Bath vs Gloucester

[Epaminondas Pules]

Bath Rugby Starting XV: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Ewan Richards, 5 Ross Molony, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Josh Bayliss, 9 Tom Carr-Smith, 10 Finn Russell ©, 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Max Ojomoh, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Tom de Glanville

Replacements: 16 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Miles Reid, 20 Alfie Barbeary, 21 Neil le Roux, 22 Santi Carreras, 23 Chris Harris

[Epaminondas Pules]

Gloucester Rugby matchday squad
15 Charlie Atkinson
14 Ben Loader
13 Will Joseph
12 Seb Atkinson (VC)
11 Ollie Thorley
10 Ross Byrne
9 Tomos Williams (C)
1 Ciaran Knight
2 Seb Blake
3 Nepo Laulala*
4 Cam Jordan
5 Matias Alemanno
6 Freddie Thomas
7 James Venter
8 Josh Basham

16 Jack Innard
17 Archie McArthur
18 Afolabi Fasogbon
19 Hugh Bokenham
20 Jack Mann
21 Harry Taylor
22 Caolan Englefield
23 Josiah Edwards-Giraud

*Denotes Gallagher PREM debut.

Unavailable for selection
George Barton, Will Butler, Arthur Clark, Jack Clement, Danny Eite, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Kirill Gotovtsev, Josh Hathaway, Max Llewellyn, Lewis Ludlow, Val Rapava Ruskin, Ben Redshaw, Rob Russell, Jack Singleton.

[Which Tyler]

Bath with the 5:2 split, and Glos with the 6:2

Most concerningly is the lack of Captain Spencer - hopefully it's just rotation, but home against Gloucester is an odd time for that.

[FKAS]

The uncomfortable start to the season to continue for Glaws it seems. They've got a few players back but it doesn't look like enough considering how strong Bath are.

[fivepointer]

Two all English three quarter lines going head to head. Could be good to watch.

[Which Tyler]

Two all English three quarter lines going head to head. Could be good to watch.

Tomos Williams
Ross Byrne
Finn Russell

Has "three quarters" changed meaning since I was learning the game?

[fivepointer]

I regard no's 11-14 as the 3 quarters. 9 & 10 are the half backs.

[Puja]

Two all English three quarter lines going head to head. Could be good to watch.

Tomos Williams
Ross Byrne
Finn Russell

Has "three quarters" changed meaning since I was learning the game?

I'm with 5p. Those are the half-backs, three-quarters are 11-14, and the full-back behind them. It's always been that way from as long as I've known the game?

It's fractions - that's why the Kiwis call their 10 a 5/8th, cause they use half-back for the 9 only and 5/8ths is between 1/2 and 3/4.

Puja

[twitchy]

Worryingly comfortable for bath.

[FKAS]

Worryingly comfortable for bath.

They had a little wobble with Russell off but service was swiftly resumed.

[FKAS]

Nards, Seb Atkinson looks hurt and not a short term one.

[Captainhaircut]

Nards, Seb Atkinson looks hurt and not a short term one.

Knew this shit would happen right before the autumn internationals. Freeman injured too.

Farrell is going to be at 12 isn’t he. That fucker only gets injured when he’s in France.

Absolutely horrible.

[fivepointer]

Seb A's injury definitely a low point.

On the plus side, Ojomoh went well, Lawrence looks in good nick and Arundell has taken to the Prem very nicely. Also, Fasogbon put in a good shift off the bench and Richards had a fine game.

[FKAS]

Nards, Seb Atkinson looks hurt and not a short term one.

Knew this shit would happen right before the autumn internationals. Freeman injured too.

Farrell is going to be at 12 isn’t he. That fucker only gets injured when he’s in France.

Absolutely horrible.

Looks increasingly likely. With Dingwall and Ojomoh both for and playing well we have some hope.

[Puja]

Seb A's injury definitely a low point.

On the plus side, Ojomoh went well, Lawrence looks in good nick and Arundell has taken to the Prem very nicely. Also, Fasogbon put in a good shift off the bench and Richards had a fine game.

WJoseph not worth a mention? Looked good on the highlights, but obviously no guide to general game.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Seb A's injury definitely a low point.

On the plus side, Ojomoh went well, Lawrence looks in good nick and Arundell has taken to the Prem very nicely. Also, Fasogbon put in a good shift off the bench and Richards had a fine game.

WJoseph not worth a mention? Looked good on the highlights, but obviously no guide to general game.

Puja

Fair call. He looked pretty sharp.

A word for Carr-Smith who I thought had a very assured game at 9 for Bath.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Atkinson is somehow OK. Skive said afterwards that he’s fine.

[Oakboy]

Seb A's injury definitely a low point.

On the plus side, Ojomoh went well, Lawrence looks in good nick and Arundell has taken to the Prem very nicely. Also, Fasogbon put in a good shift off the bench and Richards had a fine game.

Agreed. Richards looks to be a real prospect on what little I have seen. There is always something exciting about such natural 'right place/right time' ability. All the basics seem there too.

[Which Tyler]

With their displays this year; and presumably being way-under the salary cap (they were below last year, and look to have saved a lot of money in transfers this summer)...
Am I alone in thinking that Diamond be a good acquisition for Glos?

Not necessarily to replace Skivington - but to come in above him and take on the DoR duties, and let Skivington concentrate on the hands-on roles (where I think he is rated)

[FKAS]

With their displays this year; and presumably being way-under the salary cap (they were below last year, and look to have saved a lot of money in transfers this summer)...
Am I alone in thinking that Diamond be a good acquisition for Glos?

Not necessarily to replace Skivington - but to come in above him and take on the DoR duties, and let Skivington concentrate on the hands-on roles (where I think he is rated)

Not sure how far under the cap Glaws are, they are certainly ravaged by injury.

George Barton, Will Butler, Arthur Clark, Jack Clement, Danny Eite, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Kirill Gotovtsev, Josh Hathaway, Max Llewellyn, Lewis Ludlow, Val Rapava Ruskin, Ben Redshaw, Rob Russell, Jack Singleton. They were all unavailable, around half would have been in the 23 were they fit.

There could be some wriggle room for additional signings and all the rumours are they are gunning for a big ball carrying forward next season which would suggest they are anticipating have money to play with.

Would Diamond help with that? Not sure. I think more of the issues are to do with Byrne not being worth the marquee salary he's commanding not fitting the coast to coast attack Glaws employed last season with Anscombe at 10.

[Scrumhead]

Seb A's injury definitely a low point.

On the plus side, Ojomoh went well, Lawrence looks in good nick and Arundell has taken to the Prem very nicely. Also, Fasogbon put in a good shift off the bench and Richards had a fine game.

Agreed. Richards looks to be a real prospect on what little I have seen. There is always something exciting about such natural 'right place/right time' ability. All the basics seem there too.

Richards is a funny one. He always seems to play well when he gets a game but has never really got an extended run. Not sure whether it’s because he’s a bit light for a lock but not quite dynamic enough to seriously compete with Bath’s plethora of very good back rows.

[Scrumhead]

With their displays this year; and presumably being way-under the salary cap (they were below last year, and look to have saved a lot of money in transfers this summer)...
Am I alone in thinking that Diamond be a good acquisition for Glos?

Not necessarily to replace Skivington - but to come in above him and take on the DoR duties, and let Skivington concentrate on the hands-on roles (where I think he is rated)

Not sure how far under the cap Glaws are, they are certainly ravaged by injury.

George Barton, Will Butler, Arthur Clark, Jack Clement, Danny Eite, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Kirill Gotovtsev, Josh Hathaway, Max Llewellyn, Lewis Ludlow, Val Rapava Ruskin, Ben Redshaw, Rob Russell, Jack Singleton. They were all unavailable, around half would have been in the 23 were they fit.

There could be some wriggle room for additional signings and all the rumours are they are gunning for a big ball carrying forward next season which would suggest they are anticipating have money to play with.

Would Diamond help with that? Not sure. I think more of the issues are to do with Byrne not being worth the marquee salary he's commanding not fitting the coast to coast attack Glaws employed last season with Anscombe at 10.

Yes, I think this is definitely one of the issues. Byrne was always a curious signing for their gameplan.

That said, defence seems to be more of an issue than attack.

[FKAS]

With their displays this year; and presumably being way-under the salary cap (they were below last year, and look to have saved a lot of money in transfers this summer)...
Am I alone in thinking that Diamond be a good acquisition for Glos?

Not necessarily to replace Skivington - but to come in above him and take on the DoR duties, and let Skivington concentrate on the hands-on roles (where I think he is rated)

Not sure how far under the cap Glaws are, they are certainly ravaged by injury.

George Barton, Will Butler, Arthur Clark, Jack Clement, Danny Eite, Jamal Ford-Robinson, Kirill Gotovtsev, Josh Hathaway, Max Llewellyn, Lewis Ludlow, Val Rapava Ruskin, Ben Redshaw, Rob Russell, Jack Singleton. They were all unavailable, around half would have been in the 23 were they fit.

There could be some wriggle room for additional signings and all the rumours are they are gunning for a big ball carrying forward next season which would suggest they are anticipating have money to play with.

Would Diamond help with that? Not sure. I think more of the issues are to do with Byrne not being worth the marquee salary he's commanding not fitting the coast to coast attack Glaws employed last season with Anscombe at 10.

Yes, I think this is definitely one of the issues. Byrne was always a curious signing for their gameplan.

That said, defence seems to be more of an issue than attack.

Defence is an issue. Not really got the size to physically dominate the gain line nor have they got enough breakdown presence to be a nuisance.

Don't know if it's just me but there's quite a few teams in the Prem who are playing with pretty average line speed. Quins, Tigers, Glaws it's all very passive defence. Odd with the aggressive line speeds we've seen become to norm in recent seasons.