RugbyRebels

Sale: Hammersley; Solomona, S James, Tuilagi, McGuigan; Wilkinson, Quirke; Rodd, Langdon, Schonert, Wiese, JL du Preez, Ross (capt), T Curry, D du Preez.

Replacements: Taylor, Harrison, Oosthuizen, JP du Preez, Nield, Warr, Curtis, L James.

Harlequins: Green; Marchant, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care; Marler, Walker, Kerrod, Symons, Lamb, Chisholm, Kenningham, Dombrandt (capt).

Replacements: Riley, Baxter, Collier, Tizard, Lawday, Steele, Jones, Lynagh.

Really interested to see TCurry up against Kenningham. It's the first time that SpecialK has gone up against one of the big names on the openside and it'll be a real test of his international credentials.

Puja

Big battle at 12! That's one to watch for sure.

Anyone know why Lynagh has been benched? Can't be because he's not scoring, and given he's replaced by Marchant playing out of position there must be some sort of tactical consideration there. It's how they played much of the second half against Bristol, I know, but got to be more to it than that?

Magic_sponge wrote:Big battle at 12! That's one to watch for sure.

Anyone know why Lynagh has been benched? Can't be because he's not scoring, and given he's replaced by Marchant playing out of position there must be some sort of tactical consideration there. It's how they played much of the second half against Bristol, I know, but got to be more to it than that?

I'd imagine Marchant to the wing will allow Quins to bring more physicality to the midfield defence. Sam James is often the key man in distributing to the wings but I'd physical to run the hard line and allow Manu to drift out and attack down the 13 channel. Makes sense to reinforce.

I'm interested to see how Smith goes in this one. Care is not the best tactical scrum half, he likes to play the ball a bit too much. Sale's big pack will tire though so patience in this one could be key. Sale's inexperienced half backs should be beaten in the tactical aspects. Pin Sale back and force their big pack to try and play out. Pick off the errors or counter attack from clearing kicks to pick Sale's slightly iffy defence apart. Care and Smith get this wrong and overplay the Sale could get chances, the Sale pack smashing into the Chiefs defence for extended periods in Quins 22 isn't going to help Quins both on the immediate scoreboard and also with key players as the Quins forwards on the bench is a serious step down on the starting options. Marler runs himself out chop tackling big Quins forwards then it's teenager Baxter against a fresh Oosthuizen for example.

If Quins play with tempo and get over the gainline, most teams struggle to contain them. Sale are always pretty fierce around the fringes and with one-out runners, but this season it seems that if they can be moved about and pushed backwards they get quite ragged quite quickly. Interesting to see what effect Curry will have, as I think that will give Sale a bit more steel in wider channels

Magic_sponge wrote:Big battle at 12! That's one to watch for sure.

Anyone know why Lynagh has been benched? Can't be because he's not scoring, and given he's replaced by Marchant playing out of position there must be some sort of tactical consideration there. It's how they played much of the second half against Bristol, I know, but got to be more to it than that?

Purely tactical I’d say. Marchant is better than Lynagh defensively and is almost as good on the wing as he is at 13. Also gives us the opportunity to have Lynagh come on if the game breaks up in the second half.

Puja wrote:Really interested to see TCurry up against Kenningham. It's the first time that SpecialK has gone up against one of the big names on the openside and it'll be a real test of his international credentials.

Puja

Who do you think will get the better of this head to head Puja? Kenningham has a Moodyesque style from what I’ve seen so far.

jngf wrote:

Puja wrote:Really interested to see TCurry up against Kenningham. It's the first time that SpecialK has gone up against one of the big names on the openside and it'll be a real test of his international credentials.

Puja

Who do you think will get the better of this head to head Puja? Kenningham has a Moodyesque style from what I’ve seen so far.

I don't know he's that Moody-like (blonde hair and lineout option notwithstanding) in that he's not a manic energy everwhere presence. I'd say a more apt comparison (and one that's meant to be a compliment, even though it doesn't sound it) is Dan Lydiate. He's just got such an efficient tackle technique that he can shut down attacks on his own.

I'd expect Curry to come out on top, being the world class player that he is, but the interesting thing will be seeing how Kenningham copes with the pressure that Curry will put him under. He'll either raise his game and we'll have an excellent ding-dong battle at the breakdowns, or he'll learn a few things.

Puja

Puja wrote:

jngf wrote:

Puja wrote:Really interested to see TCurry up against Kenningham. It's the first time that SpecialK has gone up against one of the big names on the openside and it'll be a real test of his international credentials.

Puja

Who do you think will get the better of this head to head Puja? Kenningham has a Moodyesque style from what I’ve seen so far.

I don't know he's that Moody-like (blonde hair and lineout option notwithstanding) in that he's not a manic energy everwhere presence. I'd say a more apt comparison (and one that's meant to be a compliment, even though it doesn't sound it) is Dan Lydiate. He's just got such an efficient tackle technique that he can shut down attacks on his own.

I'd expect Curry to come out on top, being the world class player that he is, but the interesting thing will be seeing how Kenningham copes with the pressure that Curry will put him under. He'll either raise his game and we'll have an excellent ding-dong battle at the breakdowns, or he'll learn a few things.

Puja

Couldn't suggest Kenningham is like Moody he seems to have an element of self preservation. Moody bless him thought nothing of nearly killing himself in a Tuesday contact session let alone game day.

I honestly see Kenningham as Robshaw Mark 2 and possibly the long term answer at 6 for England.

FKAS wrote:

Puja wrote:

jngf wrote:
Who do you think will get the better of this head to head Puja? Kenningham has a Moodyesque style from what I’ve seen so far.

I don't know he's that Moody-like (blonde hair and lineout option notwithstanding) in that he's not a manic energy everwhere presence. I'd say a more apt comparison (and one that's meant to be a compliment, even though it doesn't sound it) is Dan Lydiate. He's just got such an efficient tackle technique that he can shut down attacks on his own.

I'd expect Curry to come out on top, being the world class player that he is, but the interesting thing will be seeing how Kenningham copes with the pressure that Curry will put him under. He'll either raise his game and we'll have an excellent ding-dong battle at the breakdowns, or he'll learn a few things.

Puja

Couldn't suggest Kenningham is like Moody he seems to have an element of self preservation. Moody bless him thought nothing of nearly killing himself in a Tuesday contact session let alone game day.

I honestly see Kenningham as Robshaw Mark 2 and possibly the long term answer at 6 for England.

He would be, as that's who he based his game off.

He's like Robshaw but without the downsides. He's a better rugby player, and when you combine that with the workrate and commitment of Robshaw, that's a pretty potent combo.

Stom wrote:

FKAS wrote:

Puja wrote:
I don't know he's that Moody-like (blonde hair and lineout option notwithstanding) in that he's not a manic energy everwhere presence. I'd say a more apt comparison (and one that's meant to be a compliment, even though it doesn't sound it) is Dan Lydiate. He's just got such an efficient tackle technique that he can shut down attacks on his own.

I'd expect Curry to come out on top, being the world class player that he is, but the interesting thing will be seeing how Kenningham copes with the pressure that Curry will put him under. He'll either raise his game and we'll have an excellent ding-dong battle at the breakdowns, or he'll learn a few things.

Puja

Couldn't suggest Kenningham is like Moody he seems to have an element of self preservation. Moody bless him thought nothing of nearly killing himself in a Tuesday contact session let alone game day.

I honestly see Kenningham as Robshaw Mark 2 and possibly the long term answer at 6 for England.

He would be, as that's who he based his game off.

He's like Robshaw but without the downsides. He's a better rugby player, and when you combine that with the workrate and commitment of Robshaw, that's a pretty potent combo.

There's worse players to base your game on. Robshaw's big upside was that he was reliably competent at everything, he wasn't stand out in a number of areas but they weren't weaknesses. Kenningham reminds me of that a lot, you'd be hard pressed to find a real weakness though there's areas where he's a bit average. I'd like to see more of Kenningham's attack game as he that's an area where you wouldn't say it was weakness but also that it's not a strength and the lineout, if he makes that more than something he can turn his hand to and a real strength (I'm sure he's said he's working on that) then that will elevate his game in a big way.

That escalated quickly

Didn't it just.

Quins have spent nearly all of the first 8 mins in their own 22 and Care has had two opportunities to clear and bungled both. Smith gets the chance and goes for a chancy crossfield. They need better control. The Quins pack is having to go through a lot of hard defensive work, protect your forwards a bit and get some breathing space. Quins forwards defence has been awesome though.

Watch them score a length of the field effort now.

Surely that was forward??

That was coming. Forward pass tho

The TMO will have reviewed it surely. That's literally what he's there for.

In Tempest we Trust

Danny Care, shocking performance in terms of tactical kicking but give him a sniff of a tap and go and he's straight over for a try. Sale will have known it's coming but he's so quick to react

We don't like keeping hold of the pill today.

Quirke is catching the eye. Looks a bit like a Dark Souls default character, but playing hard

The Sale error count is what's giving Quins an in into the game. Sale are winning the tactical kicking battle but the Quins defence and Sale's inability to hold onto the thing keeps inviting pressure.

Quins are lucky Sale finished that because otherwise Walker was going to the bin because that was blatantly in at the side.

Both sides pretty error prone really.

Wish BT would tone down the crowd mic a touch. Not keen on Tracy's opinion on why the scrum was reset

Danno wrote:Both sides pretty error prone really.

Wish BT would tone down the crowd mic a touch. Not keen on Tracy's opinion on why the scrum was reset

The music is coming through a treat. Creating a good Friday night vibe.

Danno wrote:In Tempest we Trust

There are time when written sarcasm absolutely works, absent smilies etc

Who was it from quins that looked like they were running away from the tackle and throwing a desperate "pass" my u10s would have been proud of?