Pre-Season 21/22

[TRF_Olyy]

0 - 19 win in the end,
Poor first half that ended 0 - 0 then a comfortable win in the second,

Most interesting part is Akker Van Der Merwe playing 40mins in the back row
With Curry and the Du Preez twins unavailable for a few months (plus Neild injured), and us having four hookers in the squad, I wonder if Akker might be getting some games at openside

 

[BPM]

That is interesting … with Tom Curry away, Ben Curry and Dugdale are the only specialist 7s. I know Ross has played in a 7 jersey on the odd occasion but is a 6 all day long.

Akker definitely has the right kind of skill set and playing in the back row probably makes the most of what he's good at.

With Langdon, Taylor and Ashman he's not really needed at hooker.

 

[EdBirch]

Worcs 52-39 Connacht last night

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Tigers game

 

[BPM]

What the bejeezus is going on with these camera angles? Seems to swap every 10 seconds!

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

What the bejeezus is going on with these camera angles? Seems to swap every 10 seconds!

must be a film student from de montfort.

 

[BPM]

I'm on the Quins live stream now so I hope it's more of standard viewing angle.

 

[BPM]

Not impressive ATM. Cardiff shredding our defence way too easily. 0-21 with 23mins played.

Cardiff with a more experienced lineup, but still …

 

[Yulia]

Tigers game

Good game. Started to watch just out of curiosity,but really enjoy. Both teams are more or less on the same level,looks quite tough,but Tigers are maybe (slightly) better. I'm more for Dragons though, I think
Eh, congrats to Tigers

 

[BPM]

Finished 45-33 after we rallied in the second half. Allan, Esterhuizen, Green and Lynagh coming on made a massive difference, but there were also some great performances from the academy lads Tizard, Hammond, Anyanwu and Trenholm.

 

[Geordie]

Well 2 wins over the weekend...Glasgow and Doncaster, but nothing special performance wise.

A few of the young academy lads looked good...which is what i wanted to see...and Radwan and Blamire continue to score tries....

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

That's the main thing about pre-season really IMO it's not about the result or the performance it's about blowing off any rust and giving the lungs a go warm up before the season starts.
Even by the second preseason game it's noticeable which players played in the first and who are playing their first game back.

 

[will311293]

Wasps with a 52-21 win over Coventry.
Try scorers: Young (2), Willis, Watson, penalty, Wolstenholme, Simonds, Frost

 

[will311293]

Simonds and Spink could really be hidden gems for us especially with Odogwu/Mills injury and Fekitoa being away with Tonga. Both cracking players and really add a lot to us. Good win with a lot of young talent off the bench.


WASPS: Ali Crossdale; Marcus Watson, Sam Spink, Michael Le Bourgeois, Matteo Minozzi; Charlie Atkinson, Will Porter; Ben Harris, Tom Cruse, Biyi Alo, Vaea Fifita, Tim Cardall, Brad Shields (c), Thomas Young, Tom Willis
Replacements: Dan Frost, Robin Hislop, Elliot Millar-Mills, Mario Pichardie, Ben Morris, Sam Wolstenholme, Zach Kibirige, Rob Miller, Rekeiti'i Ma'asi-White, Will Simonds, Kieran Curran, Zac Nearchou, Dan Eckersley

 

[TRF_Olyy]

When's Barbeary due back?

 

[will311293]

When's Barbeary due back?

not sure. Was supposed to have played this weekend but he felt his hamstring and was rested for another week. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw him against Dragons. He's fit but just ****ling.

 

[Geordie]

Toby Flood confirms his retirement and starts a full time coaching role with us.

Dean must be going with massive faith in the kids at 10....

 

[Geordie]

Interesting debate going on between falcon fans...wondered your thoughts.

We are short on real quality senior 10's - we have Hodgson and Connon who are solid at best, but we have two cracking young 10's coming through (Haydon-Wood and Louie Johnson). FLood has now retired, and we were due to sign Brophy Clews before he announced his retirement.

Now many falcons are saying we are undercooked...and need to bring in reinforcements at 10. Whilst many others (myself included ) are saying, nope its relegation free for 2 years...what better time to bed in the talented young kids than now!

Connon and Hodgson can do the job for the moment whilst youngsters Haydon-wood and Louie Johnson are given gametime and really brought up to speed.

This also saves money for a club that doesnt have any!

Do you think its time to give youth the chance in this case?

 

[will311293]

Interesting debate going on between falcon fans...wondered your thoughts.

We are short on real quality senior 10's - Hodgson and Connon, but we have two cracking young 10's coming through (Haydon-Wood and Louie Johnson). FLood has now retired, and we were due to sign Brophy Clews before he announced his retirement.

Now many falcons are saying we are undercooked...and need to bring in reinforcements at 10. Whilst many others (myself included ) are saying, nope its relegation free for 2 years...what better time to bed in the talented young kids than now!

Connon and Hodgson can do the job for the moment whilst youngsters Haydon-wood and Louie Johnson are given gametime and really brought up to speed.

This also saves money for a club that doesnt have any!

Do you think its time to give youth the chance in this case?

So it's a really interesting conundrum and one that as a Wasps fan we have endured our self post the Cips era.

So there are 3 options in my opinion - Sign foreign NZ/Aus/Saffa (expensive), sign from in UK, promote within.

Foreign - So this is usually the easiest option and most of the time secures a decent/good addition. However, this can sometimes be a short term option and as Wasps saw with Sopanga, sometimes you get a southern hemisphere player who just can't warm up to the way that you play. In particular Falcons who have a very forward based game and therefore i personally think only a SA fly half would fit your tactics. Now when you add in the difficultly of bedding a player in as well as the fact that it may block the opportunities of your younger 10s then you have some challenges. Moreover considering the fact that a lot of the best foreign 10s will be club committed atm.

Sign from in UK - Usually your best option in early transfer season as you can often find a fairly solid pick up/ or a second string quality player looking to step up and own a team. However, again a lot are now committed and realistically would you find anyone whose available and better than Hodgson/Connan now? I mean you could have got Lancaster when he left leeds but probs would just block the other two.

Promote Youth - This is the option i would personally select. If you have two quality youngsters who are ready to step into the first team and play then use them. Gone are the days of young fragile 18 year olds. These guys are trained athletes and i bet have trained with the first team on more than one occasion. They will know the tactics and know the team and will be fully committed (plus will know the toon weather!) If you assess those clubs that have put faith in young 10s straight away recently Atkinson/Smith at Wasps/Wuss, they have both landed and played brilliantly. Plus realistically there is no real relegation anymore so full chance to blood youngsters.

Go with Youngsters, thats my opinion.

 

[Geordie]

Yeah the academy train with the seniors all the time, so they 're used to the physicality.

I agree...i dont see the point in spending alot of money on SH players, when that money can be used elsewhere.

Also....whats the point in having an academy producing top class kids....if you arent gonig to back them!! The next few years for the falcons could be very exciting if some of the kids hit their potential. And these two 10's, Louie Johnson in particular looks a worldy!