Aviva Premiership - Round 20

[TRF_Olyy]

Friday 12th April​

Live on ESPN​

Saturday 13th April

Live on ESPN

Sunday 14th April

Live on Sky Sports
​

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Just read that Gloucester consider themselves underdogs going in to tonight's game :lol:

 

[EddieM]

Gloucester team,

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Rob Cook; Jonny May, Mike Tindall (capt), Billy Twelvetrees, Shane Monahan; Freddie Burns, Dan Robson; Nick Wood, Huia Edmonds, Dario Chistolini; Lua Lokotui, Will James; Tom Savage, Akapusi Qera, Sione Kalamafoni.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Shame to see Trinder on the bench with Tindall preferred to him but it's probably the right call when playing away from home. Monahan ahead of Sharples is also an interesting decision but again understandable after his impressive performance v [/FONT]Biarritz

 

[Twebby]

Shame to see Trinder on the bench with Tindall preferred to him but it's probably the right call when playing away from home. Monahan ahead of Sharples is also an interesting decision but again understandable after his impressive performance v Biarritz

Sharples is on pretty terrible form at the moment in fairness. Sale also showed some weakness against the big wingers of London Irish in their last match as well, so the coaches might think that Monahan's bulldozing style will bring some joy. Sharples isn't a bad option to bring off the bench against a tiring defense either.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I really hope Monahan does try and bulldoze - in Cueto and Shepherd we have two very strong defenders, Cueto's arguably the best defending wing in the prem.
If anything I'd be more scared of Sharples starting as it's speed that our defence can't cope with rather than strength.

 

[psychic duck]

Monahan is a Cuthbert type clumsy player. Strong runner, but not the strongest skills wise, he had a poor game last time he faced Sale.



Also gifted London Irish a win earlier in the season with piece of clumsy play ...

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[j'nuh]

Gloucester team,

Rob Cook; Jonny May, Mike Tindall (capt), Billy Twelvetrees, Shane Monahan; Freddie Burns, Dan Robson; Nick Wood, Huia Edmonds, Dario Chistolini; Lua Lokotui, Will James; Tom Savage, Akapusi Qera, Sione Kalamafoni.

Shame to see Trinder on the bench with Tindall preferred to him but it's probably the right call when playing away from home. Monahan ahead of Sharples is also an interesting decision but again understandable after his impressive performance v Biarritz

I think Tindall was the right choice for this one. Trinder is a great option if chasing a game. The part I'm more worried about is that we have our third-choice loosehead on the bench to cover for our third-choice tighthead! Knight being available would have been such a relief. On the other hand, great to see Ben Morgan back and on the bench.

 

[EddieM]

Very very poor first half. Really throwing the game and our play-off ambitions away here.

Think the pass leading to the final try before half time was forward as well.

 

[Tony Manx]

Sale are taking up where Biarritz left off last week and continuing to slaughter Glaws......where has it all gone wrong for them this season? That pass could have gone either way as being so marginal.....similar position in the Castres/Bordeaux game but, the more or less identical pass, was deemed forward!

London Welsh look doomed now..............

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Aye, I'm very surprised that 3rd try was given.
Brilliant work from Shepherd to step the referee and Cook to dot down though :lol:

 

[Tony Manx]

First sensible decision by the TMO.......try when it was probably not, no try when it was and now not giving yellow for stamp as stamper was being held by the "stampee".......be interesting to see what the Citing Officer makes of it though!!

 

[psychic duck]

Aye, I'm very surprised that 3rd try was given.
Brilliant work from Shepherd to step the referee and Cook to dot down though :lol:

Is Shepherd settling in well nicely at Sale now?

I saw he scored a nice try against Harlequins recently.

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Seems to have done better ever since Dewi Morris slagged him and Cipriani off on the Rugby Club.

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[TRF_Olyy]

Happy with that
I like Shepherd, he's not as flairy as Miller (going to be a real headache when Miller's fit again!) but has a great step and is very solid.
Starting to gel a lot more with the other players (though he did slam two passes in to touch this last game )

His footwork for his try tonight, and to set up the try last week, was 2nd to none. It wasn't Robinson/Wade-esque stop-and-accelerate, but he puts defenders off their rhythm so much with his movements it's great.

 

[Getofmeland]

Disappointing result for Bath today... sounds like they got outplayed by Quins...

 

[Tony Manx]

Not really outplayed I would say.....Wayne Barnes had a terrible game and it was marred by many, many scrums and their inevitable resets.

Care scored a good try but Monya's was a gift from Bath on his birthday - Two Bath players went for the same kick into their 22 and Monya picked up the scraps. Other than that, it was a fairly even encounter and Bath are so much improved this season compared to last................this score against was a bit flattering to Quins in my view.

 

[ratsapprentice]

This is obviously a transitional season for Bath, I really like where they are heading.
It's also obvious that there is a big difference in quality between their 1st and 2nd choice teams.
Particularly in the 2nd and back rows.

Donald seems to have been touching up on his eastern philosophy, balancing everything good with something equally ****.
Heathcote should have started. Why was Eastmond taken off instead of Donald? mental.

Attwood and Wilson had strong games though.

 

[Twebby]

Why was Eastmond taken off instead of Donald? mental.

I assume because of the ever worsening conditions the Bath coaches thought the only way they would get anything out of the game was through heavyweight trucking. For all his shiteness, Donald can do running in a straight line with the ball fairly solidly.

Can't see any other reason than they just didn't feel Eastmond was going to make significant inroads on a muddy swamp of a pitch.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Wasps getting ruined.

 

[McTallshort]

Oh yes they are....

 

[Patchey]

Wasp pack getting a bit munched by the sound of things?