Preseason games etc.

[Gloskarlos]

Glos beat Dragons 40-31, pack looks strong, Cips went well, so did Braley - big difference in the second half. Lots of changes so continuity missing but not bad - signs of promise.

[Scrumhead]

Is that Wuss v Birmingham Mosely the only preseason game involving a Prem team and a Nat 1 team?

Also don't forget Butler.
My money will be on Butler or Lawrence leaving within 2 seasons.

I think Butler has the potential to be better than most of Worcester’s other centres if he gets a decent amount of game time.

Lawrence looks like the real deal too.

I’m sure Worcester wouldn’t want to let either go. Particularly considering that Te’o’s in the final year of his contract.

[Mellsblue]

Who wouldn’t want to see a Lawrence Olivier pairing?

It’s an award winning combo.

[fivepointer]

EXETER CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE MUNSTER

15 Phil Dollman
14 Santiago Cordero
13 Ian Whitten
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Olly Woodburn
10 Gareth Steenson
9 Nic White
1 Alec Hepburn
2 Jack Yeandle (capt)
3 Harry Williams
4 Ollie Atkins
5 Sam Skinner
6 Don Armand
7 Matt Kvesic
8 Sam Simmonds

Replacements (from): Moray Low, Jack Innard, Elvis Taione, Alfie Petch, Tomas Francis, Toby Salmon, Sean Lonsdale, Tom Lawday, Stu Townsend, Jack Maunder, Joe Simmonds, Henry Slade, Tom Hendrickson, Tom O’Flaherty, Max Bodilly.

[fivepointer]

Newcastle Falcons team to face Edinburgh (Friday, 7.45pm, Kingston Park Stadium)

15 Simon Hammersley
14 Vereniki Goneva
13 Chris Harris
12 Johnny Williams
11 Adam Radwan
10 Toby Flood
9 Sam Stuart
1 Sami Mavinga
2 George McGuigan
3 Logovi'i Mulipola
4 Will Witty
5 Sean Robinson
6 Mark Wilson
7 Will Welch (captain)
8 Callum Chick

Replacements

2 Santiago Socino
1 Adam Brocklebank
17 David Wilson
18 Tevita Cavubati
19 Glen Young
16 Simon Uzokwe
20 Tom Marshall
21 Sonatane Takulua
22 Joel Hodgson
23 Sinoti Sinoti
12 Josh Matavesi
15 Alex Tait

Here's hoping Williams, Radwan and Chick nail down regular starting spots during the season.

[Adam_P]

I feel it's unfair that Falcons have Radwan, Sinoti and Goneva! Is there a more exciting collection of wingers in the premiership?

[jimKRFC]

Bris win 32-12 against Nottingham.

Thoughts from someone there (youngone, bris unoffical board): Largely positive especially: scrum, Randall 10/10 to be fair (2 tries), Edens kicking and he generally looked sold and sharp, Pincus and Powell both good in attack and defence, Malton was very good, Heenan did a solid 80 he was lively but not many turnovers. Good response from their tries (one intercept from a Tusi Pisi pass) and we were comfortably better the whole way through despite a radical change in personnel. Bedlow looked good as well when he came on.

Very glad to hear the scrums looked solid as this was a major issue last season.

Next up Connacht.

[Mikey Brown]

Is there some method to finding games live online? Looking for either Glasgow/NH or Quins/Ealing.

[Tigersman]

Youngs, Ford, Eastmond and Tuilagi ripping Irish apart.
Denton and Spencer having a very big impact.

29-3 HT.

Eastmond and Manu especially looking good.

[Puja]

Youngs, Ford, Eastmond and Tuilagi ripping Irish apart.
Denton and Spencer having a very big impact.

29-3 HT.

Eastmond and Manu especially looking good.

I have been looking forward to that centre partnership since the first test of the 2015 NZ tour showed how well it could work. Pray to gods they stay fit.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

Pleased to hear it.

I’m no Leicester fan but that partnership has the potential to be great, particularly in combination with Ford, Veainu and May.

[Tigersman]

Good game, can't remember the score.
Eastmond was easily the best player on the pitch and Olowofela ended the game with the try of the match.

BUT Lineout defence still a worry.
Interesting that Hardwick came on before Joe Ford.

Only preseason but at least the highlights should actually be good this week.

[Raggs]

31-14 for Wasps, hattrick for Hughes, and try within minutes of debut for Zhvania.

[Scrumhead]

Quins beat Ealing 22-8.

Not our first choice lineup but still unconvincing. Better than being pumped by Glasgow though.

[jimKRFC]

Bris lost to Connacht; 12-14. Missed kicks costing the win.

Worse is that C Puitau had a potential dislocated shoulder. George Smith in good form though. Hopefully PL has learnt his best team and we can compete against Bath.

[twitchy]

Munster 0 - Chiefs - 12. I am actually glad I didn't watch that.

[fivepointer]

Notable wins for Bath, 45-12 against Scarlets, and Saints, 41-15 against Glasgow. Both these sides have had good pre season results.

[Which Tyler]

Always dangerous to read anything into preseason as the teams may well be approaching things completely differently - though both Bath and Scarlets named pretty strong starting XVs. Always nice to get wins under the belt; but ultimately, individual rustiness, the odd training ground move, and establishing unit combinations is way more important than the result or the team performance.
A lot of people on the Bath site getting rather carried away with our 2 victories - but for all we really know Edinburgh were looking to ease into their first match, whilst Scarlets were looking to wind down after a tough first match... we just don't know.

[Tigersman]

Yeh pre-season really should be treated as that.
I see RugbyInsideLine are already saying Saints could challenge Top 4 and how the Boyd era has begun.
Saints last pre-season
Beat Dragons 71-21
Beat Nottingham 32-21
Beat Glasgow 14-19
Beat Ulster 55-15

It's really hard to judge on the Pro14 and Championship sides.

[Puja]

Hard to draw many conclusions from that, as Irish did not look interested in tackling at all. The 'attempt' on Eastmond before Youngs's try was embarrassing.

Puja

[Tigersman]

Will point out that is the first game I have seen Manu play without leg straps in a long time.

[Puja]

Will point out that is the first game I have seen Manu play without leg straps in a long time.

Good spot - that's promising. I really can see England playing this Leicester 9-10-11-12-13 at some point this season, if they all stay fit. Now we've just got to get our pack fit and together again.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

Haha. What, Faz on the wing is it?

[Puja]

Haha. What, Faz on the wing is it?

15, actually. Sorry Mikey - you're about to be replaced.

We will be playing against Japan and I would imagine Eddie will want to see his options, especially to make sure we have a plan B if Fazlet is injured.

Puja

[twitchy]

Has manu shown signs of getting his pre injury explosiveness (for want of a better word) yet?

He will always be immensely strong (I remember an interview with waldrom saying that manu is the strongest guy he has ever played with, which must include props etc which blew my mind). If you look back on youtube for instance against that game against NZ he is a complete menace and looks better than any one on the pitch.