EQP by position

[Epaminondas Pules]

First three rounds of Prem

Loosehead 26 of a possible 36 were EQP 72%
Hooker 23/36 64%
Tighthead 20/36 56%
Lock (4) 27/36 75%
Lock (5) 25/36 69%
Blindside 26/36 72%
Openside 25/36 69%
No8 25/36 69%
SH 29/36 81%
FH 25/36 69%
Left wing 35/36 97%
Inside centre 13/36 36%
Outside centre 22/36 61%
Right wing 27/36 75%
Fullback 25/36 69%

Anyone spot then elephant in the room?

[Mikey Brown]

Oof.

[Stom]

First three rounds of Prem

Loosehead 26 of a possible 36 were EQP 72%
Hooker 23/36 64%
Tighthead 20/36 56%
Lock (4) 27/36 75%
Lock (5) 25/36 69%
Blindside 26/36 72%
Openside 25/36 69%
No8 25/36 69%
SH 29/36 81%
FH 25/36 69%
Left wing 35/36 97%
Inside centre 13/36 36%
Outside centre 22/36 61%
Right wing 27/36 75%
Fullback 25/36 69%

Anyone spot then elephant in the room?

How many of those inside centers were South African?

[Epaminondas Pules]

Oh and one of the EQP inside centres will be Toby Flood, who has been playing 12 for Falcons. So of those 13 inside centre spots in the first three rounds how many are viable options. By that I mean someone like Toby Flood probably isn't, and I believe he's played all three games. So the viable options rate would drop to at least 10/36.

[Mellsblue]

And how many of those are ball carriers/running threats? It’s not as if we really need anymore play makers.

[FKAS]

That's with all the internationals away as well... not many options for Jones really. There's Devoto who's rotated at Chiefs, Ryan Mills who just can't seem to stay fit and has had some issues with his knee and then it's to playing players out of position like Slade, Manu, Lawrence or Sam James.

[fivepointer]

I'll say it again. Not investing some time and effort in developing Jonny Williams was a massive error.

Can only hope a young 12 breaks through. There's Redpath and Ojomoh at Bath and ??????

THP isnt a great stat either with under 60% EQP.

[Scrumhead]

I’ll say it again ... I think we did ...

I was very disappointed to lose him but I can understand why he wasn’t selected when he was playing in the Championship, injured or seriously ill.

England showed a decent amount of interest when he was actually available. His quotes since pledging his allegiance to Wales suggest that’s what he really wanted anyway (“I look better in red” etc.). He’s spoken several times about going to watch Wales with his Dad so I don’t think he was ever committed to us anyway. Yes, we might have made it harder choice, but I do feel we were always his second choice.

[FKAS]

First three rounds of Prem

Loosehead 26 of a possible 36 were EQP 72%
Hooker 23/36 64%
Tighthead 20/36 56%
Lock (4) 27/36 75%
Lock (5) 25/36 69%
Blindside 26/36 72%
Openside 25/36 69%
No8 25/36 69%
SH 29/36 81%
FH 25/36 69%
Left wing 35/36 97%
Inside centre 13/36 36%
Outside centre 22/36 61%
Right wing 27/36 75%
Fullback 25/36 69%

Anyone spot then elephant in the room?

How many of those inside centers were South African?

3? Van Rensburg, Venter and Esterhuizen. LI have an Aussie (Meakes), Tigers a Scot (Scott), Bristol a Tongan (Piatau), Wasps a Kiwi (Gopperth)

Flood, Redpath, Devoto and Twelvetrees the regular English starters so far this season at 12. I think Francis and Hutchinson have shared the jersey at Saints.

Good point on the tighthead situation. At least there are three emerging players that we know are coming through in Heyes, Street and Painter. At 12 the English option under 25 appears to be Redpath though much like with Williams his dad might have a different opinion.

[Banquo]

For all the headline grabbing elephant in the room, overall it’s not ideal either. Surprised at 9 though.

[Puja]

Can only hope a young 12 breaks through. There's Redpath and Ojomoh at Bath and ??????

THP isnt a great stat either with under 60% EQP.

There's Phil Cokanasiga down at London Irish as well.

I'm more sanguine about tighthead, as we have Sinckler and Stuart as good senior options and Williams as an acceptable one, with the likes of Heyes and Street as young talents who are getting sufficient game time to develop without being crushed into the ground.

Puja

[Stom]

The wing situation is funny, too. We produce a lot of players who like to play left wing and not many who like to play right wing. Has it ever been different?

[Puja]

The wing situation is funny, too. We produce a lot of players who like to play left wing and not many who like to play right wing. Has it ever been different?

I'm sure I recall a time a while back where we had a dozen right wings and no left wings to speak of. IIRC, it was around 2010ish and we had Cueto, Ashton, and Monye all as natural right wings with no-one to play on the left.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

First three rounds of Prem

Loosehead 26 of a possible 36 were EQP 72%
Hooker 23/36 64%
Tighthead 20/36 56%
Lock (4) 27/36 75%
Lock (5) 25/36 69%
Blindside 26/36 72%
Openside 25/36 69%
No8 25/36 69%
SH 29/36 81%
FH 25/36 69%
Left wing 35/36 97%
Inside centre 13/36 36%
Outside centre 22/36 61%
Right wing 27/36 75%
Fullback 25/36 69%

Anyone spot then elephant in the room?

Interesting to see, but there’s a few important points that seem to have been missed. Firstly, 3 games is a very small sample size and these stats don’t include the England players on test duty, secondly this doesn’t include injured players and thirdly, doesn’t include the Saracens players who make up a decent proportion of the squad despite being in the Championship/on loan overseas.

Some positions are strengthened quite a bit. For example at loosehead, the replacement for Marler was Argentinian (Garcia Botta) and the replacement for Genge was foreign in 2/3 rounds (Gigena/Leatigaga).

Centre is a bit more nuanced as players move between 12 and 13. For example, had Bath been able to call on JJ, there’s a good chance Redpath would have played at 12 instead of Matavesi. Also IIRC, Tuilagi had only played at 12 for Sale. Obviously he’s not included in the stats.

Starting Premiership 12s when everyone’s fit and available are:

Exeter: Devoto (English)
Wasps: Gopperth (NZ)
Bristol: Piutau (Tonga)
Bath: Redpath (EQP)*
Sale: Tuilagi (England)
Harlequins: Esterhuizen (SA)
Northampton: Francis (England)
Gloucester: Atkinson (England)
Worcester: Venter (SA)
London Irish: Meakes (Australia)
Leicester: Scott (Scotland)
Newcastle: Flood (England)

That’s 50% which isn’t brilliant but is a fair bit better than 36%.

[Puja]

Starting Premiership 12s when everyone’s fit and available are:

Exeter: Devoto (English)
Wasps: Gopperth (NZ)
Bristol: Piutau (Tonga)
Bath: Redpath (EQP)*
Sale: Tuilagi (England)
Harlequins: Esterhuizen (SA)
Northampton: Francis (England)
Gloucester: Atkinson (England)
Worcester: Venter (SA)
London Irish: Meakes (Australia)
Leicester: Scott (Scotland)
Newcastle: Flood (England)

That’s 50% which isn’t brilliant but is a fair bit better than 36%.

Meakes is only on a short-term contract till January though and he's just signed a contract for the 2021 MLR season in Yank country (starting in March) so he won't be renewing. When he's gone, it'll be Hepetema (NZ), Cokanasiga (Eng), and Brophy-Clewes (Eng) playing for the 12 shirt.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

And Hepetema is EQ too. Born in Brentford I believe.

[Stom]

For all the headline grabbing elephant in the room, overall it’s not ideal either. Surprised at 9 though.

We do suddenly have a lot of teams with an English 9 as first choice.

Exeter, Briz, Saints come to mind: they've all had foreign players until this season.

[Peej]

And Hepetema is EQ too. Born in Brentford I believe.

Brent, but yes, he is EQP

[jimKRFC]

For all the headline grabbing elephant in the room, overall it’s not ideal either. Surprised at 9 though.

We do suddenly have a lot of teams with an English 9 as first choice.

Exeter, Briz, Saints come to mind: they've all had foreign players until this season.

Bristols starting 9s for the past two seasons have been Uren and Randell..

I also think Bedlow will shift Siale out of the 12 shirt very shortly.

[Banquo]

For all the headline grabbing elephant in the room, overall it’s not ideal either. Surprised at 9 though.

We do suddenly have a lot of teams with an English 9 as first choice.

Exeter, Briz, Saints come to mind: they've all had foreign players until this season.

Bristols starting 9s for the past two seasons have been Uren and Randell..

I also think Bedlow will shift Siale out of the 12 shirt very shortly.

Thought Siale still looked pretty decent in a difficult game, though no spring chicken

[fivepointer]

Like the look of Bedlow. Got good hands, not averse to running hard and straight and has a kicking game.

Are there any others out there bubbling under. Players who could become effective Prem regulars if given the chance?

[Peej]

Not a 12, but Odogwu seems to have taken to 13 at Wasps pretty well. We have Spink and Simmons in the academy that there are high hopes for, but really it'll be Mills that comes through (hopefully) after his injuries. Gopperth really hasn't been great so far this season. Also have Booj too, who is likely to start some games at some point too.

[Stom]

For all the headline grabbing elephant in the room, overall it’s not ideal either. Surprised at 9 though.

We do suddenly have a lot of teams with an English 9 as first choice.

Exeter, Briz, Saints come to mind: they've all had foreign players until this season.

Bristols starting 9s for the past two seasons have been Uren and Randell..

I also think Bedlow will shift Siale out of the 12 shirt very shortly.

Sorry, you’re right, got the past2 seasons confused

[Scrumhead]

Like the look of Bedlow. Got good hands, not averse to running hard and straight and has a kicking game.

Are there any others out there bubbling under. Players who could become effective Prem regulars if given the chance?

Will Butler has looked promising when he’s played, but seems to be either injury prone or desperately unlucky.

Alan Solomons rates him highly enough to have made him Worcester’s vice captain so I’d imagine they’re planning for a Butler/Lawrence combination moving forward.

[Raggs]

Think Simonds has played a bit at 12 (and 15).