the absence of a departed club legend in Dave Ewers, Chiefs have required another gain-line enforcer to step up.

Tuima, a former England age-group back-rower, looks at home as a lock. Beginning his game with a shunted try in the third minute, he ended it by plucking a clean turnover from the clutches of Harry Thacker. In between, Tuima complemented muscular involvement with skilful touches, particularly around the line-out, and deft footwork. Standing 6ft 5in and tipping the scales at over 20st, he has other, obvious assets that are rather valuable for their rarity in this country.

Baxter revealed that a pre-season chat with Rob Hunter, his forwards coach, had inspired Tuima’s move to the engine room, primarily because Chiefs prefer their back-rowers to string together “repeat actions”. Too polite to divulge an exact weight, Baxter saluted Tuima as “a big boy” with a big future. “A permanent shift has allowed him to focus on his strengths – his size and physicality,” explained Exeter’s director of rugby. “He’s obviously working very hard in the scrum. But then his aerial work has improved fantastically as well. I’m not going to say he’s a complete second-row forward, but he’s certainly looking like one guy who’ll make up a good pairing of locks. “I’ve got to be very careful because I don’t want to be sitting here telling people that these players are amazing, because Rusi is four games into a Premiership career as a second-row forward.”

[fivepointer]

“I’ve got to be very careful because I don’t want to be sitting here telling people that these players are amazing, because Rusi is four games into a Premiership career as a second-row forward.”

Exactly. Tuima has made a good transition and has shown up very favourably so far. Its early days but there's a lot to like.

Another young Exe player that i like the look of Cairns at SH. Maybe overdoes the breaking but he looks sharp and has a good energy about him.

[Oakboy]

Frost looks a useful hooker and Roots seems a good signing.

[Adam_P]

Sounds like Exeter are working their magic on Painter - which bodes well for England in the future. Hopefully the trajectory continues.

[Scrumhead]

If Painter comes good, that would be excellent given the lack of genuine tighthead options. He could be our version of Uini Atonio.

I still wonder if he’s just another Harry Williams though … a big lad who’s good at Premiership level but not good enough to make it at test level.

Still … Francis has done pretty well for Wales despite being very average.

[FKAS]

Painter looks like he's come on leaps and bounds over the summer. Rob Hunter is a very good forwards coach and the addition of McMillan as scrum coach seems to be working well for Chiefs. Painter is a good fit for Chiefs and there's a lot to be said for having a big bloke that can reliably keep his side of the scrum up and do his bit in the tight.

[Puja]

Painter looks like he's come on leaps and bounds over the summer. Rob Hunter is a very good forwards coach and the addition of McMillan as scrum coach seems to be working well for Chiefs. Painter is a good fit for Chiefs and there's a lot to be said for having a big bloke that can reliably keep his side of the scrum up and do his bit in the tight.

Indeed. Painter will never set the world alight in the loose and I doubt his bounce time would've met Eddie's metrics, but we are not so well off for props that we can afford to ignore a new Julian White.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Frost looks a useful hooker and Roots seems a good signing.

Roots certainly makes a lot of interventions...

[Mikey Brown]

Frost looks a useful hooker and Roots seems a good signing.

Roots certainly makes a lot of interventions...

Is there more context to these two posts? Obviously Twitter is useless now without an account and fuck making one.

[Danno]

[p/d]

Content or not. Oakboy with focus in on number 9

[Oakboy]

If Painter comes good, that would be excellent given the lack of genuine tighthead options. He could be our version of Uini Atonio.

I still wonder if he’s just another Harry Williams though … a big lad who’s good at Premiership level but not good enough to make it at test level.

Still … Francis has done pretty well for Wales despite being very average.

Yes, agreed. One little aside, though, is the close quarters try-scoring which seems to be held on the margins by some clubs but valued by Exeter. Being ruthless in the opposition's 22 needs that component so that there is no fear of losing the ball in the multi-phase stuff. When Farrell and others resort to kick-passes with a low success rate, I'd rather see a team stay patient and keep hammering away. The psychological gain is worthwhile, as is the physical drain on the tacklers. If Painter offers extra threat close in, I'd offset it against any less-athletic carrying disadvantages elsewhere - to some extent anyway.

IMO, England need to up their game in the tight stuff in the 22, so big-lump front five forwards may come to the fore if they can be found, even if just from the bench.

[Oakboy]

Content or not. Oakboy with focus in on number 9

'Jonny is under-rated', I could claim!! Number 2 makes me stop and think.

[Mellsblue]

Content or not. Oakboy with focus in on number 9

'Jonny is under-rated', I could claim!! Number 2 makes me stop and think.

It also looks a lot different when calculated per 80mins:
1. James Hadfield
2. Freddie Thomas
3. Tom Willis
4. George McGuigan

These four are the only ones with more than 60 per 80mins.

[Scrumhead]

Frost looks a useful hooker and Roots seems a good signing.

Roots certainly makes a lot of interventions...

I’m not into capping players with tenuous connections, but I’m pretty sure I read that Roots is EQ. Interesting that he’s also Exeter’s club captain which is impressive for a guy who has just joined the club.

If you include him, 7/10 of the players on that list are EQ which is not a bad position to be in. Early days though.

[Mikey Brown]

Content or not. Oakboy with focus in on number 9

'Jonny is under-rated', I could claim!! Number 2 makes me stop and think.

It also looks a lot different when calculated per 80mins:
1. James Hadfield
2. Freddie Thomas
3. Tom Willis
4. George McGuigan

These four are the only ones with more than 60 per 80mins.

I was getting ready to write Willis off as yesterdays man, but that's interesting to see. Is McGuigan too old to get a look in for England now? Still seems weird he didn't go the world cup.

I assumed Roots was a prop from that image above but he's a 6. Doesn't really seem like we're lacking the option there to be looking at imports, but I guess if he qualifies he qualifies.

[Scrumhead]

McGuigan continues to be a bizarre omission. He’s probably been the best hooker in the Premiership for the past 3 seasons yet has never got a proper look in, even when we’ve had a dearth of other options.

I’d have thought Borthwick would like him given his solidity with the set pieces etc.

[FKAS]

McGuigan continues to be a bizarre omission. He’s probably been the best hooker in the Premiership for the past 3 seasons yet has never got a proper look in, even when we’ve had a dearth of other options.

I’d have thought Borthwick would like him given his solidity with the set pieces etc.

Wasn't he included and then injured at an unfortunate time last season, can't remember if it was the 6N or summer training squad?

[Mikey Brown]

That does sound familiar actually. I thought he was currently in that group of a dozen or so players who have about 3 games and 75 seconds of time on the pitch.

[Scrumhead]

McGuigan continues to be a bizarre omission. He’s probably been the best hooker in the Premiership for the past 3 seasons yet has never got a proper look in, even when we’ve had a dearth of other options.

I’d have thought Borthwick would like him given his solidity with the set pieces etc.

Wasn't he included and then injured at an unfortunate time last season, can't remember if it was the 6N or summer training squad?

Yes. He was and IIRC, I think he was in the initial World Cup training squad. He hasn’t made it in to a match day squad despite though being a fair bit better than Walker and Blamire (IMO anyway). Hence my comment of ‘never got a proper look in’.

[FKAS]

McGuigan continues to be a bizarre omission. He’s probably been the best hooker in the Premiership for the past 3 seasons yet has never got a proper look in, even when we’ve had a dearth of other options.

I’d have thought Borthwick would like him given his solidity with the set pieces etc.

Wasn't he included and then injured at an unfortunate time last season, can't remember if it was the 6N or summer training squad?

Yes. He was and IIRC, I think he was in the initial World Cup training squad. He hasn’t made it in to a match day squad despite though being a fair bit better than Walker and Blamire (IMO anyway). Hence my comment of ‘never got a proper look in’.

After getting injured in January he played one game in April and one game in May. Might have counted against him. Dan Kelly was overlooked having similarly come back from injury at the end of the season.

[Scrumhead]

Shame that logic wasn’t applied to Billy Vunipola.