Aviva Premiership 2017/18 Grand Final

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

It's not as if sarries couldn't afford to keep him and I dubbd why he would go out of choice

Getting 10 minutes off the bench every week for Saracens with Lewington on his way next season vs starting every week for Quins. If he has England aspirations which I'm sure he does then there's only one choice.

 

[duncanb]

Well done Sarries team in SFs and Final.
Not the greatest from a neutral point of view.
Well officiated by the team of 4 aa well

 

[Jimbo]

Probably how most predicted it, just not quite the dominance sarries had, wish the commentators would stop going on about Exe leading the prem, I'm not primarily a sarries fan but no one can argue their contribution to England and lions not to mention the champions cup it's always going to make it difficult to top the prem table.

 

[Scotty]

Had a little hope when we got our try but sarries have been better all afternoon and the best team won. Congratulations sarries.

At 19 - 10 and against 14 men i though we had a shot but we really need to change up pur gameplan, maybe not change but tweek, too many carries from one off runners making little to no ground meaning we dont get that platform for our backs.

 

[Chief Pete]

Fair play to Sarries, much deserved on the day as for Chiefs we badly need a plan B...

 

[Jimbo]

Fair play to Sarries, much deserved on the day as for Chiefs we badly need a plan B...

Absolutely agree about a planb, it's such a hard thing though plan A majority of teams simply can't cope with only really sarries and others in Europe.

Many will probably argue but the way I see it is that if sarries are on their metal they are in a league if their own (prem wise), feels like u need something like Wasps backline and Exeter's pack to really compete.

 

[BPM]

I think Baxter is developing a plan B and evolving the game plan.

For example, both Simmonds brothers are quite different to the players they are replacing (Waldrom and Steenson) and bringing in a player like Cordero at 15 suggests they're looking to be more expansive.

Add in a fit Devoto and Campagnaro and the midfield gets a lot more exciting.

I'm not really sure where Cuthbert fits in, but hey ho.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Many will probably argue but the way I see it is that if sarries are on their metal they are in a league if their own (prem wise), feels like u need something like Wasps backline and Exeter's pack to really compete.

You'd need a better pack than Chiefs. Sarries may have been playing more of an all court game, but that's mainly down to the pack which is where the majority of their stardust players are: The Vunipolae, Brits and Itoje are all in that category with Isiekwe soon to join them and Kruis and George not far behind. In the backs only Fazlet has that standing. The armchair pundit's view of the backline yesterday:

Wiggles - old and slow
Faz - world class
Wyles - good, but not top drawer and old
Barritt - one dimensional
Loz - talented, but never been able to nail down a shirt. And no-one knows what his best position is anyway
Maitland - solid, but doesn't set pulses racing
Goode - too slow

You can be a very good club player, as some of those are, without having what it takes for the international game. But it's a universal truth that rugby's a heck of a lot easier with a strong pack.

 

[Chief Pete]

You'd need a better pack than Chiefs. Sarries may have been playing more of an all court game, but that's mainly down to the pack which is where the majority of their stardust players are: The Vunipolae, Brits and Itoje are all in that category with Isiekwe soon to join them and Kruis and George not far behind. In the backs only Fazlet has that standing. The armchair pundit's view of the backline yesterday:

Wiggles - old and slow
Faz - world class
Wyles - good, but not top drawer and old
Barritt - one dimensional
Loz - talented, but never been able to nail down a shirt. And no-one knows what his best position is anyway
Maitland - solid, but doesn't set pulses racing
Goode - too slow

You can be a very good club player, as some of those are, without having what it takes for the international game. But it's a universal truth that rugby's a heck of a lot easier with a strong pack.

I'd like to add both TH's to your list as well, both Koch and Figallo are top draw.

 

[Chief Pete]

I think Baxter is developing a plan B and evolving the game plan.

For example, both Simmonds brothers are quite different to the players they are replacing (Waldrom and Steenson) and bringing in a player like Cordero at 15 suggests they're looking to be more expansive.

Add in a fit Devoto and Campagnaro and the midfield gets a lot more exciting.

I'm not really sure where Cuthbert fits in, but hey ho.

The personnel's changing but the gameplan's the same more or less because the players you've named are yet to fire and personally I don't see Devoto & Campagnaro starting together with Cordero at 15, yet to see the best of any of them mainly through no fault of their own ie serious injury...

 

[Jimbo]

The personnel's changing but the gameplan's the same more or less because the players you've named are yet to fire and personally I don't see Devoto & Campagnaro starting together with Cordero at 15, yet to see the best of any of them mainly through no fault of their own ie serious injury...

Is Devoto really worth mentioning, haven't see. To much of him at chiefs but I know he was awfull at Bath, is camp injured haven't seen much of him for ages.

 

[Which Tyler]

You know wrong then.
He was only awful at bath when played out of position, at Exeter he went straight from 4th choice center to first choice, and then got innured

 

[Which Tyler]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjQPU_JAarz/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=cx6ehb9hy9q0

 

[Sixways Cheryl]

Ultimately, the best team in the league have been crowned the champions so no complaints.

 

[RedruthRFC]

You're right, actually, it's 10 for Chiefs:
LCD, Ewers, Simmonds, Simmonds, Hill, Slade, Nowell, Moon, Skinner, Townsend
I'd missed Moon.

Funnily enough, so did I, my tenth was Jack Yeandle. I'm 95% sure that when he was loaned to Pirates, it was on a DR basis, I remember finding it confusing at the time as even then, he looked closer to claiming his pension than leaving school!

But then it's also 10 for Saracens cause I missed Barrington, haha:
George, Kruis, Itoje, Isiekwe, Wray, Farrell, Goode, Barrington, Spencer, Earle

Thanks. A very impressive list of talent to have brought through / retained. Seeing Goode's name there is a reminder of how long the academy system has been around now.

Edit: galacticos and homegrown talent isn't mutually exclusive, that's an impressive number of home grown galacticos!

 

[RedruthRFC]

Absolutely agree about a planb, it's such a hard thing though plan A majority of teams simply can't cope with only really sarries and others in Europe.

Many will probably argue but the way I see it is that if sarries are on their metal they are in a league if their own (prem wise), feels like u need something like Wasps backline and Exeter's pack to really compete.

Nail on head. I said earlier in the thread that I couldn't see how Exeter could win and that they wouldn't bludgeon their way past Sarries like they did Newcastle, what happens? Exeter tried to do the same as the previous week, Sarries weathered the early storm and refused to roll over and have their bellies tickled and Exeter didn't really know what to do. This accounts for the red herring in league respective positions and Sarries winning comfortably when they peaked. I said in the thread about Exeter's chances of topping the table, that their best chance of topping the table would be another European win for Saracens, in hindsight I'd say that this say somewhere near the truth.

 

[RedruthRFC]

Just visited this forum directly rather than via "What's New?" for the first time in ages. Is it time to un-pin this thread yet?!?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Why? It's the most recent game