Newcastle v Leicester Fri 7.45

[fivepointer]

Newcastle: Hammersley; Goneva, Harris, Matavesi, Sinoti; Flood, Takulua; Mulipola, McGuigan, Ah You, Green, Davidson, Graham, Hardie, Wilson

Replacements: Cooper, Lockwood, Davison, Robinson, Olmstead, Young, Connon, Williams

Leicester: Toomua; May, Owen, Tuilagi, Olowofela; Ford, Harrison; Genge, Kerr, Cole, Spencer, Kitchener, Fitzgerald, Williams, Thompson

Replacements: Polota-Nau, Gigena, Heyes, Wells, O'Connor, White, Aspland-Robinson, Smith

[Banquo]

Tigers doubling down on crap flankers then.

[Puja]

Last week, I assumed shovelling Toomua to 15 was solely because we wanted to get both him and Eastmond playing. I still thought it was barking, but at least I could understand the rationale. Now that Eastmond's injured, it looks like it's because we think it's a good idea... for some reason.

I've got a very bad feeling about this game. I can very easily see that Newcastle side putting us away, especially with Graham, Hardie, and Wilson against our two average locks and an honest trier.

Puja

[Digby]

Wilson hasn't passed his fitness test yet, though given how crucial the game he's probably playing

[Timbo]

That Tigers team is just a mess.

[twitchy]

Big game.

[Stom]

That Tigers team is just a mess.

Tbh, it's not super terrible. But that backrow, coupled with the coaching, has left it terrible.

It's amazing how vital good flankers are nowadays

[Puja]

That Tigers team is just a mess.

Tbh, it's not super terrible. But that backrow, coupled with the coaching, has left it terrible.

It's amazing how vital good flankers are nowadays

Our fullback is a centre and has never played there (nor shown any capability for the position). Owen will be injured within 2 minutes, Manu can't currently tackle, Olowofela is talented but raw (and has blinkers on when he makes a break), Harrison is out of form. Kerr is an average academy graduate, Cole looks 5 years past his Best Before, Kitchener lets his head drop and doesn't put his shoulder in, Fitzgerald is stealing a living with a terrible workrate (and isn't a flanker), Williams is a guaranteed yellow card and in no way an openside, and Thompson is a good honest player who could be great in better company but will be nothing more than average in this.

Basically, we've got May, Ford, Genge, and Spencer (and Genge could do with not trying to take on the world by himself). The other 11 are a shambles and don't even get me started on the bench. There's a lot of players who could be good in there and the basis of a good team. However, right now, only 4 of them look like it.

Puja

[morepork]

That Tigers team is just a mess.

Tbh, it's not super terrible. But that backrow, coupled with the coaching, has left it terrible.

It's amazing how vital good flankers are nowadays

Welcome to the 21st century.

[Puja]

That Tigers team is just a mess.

Tbh, it's not super terrible. But that backrow, coupled with the coaching, has left it terrible.

It's amazing how vital good flankers are nowadays

Welcome to the 21st century.

Yeah, I'm not speaking to any of your lot until you apologise for Mike Fitzgerald.

Puja

[Raggs]

Love Thompson. Really feel for him landing in that mess. Not that wasps are doing much better.

[morepork]

Tbh, it's not super terrible. But that backrow, coupled with the coaching, has left it terrible.

It's amazing how vital good flankers are nowadays

Welcome to the 21st century.

Yeah, I'm not speaking to any of your lot until you apologise for Mike Fitzgerald.

Puja

He sounds very boring. Poor man's James Haskell?

[Puja]

Welcome to the 21st century.

Yeah, I'm not speaking to any of your lot until you apologise for Mike Fitzgerald.

Puja

He sounds very boring. Poor man's James Haskell?

Sold to us as "A two-time Super Rugby title winner with the Chiefs" and experienced head at lock, but has turned out to have the (on pitch) work rate of a UKIP MEP, the leadership ability of Teresa May, and has been a central part of our forward pack regularly collapsing in on itself like a Lidl deckchair. A poor man's Graham Kitchener, which is quite sad considering we've been playing him alongside the actual Graham Kitchener. He's now adding insult to injury by playing at 6 despite only being vaguely competent at lock, let alone out of position.

Sadly, I can't find it on YouTube, but his Leicester career can be summed up in a moment a few weeks back. It was 39 minutes, we were under the cosh on our own line, defending pick and gos, when Manu somehow stole the ball at a ruck and set up possession. The scrum-half was tied into the breakdown, so all we needed to do was run one phase and then we could clear our lines. The ball was lobbed gently across to Fitzgerald only for him to somehow fumble it. They scored from the resulting scrum and we went into halftime behind.

Puja

[morepork]

I hope you get him and Brad Shields in the same pack, at the same time, and that your flyhalf be Stephen Donald.

[Stom]

I hope you get him and Brad Shields in the same pack, at the same time, and that your flyhalf be Stephen Donald.

Won't Sopoaga do?

[Oakboy]

I hope you get him and Brad Shields in the same pack, at the same time, and that your flyhalf be Stephen Donald.

Fricking hell. We've had a couple of weeks without having to think about fricking Brad Fricking Shields. Why did you have to mention the useless tosser?

[Puja]

I hope you get him and Brad Shields in the same pack, at the same time, and that your flyhalf be Stephen Donald.

Christ, we could make a XV out of the useless tossers you lot have sent north. Piri Weepu's a shoo-in at scrum-half.

Puja

[morepork]

Your tears are delicious.

[Peej]

I hope you get him and Brad Shields in the same pack, at the same time, and that your flyhalf be Stephen Donald.

Fricking hell. We've had a couple of weeks without having to think about fricking Brad Fricking Shields. Why did you have to mention the useless tosser?

He was actually very good for Wasps last weekend...

[Raggs]

I hope you get him and Brad Shields in the same pack, at the same time, and that your flyhalf be Stephen Donald.

Fricking hell. We've had a couple of weeks without having to think about fricking Brad Fricking Shields. Why did you have to mention the useless tosser?

He was actually very good for Wasps last weekend...

I was going to say that, good game from him.

[Scrumhead]

As a neutral, a win for Falcons would be great for the drama of the relegation battle, but I’m struggling to call this one ...

Tigers’ defence has been particularly porous this season, but I’m not sure Newcastle have the attacking game to really exploit it. I can see them playing a tight game with Flood’s kicking as their main weapon.

In contrast, if Ford carries on playing as he has been recently, he definitely has the ability to create tries.

I’m going to stick my neck out and go for a relatively low scoring win for Tigers. Something like 15-20.

[Shiny]

As a neutral Saints fan I would love the Falcons to win but I wonder if an extra week of Daddy Ford might have changed something.

[Mellsblue]

As a neutral Saints fan

Hehe

[Timbo]

Fricking hell. We've had a couple of weeks without having to think about fricking Brad Fricking Shields. Why did you have to mention the useless tosser?

He was actually very good for Wasps last weekend...

I was going to say that, good game from him.

That’s impossible, Rugby Rebels said he’s rubbish.

[Mikey Brown]

Nobody thinks it's impossible. He's clearly been good for the Highlanders (Hurricanes?) previously but a lot of people on here wanted to hear about him actually being good for his club, against his English rivals, before he gets parachuted into the England side.

He's obviously going to be in the squad regardless of form, so it's good to hear he's playing well.