RugbyRebels

Define "funny"...

TBH though, I think it has more to do with actually having more than 20 fit players, we can actually train properly, rotate as necessary, pick specific players for specific game plans and specific opponents.

Burns has always been the better option IMO.

Healy made the point during the game that it’s odd Bath have two very different types of 10 competing for the shirt.

On the one hand, I can understand the rationale for having different options, but maybe not such polar opposites that play the game is such totally different ways.

With the backs Bath have (particularly when JJ and Watson are fit), Priestland is never the right choice. Picking him tells the opposition that you’re going to play a pragmatic kicking game which means the likes of JJ, Roko and Cokanasiga are less likely to get the ball in space.

Bath tore us apart in many ways yesterday, but the quick offloading game was a real feature for me. Willison, Mercer and Cokanasiga in particular can all create opportunities from their offloading. I don’t think Priestland is the right guy to exploit that at 10.

Mercer was good. I liked his handling work especially. He may have bulked up a touch. Cokanasiga was impressive. His ability to offload, combined with pace and power, makes him a very dangerous player. Right now he's a far better international prospect than Earle (who was OK) and Solomona.
Must mention 2 unsung Bath players who i thought were excellent: Dunn and Stooke really put in impressive performances.

Mercer's shape always reminds me of McCaw. Skinny arms but solid core.

Mellsblue wrote:Ha. Having re-read the thread and actually watched the clip you posted, you are talking about cokanasiga whilst I am talking about Mercer. Peak RR.

Read an interview with Zach Mercer today actually. He states that he’s up from 107kg last season to 111kg this. Sort of implies that he won’t be looking to go any heavier than that or he’ll lose some mobility and speed.

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/sport/ot ... es-2021306

Timbo wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:Ha. Having re-read the thread and actually watched the clip you posted, you are talking about cokanasiga whilst I am talking about Mercer. Peak RR.

Read an interview with Zach Mercer today actually. He states that he’s up from 107kg last season to 111kg this. Sort of implies that he won’t be looking to go any heavier than that or he’ll lose some mobility and speed.

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/sport/ot ... es-2021306

Don’t bring facts to an RR gun fight. Glad he’s put a bit of bulk on. I haven’t seen him this season but if he’s put a bit of timber on compared to last season I’m happy.

Whilst were doing g Mercer's weight again; here's what I looked up last year when he was being talked about as too light:
Zach Mercer: 190cm; 105 kg (BMI: 29.09)
Sam Simmonds: 184cm; 103kg (BMI: 30.42)

Louis Picamoles: 192cm; 116kg (BMI: 31.47)
Sergio Parisse: 196cm; 112kg (BMI: 29.15)
Taupe Faletau: 189cm; 110kg (BMI: 30.79)
Jamie Heaslip: 192cm; 110kg (BMI: 29.84)
Kieran Read: 193cm; 110kg (BMI: 29.53)
David Pocock: 183cm; 103kg (BMI: 30.76)

Billy Vunipola: 188cm; 130kg (BMI: 36.78)
Nathan Hughes: 196cm; 125kg (BMI: 32.54)
Ben Morgan: 191cm; 116kg (BMI: 31.8)
Thomas Waldron: 185cm; 114kg (BMI: 33.31)

Z Mercer 2018: 190cm; 111kg (BMI: 30.7)

I think it was that he was perceived to be too light to be Billy’s understudy rather than being too light to be a test 8.

The problem is Eddie’s insistence that our 8 is a heavy carrier and refusal to develop an alternative gameplan. He only picked Simmonds out of necessity and persisted with Hughes mainly because he was the closest to Billy in terms of build.

I don’t understand why he continually ignored Morgan who is clearly the next best to Billy in that particular role. That ship has sailed though.

The most frustrating thing is that we have a number of good number 8s and while Billy is clearly the best of the bunch, we should have built a gameplan at 8 that wasn’t solely reliant on him being available. All of our other 8s (including Hughes) play far better in wide channels like Read or Parisse.

I trust those stats as far as I can throw them.

The only time I trusted a given weight, was when Hughes was down as 127kg after the George North incident, and that's because a biomechanics expert was pointing out that there was nothing more that a guy his size could have done.

I generally take height and weight stats with a pinch of salt, but none of those look wildly inaccurate.

Scrumhead wrote:I generally take height and weight stats with a pinch of salt, but none of those look wildly inaccurate.

Waldrom’s BMI is out by about 50%, surely.

Read can't be more than 9 stone, which makes it even more annoying that he's so effective.

Scrumhead wrote:I generally take height and weight stats with a pinch of salt, but none of those look wildly inaccurate.

I always take them a pinch of salt, but then apply what can be seen, especially when standing alongside one of their peers, and typically assume that they're lying by about as much anyway.
I would trust figures given in a 1 on 1 interview far more than a club or wiki stat as well, especially as the latter may not have been updated since the player was 19 (maybe consider them more of a target, than a fact)