Premiership Final

[Danno]

Smith is just fearless when it comes to deploying his talent. Let’s just hope England look to exploit that rather than suffocate it

But what if he makes a mistake?

Like not passing everything (that he doesn't kick) to 12?

[p/d]

Smith is just fearless when it comes to deploying his talent. Let’s just hope England look to exploit that rather than suffocate it

But what if he makes a mistake?

Then he will be yanked off, Farrell shifted in one and Lawrence brought on at 12 for another 20 mins of watching & learning

[FKAS]

Smith is just fearless when it comes to deploying his talent. Let’s just hope England look to exploit that rather than suffocate it

But what if he makes a mistake?

Like not passing everything (that he doesn't kick) to 12?

It'll be interesting to see how Smith does when he takes the ball up to the line and when he gets there realises his inside centre and captain is 10m back lining up the rest of the backs for a kick on the next phase.

[Mikey Brown]

Smith is just fearless when it comes to deploying his talent. Let’s just hope England look to exploit that rather than suffocate it

But what if he makes a mistake?

Then he will be yanked off, Farrell shifted in one and Lawrence brought on at 12 for another 20 mins of watching & learning

Well then, just as long as we've got a plan B.

[Scrumhead]

I've said it before and I'll say it again now: Marchant is just so, so important for this team. His attack is dangerous, but his defence is just as important. His positional play and decision making in that difficult 13 channel should not be underestimated. Personally I'd take him over Slade for England, but I am biased to be fair!

Another A++ game and advert for what rugby can be.

Agreed on all points. It really was a fantastic game and the best Premiership final ever IMO.

Marchant is such a ‘complete player’. He does everything well and should be England’s next 13 IMO.

Not sure what we’ll get vs. USA, but I’d really like to see him and Lawrence paired up in the centre.

[Mikey Brown]

Hadn't thought of that combo but I like the sound of it, assuming Lawrence can genuinely be at his most effective at 12.

[Beasties]

Wel that was quite some game. I'd agree that it's the best Premiership final ever. Relentless, both teams going flat out, exhausting to watch even for the neutral. Gotta feel for Exeter but Quins have been utterly fantastic over the last few weeks. Brilliant result.

[Mikey Brown]

I know I keep banging on about this. But Jack Kenningham doing the kinds of shifts he’s doing, for 80+ minutes at a time now, is insane.

The way he, a 21 year old, stepped up like “nullifying LCD’s quick taps from 5m is my responsibility” was unbelievable. I don’t think LCD took another one after he got hit twice like that.

Always there to clear out, always there on the shoulder of a break, always on any loose ball. It’s pointless to try and guess which backrow players will get consistently recognised with England caps over the next 10 years, but if he continues at anything like the rate he’s currently improving he’s going to be a very impressive player.

[Puja]

I know I keep banging on about this. But Jack Kenningham doing the kinds of shifts he’s doing, for 80+ minutes at a time now, is insane.

The way he, a 21 year old, stepped up like “nullifying LCD’s quick taps from 5m is my responsibility” was unbelievable. I don’t think LCD took another one after he got hit twice like that.

Always there to clear out, always there on the shoulder of a break, always on any loose ball. It’s pointless to try and guess which backrow players will get consistently recognised with England caps over the next 10 years, but if he continues at anything like the rate he’s currently improving he’s going to be a very impressive player.

I'm not gonna criticise you for banging on, as I've been just as impressed. Workrate, dog, desire, excellent understanding of the game - you can tell his idol was Chris Robshaw just from watching him play.

The only question I'd have about him is his carrying - fair play, he did sign up to carry hard ball on several occasions, but mostly bounced off with a BWONG sound effect. He looks like his frame needs another 2 stone of muscle, and it's hsrd to tell how that would affect his speed and general play.

Puja

[Magic_sponge]

I may well have missed a post here, but kenningham has been added to the squad? I'm a massive fan as my previous posts would show, but still surprised he's included.

But hugely pleased for him. I do think he could do with bulking up a little, but the fact we're saying these things at this point in his career I think speaks for the potential that some see in him. I.e. most at his experience wouldn't get the air time for us to comment!

[Banquo]

Somewhat ironic that a couple of Quins better players had been Brown and Evans.....and their replacements have probably been upgrades, or at least made a significant difference (being differents styles of player to the previous incumbents).

Bittersweet end for Brown I'd guess.

[Mikey Brown]

Yeah, it’s a strange one but worked out pretty well for us. I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily upgrades, but there’s not much in it, and different styles as you say. We’ve just continued our lucky streak and found two players to step up in key positions.

A few weeks back I certainly wasn’t confident looking at play-offs without those two. I thought we might have used up all our lucky breaks with that last minute win against Irish, but they just kept going. Still can’t quite believe it.

[Banquo]

Yeah, it’s a strange one but worked out pretty well for us. I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily upgrades, but there’s not much in it, and different styles as you say. We’ve just continued our lucky streak and found two players to step up in key positions.

A few weeks back I certainly wasn’t confident looking at play-offs without those two. I thought we might have used up all our lucky breaks with that last minute win against Irish, but they just kept going. Still can’t quite believe it.

I think Green was an upgrade in the way that Quins ended up playing, and Kenningham brought a sort of crazy energy that the side benefitted from big time in the last two games. But yes, I was kind of wondering what the Quins fans take on it was, because had you said you'd lose those two for the run in back in April, you'd have been quite downcast. Funny old game- mind, I think it might be interesting having Kenningham, Evans and Dombrandt playing together- Kenningham imo could make a very decent fist of 6.

[Scrumhead]

Yep. My take is pretty similar.

Kenningham and Green have different strengths to Evans and Brown.

I think we’d have been a bit tighter defensively with the latter pair, but I doubt we’d have seen some of the great link play between the back three with Brown at 15 and Kenningham’s relentless energy was a bonus all over the pitch.

I also agree on Kenningham as a possible option at 6. He’s a strong all rounder who would be capable of playing 6 and 7 equally well IMO. He pretty much is the archetypal 6.5 in a good way - tackles like a demon, decent over the ball, carries pretty well and jumps in the lineout. In short - a lot to like. Him, Evans and Dombrandt would be a very nicely balanced and effective back row unit IMO.

[Banquo]

Yep. My take is pretty similar.

Kenningham and Green have different strengths to Evans and Brown.

I think we’d have been a bit tighter defensively with the latter pair, but I doubt we’d have seen some of the great link play between the back three with Brown at 15 and Kenningham’s relentless energy was a bonus all over the pitch.

I also agree on Kenningham as a possible option at 6. He’s a strong all rounder who would be capable of playing 6 and 7 equally well IMO. He pretty much is the archetypal 6.5 in a good way - tackles like a demon, decent over the ball, carries pretty well and jumps in the lineout. In short - a lot to like. Him, Evans and Dombrandt would be a very nicely balanced and effective back row unit IMO.

It would give Evans even more licence to pick and choose when to compete. Having said that, Chisholm was pretty good, and I think was the instigator of a lot of the terrific counter rucking which was massive for Quins. Good options to have, Kenningham is a big find....even Eddie agrees, to Martin's chagrin I expect

[Mellsblue]

Yep. My take is pretty similar.

Kenningham and Green have different strengths to Evans and Brown.

I think we’d have been a bit tighter defensively with the latter pair, but I doubt we’d have seen some of the great link play between the back three with Brown at 15 and Kenningham’s relentless energy was a bonus all over the pitch.

I also agree on Kenningham as a possible option at 6. He’s a strong all rounder who would be capable of playing 6 and 7 equally well IMO. He pretty much is the archetypal 6.5 in a good way - tackles like a demon, decent over the ball, carries pretty well and jumps in the lineout. In short - a lot to like. Him, Evans and Dombrandt would be a very nicely balanced and effective back row unit IMO.

It would give Evans even more licence to pick and choose when to compete. Having said that, Chisholm was pretty good, and I think was the instigator of a lot of the terrific counter rucking which was massive for Quins. Good options to have, Kenningham is a big find....even Eddie agrees, to Martin's chagrin I expect

Big fan of Chisholm. Fitting this four into three spots is a nice (and probably surprising) problem to have next season. Plenty of positional flexibility with Chisholm and Kenningham, too.
Mostly, I’m glad to see Kenningham stopped tacking with his face

[Mellsblue]

As an aside, it’s great to see Quins playing similarly to how they did under O’Shea. They were my favourite Prem team back then (also because they had a Bedford hue) and they might have overtaken Bris to being back there again in the past month.

[Digby]

Losing Sincks has really helped Quins, Louw has given them much better scrum stability. Did they ever sign him to a longer term contract?

[Spiffy]

I may well have missed a post here, but kenningham has been added to the squad? I'm a massive fan as my previous posts would show, but still surprised he's included.

But hugely pleased for him. I do think he could do with bulking up a little, but the fact we're saying these things at this point in his career I think speaks for the potential that some see in him. I.e. most at his experience wouldn't get the air time for us to comment!

According to Kenningham himself (in Rugby Pass), he was a scant 92 Kg when he joined Quins, but is now 108Kg (17 st), bigger than the likes of Tipuric, Hamish Watson, Underhill, Earl. At 6'3" he really needs no extra bulk. Rather see him keep his speed, zip and work rate.

[Puja]

I may well have missed a post here, but kenningham has been added to the squad? I'm a massive fan as my previous posts would show, but still surprised he's included.

But hugely pleased for him. I do think he could do with bulking up a little, but the fact we're saying these things at this point in his career I think speaks for the potential that some see in him. I.e. most at his experience wouldn't get the air time for us to comment!

According to Kenningham himself (in Rugby Pass), he was a scant 92 Kg when he joined Quins, but is now 108Kg (17 st), bigger than the likes of Tipuric, Hamish Watson, Underhill, Earl. At 6'3" he really needs no extra bulk. Rather see him keep his speed, zip and work rate.

17 stone?! Maybe if he's got Harry Randall sitting on his shoulders.

Puja

[Magic_sponge]

I may well have missed a post here, but kenningham has been added to the squad? I'm a massive fan as my previous posts would show, but still surprised he's included.

But hugely pleased for him. I do think he could do with bulking up a little, but the fact we're saying these things at this point in his career I think speaks for the potential that some see in him. I.e. most at his experience wouldn't get the air time for us to comment!

According to Kenningham himself (in Rugby Pass), he was a scant 92 Kg when he joined Quins, but is now 108Kg (17 st), bigger than the likes of Tipuric, Hamish Watson, Underhill, Earl. At 6'3" he really needs no extra bulk. Rather see him keep his speed, zip and work rate.

Fair play if he is, but surely, surely, he's not heavier than Earl and Underhill?? Appreciate he's got a couple of inches in height on those two, but still??

[Digby]

That might have been his weight after time doing S&C, the query would be has he sustained that having moved into the 1st XV

[Beasties]

Just watch, Eddie will play him at 8.