2016/17 Pre-season thread

[Vieux Talonneur]

Moving away from this case into general terms, this is a horrible crime. Where guilty, punishment should be harsh.

But for those found innocent it is absolutely the worst crime to have been accused of. Because it is so sensitive I guess the Police and CPS will always err on the side of caution. But mud sticks and where claims are clearly malicious there should be consequences and redress. I don't know what the answer is but it always seems wrong that the accused is named and immediately cops the stigma whereas the accuser has anonymity.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Tigers play Osprey on friday.

 

[Maverick1987]

Moving away from this case into general terms, this is a horrible crime. Where guilty, punishment should be harsh.

But for those found innocent it is absolutely the worst crime to have been accused of. Because it is so sensitive I guess the Police and CPS will always err on the side of caution. But mud sticks and where claims are clearly malicious there should be consequences and redress. I don't know what the answer is but it always seems wrong that the accused is named and immediately cops the stigma whereas the accuser has anonymity.

Anonymity for the person accusing and the accused would be the best imo . At least until a verdict has been announced . I know it's slightly different but look what Cliff Richard has gone through falsely . The BBC amongst others should be held accountable for the "quality" of their reporting imo

 

[brokenoses]

Chiefs play Scarlets on Saturday.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Ospreys (v Leicester Tigers, Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Friday 7.15pm)
15 Dan Evans
14 Jeff Hassler
13 Ben John
12 Josh Matavesi
11 Tom Grabham
10 Sam Davies
9 Tom Habberfield (c)
1 Nicky Smith
2 Sam Parry
3 Dmitri Arhip
4 Tyler Ardron
5 Rory Thornton
6 Olly Cracknell
7 Scott Otten
8 Dan Baker

Replacements
16 Hugh Gustafson
17 Gareth Thomas
18 Ma'afu Fia
19 Lloyd Ashley
20 Josh Cole
21 Matthew Aubrey
22 Ashley Beck
23 Dafydd Howells
Ryan Bevington
Rhys Jones
Rob McCusker
Luke Price
Joe Thomas
Morgan Williams

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Tigers team have new signing Hamilton and Betts on the bench
Starting XV is
Tait
Thompstone
Roberts
Smith
Catchpole
Burns
Harrison
Genge
Youngs
Balmain
Slater
Barrow
O'Connor
Evans
McCaffrey

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

The 2 Chiefs Line-Ups:
1. Rimmer
2. Yeandle
3. Williams
4. Hill
5. Welch
6. Ewers
7. Simmonds
8. Horstmann
9. Townsend
10. Hooley
11. Short
12. Hendrickson
13. Whitten
14. Bodilly
15. Turner

1. Moon
2. Malton
3. Low
4. Atkins
5. Parling
6. Johnson
7. Salvi
8. Waldrom
9. Maunder
10. Steenson
11. Jess
12. Hill
13. Laverick
14. Woodburn
15. Turner (Who's in both)

I'm interested to see Whitten at 13. Hopefully that means that Slade is making the move to 10 with Hill and Devoto competing for the 12 shirt. I'm disappointed not to see Slade or Devoto starting or even on the bench, I'd have liked to see Devoto in an Exeter shirt sooner rather than later.

 

[BPM]

Tigers team have new signing Hamilton and Betts on the bench
Starting XV is
Tait
Thompstone
Roberts
Smith
Catchpole
Burns
Harrison
Genge
Youngs
Balmain
Slater
Barrow
O'Connor
Evans
McCaffrey

Interesting to see Evans and O'Connor both playing. I expected them to be competing for the 7 shirt with Williams or Croft at 6 so it'll be interesting to see whether they go with dual opensides in the AP.

 

[brokenoses]

The 2 Chiefs Line-Ups:
1. Rimmer
2. Yeandle
3. Williams
4. Hill
5. Welch
6. Ewers
7. Simmonds
8. Horstmann
9. Townsend
10. Hooley
11. Short
12. Hendrickson
13. Whitten
14. Bodilly
15. Turner

1. Moon
2. Malton
3. Low
4. Atkins
5. Parling
6. Johnson
7. Salvi
8. Waldrom
9. Maunder
10. Steenson
11. Jess
12. Hill
13. Laverick
14. Woodburn
15. Turner (Who's in both)

I'm interested to see Whitten at 13. Hopefully that means that Slade is making the move to 10 with Hill and Devoto competing for the 12 shirt. I'm disappointed not to see Slade or Devoto starting or even on the bench, I'd have liked to see Devoto in an Exeter shirt sooner rather than later.

What do you reckon on Sam Hill playing at 13? I can see RB wanting 2 playmakers on the field which presumably would mean Devoto at 12 or 15. Im not sure he or Sam have the pace to play at 13 but I think their skill sets compliment each other well so would like to see both of them somewhere. EJ told Sam Hill to work on his distribution so he may be wanting to try and develop into a Nonu type 12 whereas Devoto I think is more of a Frans Steyn type of player. In any case I think Slade at 10 is essential. People see him as a centre but really the last couple of years he has been a 10 playing in the 13 channel.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

What do you reckon on Sam Hill playing at 13? I can see RB wanting 2 playmakers on the field which presumably would mean Devoto at 12 or 15. Im not sure he or Sam have the pace to play at 13 but I think their skill sets compliment each other well so would like to see both of them somewhere. EJ told Sam Hill to work on his distribution so he may be wanting to try and develop into a Nonu type 12 whereas Devoto I think is more of a Frans Steyn type of player. In any case I think Slade at 10 is essential. People see him as a centre but really the last couple of years he has been a 10 playing in the 13 channel.

I don't like Hill at 13. Obviously he can play there, but it's just not his position. He's a hard running 12 who should be running at 12. I also don't see in what situation he would have to play 13, as Devoto and Whitten are both more comfortable there than he is, so they would be the ones to shift outwards. That said, him and Whitten can't be in the centres together, they're too similar and would offer little diversity. So in my mind, assuming that Hill, Devoto and Whitten will be the top 3 centre options I can see Baxter going for:

Hill-Devoto:
With Devoto at 13 Chiefs are allowed to stay with their game plan of having a play-making at OC and a battering ram at 12.

Whitten-Devoto:
With these 2 it's unclear which one would be at 12 and which would be at 13. I'd go for Devoto 13, again to keep a play-maker at 13.

Both look like strong options and TBH I'm not sure which one I'd rather see. If it turns out that Slade is still being considered as a centre then who knows where he slots in and who he'd be partnered with. I'd imagine it being Hill or Whitten, you don't need Devoto in there as a 2nd play-making centre.

And on another note, I wouldn't be shocked to see Nowell in a more permanent place at 13 to make way for Short on the wing. A fun (and amazing) fact I found out today from my brother who has a minor role within the Chiefs set up (not as a player), Short is actually the strongest player in the whole Chiefs squad. When you consider he's up against 120+kg monsters like Francis and Ewers, that is simply incredible (Short's only 85kg, he bench pressed 165kg). When you consider his pace as well, he has to start for Chiefs this season.

 

[Which Tyler]

What do you reckon on Sam Hill playing at 13? I can see RB wanting 2 playmakers on the field which presumably would mean Devoto at 12 or 15. Im not sure he or Sam have the pace to play at 13 but I think their skill sets compliment each other well so would like to see both of them somewhere. EJ told Sam Hill to work on his distribution so he may be wanting to try and develop into a Nonu type 12 whereas Devoto I think is more of a Frans Steyn type of player. In any case I think Slade at 10 is essential. People see him as a centre but really the last couple of years he has been a 10 playing in the 13 channel.

Devoto is perfectly comfortable at 13, but please, for your sake, lose this idea of him playing FB. He's a damned fine IC and pretty good OC, acceptable 3rd / 4th choice FH, and a FB in theory only, a thoroughly debunked theory.

 

[BPM]

Quins got humped by London Irish today 28-12.

We pretty much put out a reserve side, but it is worrying. I'm not quite in the camp of the fans with genuine concerns over relegation, but with a new coaching set-up only just bedding-in, I'm a little bit worried that we could start badly and then lose our best players during the AIs.

A lot of teams who are likely to be around us in the mid-table spots have bought well (definitely better than we have) and I'm starting to worry that we'll be less than comfortable.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

Falcons beat Doncaster 34-12, nice to see Kibirige with a try.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

We beat Fylde 81-0
They're only an amateur/semi-pro side, but it's tradition that we play them every preseason so it's a good chance to get everyone a run out (fielded 30 players).

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

biggest Sale win since the Premiership final 10 years ago where they poisoned the Leicester before the game.

 

[Raggs]

I'd not be surprised if the "Short is the strongest player." Is related to bodyweight ratios rather than sheer strength. 120kg players should be looking to bench press 180kg+ I believ.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I'd not be surprised if the "Short is the strongest player." Is related to bodyweight ratios rather than sheer strength. 120kg players should be looking to bench press 180kg+ I believ.

Nope it was simply that he bench pressed the most in the squad. Don Armand was 2nd, he managed 160kg and weighs 112kg. After that I'm not sure of order of how strong players were or what they lifted, but my brother commented that Whitten and Ewers were also very strong, so I'd imagine that they were 3rd and 4th.

 

[BPM]

With Nowell out for a while, Short is likely to be playing anyway.

Benchpressing prowess aside - he tends to have a season where he really looks the part followed by a really poor season. Definitely a decent AP winger, but a Saxons player at best for me.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

With Nowell out for a while, Short is likely to be playing anyway.

Benchpressing prowess aside - he tends to have a season where he really looks the part followed by a really poor season. Definitely a decent AP winger, but a Saxons player at best for me.

Of course I can't see him breaking into the England team, or even Saxons unless there are injuries, but last season he was easily Chiefs' biggest attacking threat yet wasn't playing for most of the season. And it's not like it's because he can't defend either, he's solid there too. If it came to dropping Dollman or Turner to put Nowell to FB and Short on the wing then I'd want that done in a heart beat.

But back to the bench press, and this is my last point about it as ultimately bench press has no bearing on how good a player you are, would that make him the strongest winger available to England? The only other one I can think of who would be benching like that is Banahan.

 

[BPM]

I know you didn't say Short was an England contender. Perhaps I should have been clearer, but I was questioning the suggestion of moving a proven international winger (Nowell) to 13 to accommodate bringing Short in to the side.

I do however, agree with your proposal of moving Nowell to 15. Not so much to free up a wing spot for Short (added bonus), but IIRC, it's where he played at age group level and where I'd like to see him settle with the aim of being Mike Brown's successor for England.