Exeter vs Saracens

[Puja]

Exeter: Hogg; Nowell, Whitten, Devoto, Woodburn; J. Simmonds, White; Hepburn, Cowan-Dickie, Williams, Dennis (c), J. Hill, Ewers, Vermeulen, S. Simmonds.

Replacements: Taione, Moon, Pieretto, Kirsten, Armand, Maunder, Steenson, S. Hill.

Saracens: Malins; Maitland, Taylor, Barritt (c), Daly; Farrell, Spencer; M. Vunipola, George, Koch, Itoje, Skelton, Isiekwe, Wray, B Vunipola.

Replacements: Singleton, Carre, Lamositele, Kruis, Earl, Wigglesworth, Lozowski, Tompkins

[Scrumhead]

Good to see Malins getting a bit of a run at 15.

Let’s hope this is a good game rather than the two sides cancelling each other out.

[Digby]

Must win game for Exeter

[Peej]

It's going to a be a close quarter slog

[Puja]

Must win game for Exeter

Certainly with the amount of chat they've been chucking out about Saracens of late.

Puja

[Danno]

With the exception of Nick White, that's a frghtening bunch of backs that Ex have put out. Can't personally think of another side in the Prem able to do that right now

[Banquo]

Great defence from Chiefs. Faz not very good

[twitchy]

Pretty even so far. As has been said white has looked great for exe. Interesting seeing malins at full back. He has some nice footwork doesn't he.

[astralweeks]

I try and I try to see what is so wonderful about farrell, all these respected commentators ranking as a world ranking player, eddie saying he is the 1st name on the sheet yet whenever I get to watch him play he seems to the most underwhelming player on the pitch. Today he has missed 2 kicks, had 1 charged down, passed to mr nobody and has managed to irritate wayne barnes. Do hope chiefs win by 5 points!

[Mellsblue]

Who is the female co-commentator?

[p/d]

Who is the female co-commentator?

Is she annoying

[Mellsblue]

Who is the female co-commentator?

Is she annoying

No more than the rest.

[Mellsblue]

I think LCD enjoyed that turnover!!

[Mellsblue]

Harry Williams might be in trouble if the disciplinary board decide to make an example of him. On the plus side, given Rowe’s reaction, I think he might spend a couple of weeks of that ban on an all inclusive Indian Ocean beach courtesy of Mr Rowe.

[francoisfou]

Harry Williams might be in trouble if the disciplinary board decide to make an example of him. On the plus side, given Rowe’s reaction, I think he might spend a couple of weeks of that ban on an all inclusive Indian Ocean beach courtesy of Mr Rowe.

Mr Rowe? Maybe Erica’s lad

[Banquo]

Chiefs did well in defence. Sarries were pretty poor though; Billy, Daly (for all the yards made, his decision making was poor), and Faz especially average, with Sarries set piece under pressure and getting a bit of a hammering at the breakdown; that said, their backs had enough decent ball to do better, but were pretty rank as a collective. Faz missed two sitters, threw a dreadful pass for Chiefs 1st try, and generally looked confused at the gainline, in contrast to his oppo, who nailed two tough conversions and generally got his backs moving well.

[Banquo]

Harry Williams might be in trouble if the disciplinary board decide to make an example of him. On the plus side, given Rowe’s reaction, I think he might spend a couple of weeks of that ban on an all inclusive Indian Ocean beach courtesy of Mr Rowe.

Mr Rowe? Maybe Erica’s lad

only if missing a W

[p/d]

Harry Williams might be in trouble if the disciplinary board decide to make an example of him. On the plus side, given Rowe’s reaction, I think he might spend a couple of weeks of that ban on an all inclusive Indian Ocean beach courtesy of Mr Rowe.

Mr Rowe? Maybe Erica’s lad

only if missing a W

Not to mention 2 D’s

[Banquo]

Mr Rowe? Maybe Erica’s lad

only if missing a W

Not to mention 2 D’s

well played

[Digby]

It was both a decent standard and fairly uninteresting attack. Which tends to be the case for higher levels of rugby

[Timbo]

Chiefs did well in defence. Sarries were pretty poor though; Billy, Daly (for all the yards made, his decision making was poor), and Faz especially average, with Sarries set piece under pressure and getting a bit of a hammering at the breakdown.

Disagree about Billy. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, but otherwise as physical, industrious and skilful as ever.

[Banquo]

Chiefs did well in defence. Sarries were pretty poor though; Billy, Daly (for all the yards made, his decision making was poor), and Faz especially average, with Sarries set piece under pressure and getting a bit of a hammering at the breakdown.

Disagree about Billy. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, but otherwise as physical, industrious and skilful as ever.

Thought he made too many mistakes, was turned over 4 times, once critically on the Chiefs line by Nowell, and even looked a little less than forceful carrying- 16 carries for 20 yards is not a great return, even if heavily marked.

[Spiffy]

Chiefs did well in defence. Sarries were pretty poor though; Billy, Daly (for all the yards made, his decision making was poor), and Faz especially average, with Sarries set piece under pressure and getting a bit of a hammering at the breakdown.

Disagree about Billy. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, but otherwise as physical, industrious and skilful as ever.

Billy does not seem to have developed his game all that much in the past year. It is mostly based on physicality. He is a very heavy and powerful man, with a low centre of gravity, who will always make hard yards and is a bugger to pull down. His ball-playing skills have not seemed to advance at Sarries, who use him as a primarily as a heavy-duty carrier in traffic. His game seems a tad more flexible at the international level when playing for England, where he shows good hands and positional awareness, though he was far from his best at the RWC. Not sure tht Sarries are getting the best out of him with his designated role in their game plan.

Interesting to watch his head-to-head with Simmonds today. I thought Simmonds came out on top, but I suppose one could argue that was because the Exeter pack as a whole outplayed their opponents.

[Timbo]

Chiefs did well in defence. Sarries were pretty poor though; Billy, Daly (for all the yards made, his decision making was poor), and Faz especially average, with Sarries set piece under pressure and getting a bit of a hammering at the breakdown.

Disagree about Billy. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, but otherwise as physical, industrious and skilful as ever.

Billy does not seem to have developed his game all that much in the past year. It is mostly based on physicality. He is a very heavy and powerful man, with a low centre of gravity, who will always make hard yards and is a bugger to pull down. His ball-playing skills have not seemed to advance at Sarries, who use him as a primarily as a heavy-duty carrier in traffic. His game seems a tad more flexible at the international level when playing for England, where he shows good hands and positional awareness, though he was far from his best at the RWC. Not sure tht Sarries are getting the best out of him with his designated role in their game plan.

Interesting to watch his head-to-head with Simmonds today. I thought Simmonds came out on top, but I suppose one could argue that was because the Exeter pack as a whole outplayed their opponents.

That just doesn’t tally up for me. It’s very rare after a Sarries game to look at the stats for both teams and for Billy to not be the top passer and offloaded among the forwards. He’s got a very diverse game imo.

Only 2 weeks ago he won the game against Munster with a brilliant basketball style pass after breaking from the scrum and sucking in 4 defenders. Also created a couple of line breaks with brilliant pirouette passes on the gain line.

[Banquo]

Disagree about Billy. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, but otherwise as physical, industrious and skilful as ever.

Billy does not seem to have developed his game all that much in the past year. It is mostly based on physicality. He is a very heavy and powerful man, with a low centre of gravity, who will always make hard yards and is a bugger to pull down. His ball-playing skills have not seemed to advance at Sarries, who use him as a primarily as a heavy-duty carrier in traffic. His game seems a tad more flexible at the international level when playing for England, where he shows good hands and positional awareness, though he was far from his best at the RWC. Not sure tht Sarries are getting the best out of him with his designated role in their game plan.

Interesting to watch his head-to-head with Simmonds today. I thought Simmonds came out on top, but I suppose one could argue that was because the Exeter pack as a whole outplayed their opponents.

That just doesn’t tally up for me. It’s very rare after a Sarries game to look at the stats for both teams and for Billy to not be the top passer and offloaded among the forwards. He’s got a very diverse game imo.

Only 2 weeks ago he won the game against Munster with a brilliant basketball style pass after breaking from the scrum and sucking in 4 defenders. Also created a couple of line breaks with brilliant pirouette passes on the gain line.

I don't agree with Spiffy either- but yesterday, as someone I consider as a world class player, he was disappointing with his handling and especially with his ball retention, and couldn't make the impact I'd expect.
It seems to have become common amongst critics to call him out as being a one dimensional bosher- he is very far from that, and his handling is (generally) very good and improving- he's used much more as a distributor; he's also very good over the ball.