Leicester Tigers V Bath Rugby, Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Sunday 3.00pm

[fivepointer]

JVP looked very good. Lets hope we see more of him.
Encouraging performances from Steward and Martin.
Bath unable to build on their excellent start which must be cause for some frustration.

[Puja]

Jack van Poortvliet looked extremely good.

Pretty happy with my Jasper Wiese as signing of the season prediction so far

Was very impressed by JVP today. Would be interested in seeing him play more than Ben White on that showing. Good show of confidence after his nightmare first game last season.

We desperately needed that win. It might only be 5 games in, but Worcester and Saints getting given free victories and Irish a free 2 points would've left us second bottom if we'd lost and 7th feels very different from 11th. I was worried it was all downhill after the opening two gifted tries (although how were Bath not pinged for coming in the side on that maul which led to Obano's score?) and yellow card, and we showed a good chin to come back. Excellent, especially given our non-existent build-up, and hopefully a victory that we can build upon.

Puja

[FKAS]

Bath off their feet at every ruck in the build up to their try often at speed. Hint of it from Tigers and immediate penalty. Frustrating.

Think you might need to open the other eye.
Both teams have been guilty throughout, Leicester had been warned a couple of times.

Both teams have a right to be a bit upset by Barnes

I thought Barnes did a pretty decent job, not perfect but decent. Just wasn't consistency at that facet of the game in quick succession.

The Tiger cubs on show were top notch again. Steward imperious, Martin relentless, Henderson good carrying, JVP to the manor born and all 19/20. Future is looking bright. 8 academy grads in the starting lineup and then another three on the bench which is nice to see.

Hopefully get a few players back for next week against Saints and go hunting for another rivalry result.

[Puja]

Bath off their feet at every ruck in the build up to their try often at speed. Hint of it from Tigers and immediate penalty. Frustrating.

Think you might need to open the other eye.
Both teams have been guilty throughout, Leicester had been warned a couple of times.

Both teams have a right to be a bit upset by Barnes

I thought Barnes did a pretty decent job, not perfect but decent. Just wasn't consistency at that facet of the game in quick succession.

The Tiger cubs on show were top notch again. Steward imperious, Martin relentless, Henderson good carrying, JVP to the manor born and all 19/20. Future is looking bright. 8 academy grads in the starting lineup and then another three on the bench which is nice to see.

Hopefully get a few players back for next week against Saints and go hunting for another rivalry result.

Agreed on all counts, although Henderson loses a point for me with that ridiculous penalty given away by losing an eminently takeable kick-off and then blocking a quick lineout that was never on anyway. Thankfully Redpath's try that came from that didn't make a difference in the end.

Puja

[FKAS]

Yes Henderson's dim blunder did take the shine off an otherwise excellent cameo. Part of the learning curve for a young pro I guess, just stands out when you've gotta near flawless performances from Steward and Martin who were in the thick of the action.

Nice to see us actually play some attacking rugby after the first dire 20 minutes.

[Epaminondas Pules]

First 20 minutes had me screaming at the TV as we were an utter mess by and large. A little bit of luck, effort, reward and we started to gain a bit of momentum and knocked Bath of their stride, then coped with a bit of resurgence and finished the half pretty well. Better all round the in second half.

All four youngsters did really well. Lots of little errors / misjudgements in amongst, but overall they were great.

Note too about Redpath, who again looked class. Mercer too.

I don't know what it is about Bath though. On paper that side is a title challenging side, but they seem to lack resilience.

[TheNomad]

My main observation, building on the above, is that there were a number of good young players playing who could either be a few years away, or significantly less, to an England call up

Some in problem positions too - promising

[fivepointer]

Steward and Redpath spring to mind. Both very good and benefitting from consistent gametime.

Also thought both starting LHP's were terrific.

[twitchy]

Yeah I have been closely following obano after he was linked with exe. I think he is very good.

Has eddie shown any interest in steward?

[Scrumhead]

Steward and Redpath spring to mind. Both very good and benefitting from consistent gametime.

Also thought both starting LHP's were terrific.

Agreed on all of the above. On the subject of looseheads, I’m pleased to see Tom West making a proper breakthrough with Wasps and Bevan Rodd getting a bit of game time with Sale.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Yeah I have been closely following obano after he was linked with exe. I think he is very good.

Has eddie shown any interest in steward?

He trained with England as part of the U20s, which is a pretty common occurrence. They usually send some from the 20's and 18's up to train with the full squad.

[TheNomad]

I think Jones will like Steward. He's so reliable under the high ball and a bit of a unit. I think Eddie will appreciate that.

I like Redpath too. He showed good strength for his try. How quickly/if he'll get a look in to the England squad is another matter. Scotland will surely come along if he doesn't soon.

On a semi-related point, Sam Warburton had Jonny Williams in his Lions team at 12...sigh

[Scrumhead]

I was sorry to lose Williams but a test starter for the Lions? Really? What’s that based upon? A couple of decent games for Wales. Pull the other one.

[Mikey Brown]

It's Warburton who said it, to be fair.

[twitchy]

Any top player lists or lions selections are to be assumed to be click bait.

[Puja]

I was sorry to lose Williams but a test starter for the Lions? Really? What’s that based upon? A couple of decent games for Wales. Pull the other one.

Who else decent is there in the British Isles at 12? If we assume Tuilagi's not fit, Williams has as good a chance as any.

Puja

[Peej]

Not Finn and Farrell at 10 and 12?

[Mikey Brown]

Would they balance eachother out or would that be an absolute nightmare? I'm struggling to picture it.

[Scrumhead]

I was sorry to lose Williams but a test starter for the Lions? Really? What’s that based upon? A couple of decent games for Wales. Pull the other one.

Who else decent is there in the British Isles at 12? If we assume Tuilagi's not fit, Williams has as good a chance as any.

Puja

My first assumption is that the Lions tour has a very slim chance of occurring on it’s current schedule which may mean Tuilagi is back.

Putting that to one side, I’d always fall back on what I’ve actually seen than pure potential so I’d still regard Henshaw and Aki to be better than Williams is right now. I also don’t think it’s massively controversial to say Sam Johnson has also had better games for Scotland than Williams has had for Wales and I’d never be suggesting Johnson as a test starter.

I think he will be better than all three of them in time, but to propose him as a Lions starter based upon what is currently very limited test rugby feels fanciful in the extreme.

@TheNomad, I was always aware it was Sam Warburton’s call and not yours so I hope that didn’t come across the wrong way.

[Mr Mwenda]

Now I'm confused. Is Scrumhead Sam Warburton or not?

[TheNomad]

@TheNomad, I was always aware it was Sam Warburton’s call and not yours so I hope that didn’t come across the wrong way.

On the contrary!

Not only did you come across perfectly well (I interpreted it as you meant it), but after years of being insulted by my (fun but) mental wife, to say insults that come my way are like water off a ducks back would be massively understating it

It's all good my friend, no clarification or apology necessary

[Timbo]

Warburton gave a completely different Lions XV about 3 weeks ago, so wouldn’t pay it much notice.

[Mellsblue]

Would they balance eachother out or would that be an absolute nightmare? I'm struggling to picture it.

This should help:

[morepork]

He looked the first time man witnessed fire at close quarters.

[Puja]

Would they balance eachother out or would that be an absolute nightmare? I'm struggling to picture it.

This should help:

In fairness to Fazlet, I made that same face - it was our best attacking opportunity of a very scrappy game and Cipriaini had kicked it too hard and too far. It was an incredibly lucky bounce and May being an utter freak that turned a poor kick into a try rather than a 22 drop-out.

Puja

ETA. But your point that Russell/Fazlet would be a terrible partnership is a very solid one.