RugbyRebels

15. Jason Woodward; 14. Matt Banahan, 13. Billy Twelvetrees, 12. Mark Atkinson, 11. Ollie Thorley; 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Willi Heinz; 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. James Hanson, 3. Fraser Balmain; 4. Tom Savage, 5. Ed Slater (capt); 6. Gareth Evans, 7. Jaco Kriel, 8, Freddie Clarke


Replacements:

16. Henry Walker, 17. Val Rapava Ruskin, 18. Ciaran Knight, 19. Gerbrandt Grobler, 20. Ben Morgan, 21. Callum Braley, 22. Henry Trinder, 23. Tom Hudson

Tigers:-

15 George Worth
14 Adam Thompstone
13 Gareth Owen
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Jordan Olowofela
10 Joe Ford
9 Ben White
1 Greg Bateman
2 Tom Youngs (c)
3 Dan Cole
4 Harry Wells
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Mike Williams
7 Guy Thompson
8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements
16 Jake Kerr
17 Facundo Gigena
18 Gaston Cortes
19 Will Spencer
20 Mike Fitzgerald
21 Sam Harrison
22 Tom Hardwick
23 Matt Smith

I understand injuries and Internationals have hurt us hard.

BUT for Murphy to pick Kitchener over Spencer and Ford over Hardwick, I just can't understand it at all.

Interested to see how Kriel gets on

Also, wasn't Morgan listed as injured in the England announcement?

Good to see Thorley back, Ben Morgan on the bench and to see what Kriel can do on his prem debut.

Tigers pack still looks strong despite call ups.

Glos should win comfortably enough and Tigers’ll be lucky to go home with an lbp. Surely Hardwick should have been picked ahead of Joe Ford?

Tigers missing basically.
1. Genge
2. TPN
3. Faeo
4.
5.
6. Denton
7. O'Connor
8. Mapapalangi
9. Youngs
10. Ford
11. May
12. Toomua
13. Manu
14. Holmes
15. Veainu

Nearly a decent full XV.

Polledri, Ludlow, Ackerman, Marais, Sharples, Dreyer, Marshall, Vellacott, Mostert are missing from Glos squad. Arguably not all are starters but a few big names out nontheless.

Tigers backs are more decimated than Glos for sure.

Plenty of quality on both sides. Should be a competitive game.

I had not realised that this was Premiership! Had assumed that it was the pointless cup and was busy ignoring it.

Puja

Puja wrote:I had not realised that this was Premiership! Had assumed that it was the pointless cup and was busy ignoring it.

Puja

Good point - must make sure the telly is set to record the thing

Tigers really up against it.

Ollie Thorley. Handy.

To sum up Tigers recuiment
1st choice backline
9. Youngs
10. G.Ford
11. May
12. Toomua
13. Tuilagi
14. Holmes
15. Veainu
v
2nd choice
9. Harrison
10. J.Ford
11. Olowofela
12. Eastmond
13. Owen
14. Thompstone
15. Worth

That's like going from a F1 car to a relient robin with fancy spokes on (Eastmond) and 1 new wheel (Olowofela).

Morgan looking pretty injured here.

Great stuff. But Thorley's first try in the same game was something spcial too. Coming through the midfield, he turned on the acceleration at just the right moment to carve up the Leicester defence. There's nothing like a flying wing scoring great, long-range tries based on real pace. Meantime, England has Jack Nowell!

Not all wings have to be the same. Nowell's a top player.
Thorley took his 2 tries brilliantly. Lets see if he can maintain that kind of form.
they capped off a very good nights work from an impressive Glos all round effort.
Outside of the scrum, Tigers were by a long way second best.

Unfashionable to say but cips was brilliant. Glos are so good to watch with him pulling the strings.

twitchy wrote:Unfashionable to say but cips was brilliant. Glos are so good to watch with him pulling the strings.

He was brilliant at times. He was also really sloppy, especially in the first 20-30 minutes, with some poor kicking, a charge down and a few times he took the ball to the line and gave some terrible passes. He has been out for a few weeks though, so maybe just knocking some rust off.

Timbo wrote:

twitchy wrote:Unfashionable to say but cips was brilliant. Glos are so good to watch with him pulling the strings.

He was brilliant at times. He was also really sloppy, especially in the first 20-30 minutes, with some poor kicking, a charge down and a few times he took the ball to the line and gave some terrible passes. He has been out for a few weeks though, so maybe just knocking some rust off.

With Cipriani, you have to look at what he CAN do and accept some of what he can't/doesn't do. The alternative is Farrell whose capacity in the 'can-do' range is mediocre or Ford whose 'can-do' is usually at about 60% capacity if Farrell is on the pitch.

I'd further add the opinion that Ford and Cipriani are equally at home at international/club level if given the right selection around them and the freedom to play according to what is in front of them. Farrell is the guy to stick to system instructions. Hence, he can take Saracens' rigidity into Jonesism and please punditry.

I am looking forward to today's match mostly because Farrell is not starting. Please, will the real George Ford stand up.

Mikey Brown wrote:Morgan looking pretty injured here.

I thought the same. It was a good show of what Morgan can do. A bit of footwork, a bit of acceleration and then he ability to draw a defender and execute a good pass.

Thorley stole the show though. That was a lovely try. His first try was very good too.

Shame Woodward was denied a second. No doubt Banahan’s pass was forward, but it could have been a great team try.

Find it so annoying how it has to be Ford v Cipriani and Farrell is the golden boy.

So many people on Twitter seem to have no idea about Fords form in the prem.

Tigersman wrote:Find it so annoying how it has to be Ford v Cipriani and Farrell is the golden boy.

So many people on Twitter seem to have no idea about Fords form in the prem.

Many judge purely on what they have seen in England matches.

If it is a case of judging on club form, Farrell getting an easy ride within the Saracens system can make him look dominant. Like it or not (and I don't) he is seen as the 'winner' of the three - in that he is the percentage man most likely to be a successful part of a winning side. My argument against that is that his peak of creativity, and therefore the team's, must always be lower becuase he simply cannot do what Cipriani or Ford can.

Is it idealism v practicality or is it ambition v pragmatism? All I am certain about is that I'd rather watch the FH with the highest skill-set.

Scrumhead wrote:

Mikey Brown wrote:Morgan looking pretty injured here.

I thought the same. It was a good show of what Morgan can do. A bit of footwork, a bit of acceleration and then he ability to draw a defender and execute a good pass.

Thorley stole the show though. That was a lovely try. His first try was very good too.

Shame Woodward was denied a second. No doubt Banahan’s pass was forward, but it could have been a great team try.

I have to say, I thought the forward pass was a shocking call. The ball travelled forward, but that was because Banahan was running at speed - the pass left his hands flat and I thought it was perfect. Very harsh call.

Puja