RugbyRebels

Bristol:

15. Charles Piutau; 14. Niyi Adeolokun, 13. Henry Purdy, 12. Piers O’Conor, 11. Siva Naulago; 10. Tiff Eden, 9. Andy Uren; 1. Yann Thomas, 2. Bryan Byrne, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. Dave Attwood, 5. Joe Joyce, 6. Steven Luatua (c), 7. Dan Thomas, 8. Nathan Hughes.

Subs: 16. Will Capon, 17. Jake Woolmore, 28. John Afoa, 19. Chris Vui, 20. Jake Heenan, 21. Tom Kessell, 22. Charlie Powell, 23. Toby Fricker.

Unavailable: Harry Thacker, Kyle Sinckler, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Ed Holmes, Ben Earl, James Dun, Harry Randall, Chris Cook, Max Malins, Ioan Lloyd, Callum Sheedy, Sam Bedlow, Semi Radradra, Alapati Leiua, Siale Piutau, Luke Morahan.

Wasps:
15 Rob Miller, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Will Porter,
1 Tom West, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 4 Will Rowlands, 5 James Gaskell, 6 Brad Shields (c), 7 Thomas Young, 8 Sione Vailanu

Replacements:
16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Jack Owlett, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Michael Le Bourgeois, 23 Matteo Minozzi

Referee: Karl Dickson (39th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Greg Macdonald & Gareth Holsgrove.
TMO: Rowan Kitt.
Citing Officer: Buster White.

Expecting injuries, poor form, a rusty (being generous) 10 and Wasps being our bogey team to result in a loss here. No idea who'll step up to 10 if Eden has a stinker...

Hopefully the officials can take a night off being the main talking point as Dickson has been for the last two games he's ref'd us and Macdonald back after the last time he was at the Gate giving Exeter a last minute, match winning, penalty try for pulling down the maul against two people not in the maul....

Neither side in great form but Bris are managing to keep results positive. Their pack looks pretty good. Its in the backs where they are really short.

Still a wicked amount of pace in that backline. Wasps are devoid of confidence and any semblance if form - think Bris take this

Peej wrote:Still a wicked amount of pace in that backline. Wasps are devoid of confidence and any semblance if form - think Bris take this

No no.. Wasps will win this. Don't try making Bristol favourites!!

Tell you what if Bristol win I'll have an extra G&T, if Wasps win you have one.

Really not hopeful. We've had a ref round to try and help us with our discipline but I think even if we're clean, we struggle to win this.

Penalties have started coming thick and fast now

Christ, 5 penalties in 7 minutes. Honestly.

Raggs wrote:Really not hopeful. We've had a ref round to try and help us with our discipline but I think even if we're clean, we struggle to win this.

Well that's worked for you...

Discipline from both sides has been pretty shocking. A game keeps threatening to break out but the conditions and indiscipline are hampering that.

Highlights so far are Dave Attwood sitting down Fekitoa, he'll be dining out on that one for years. Piers O'Connor stepping one, sitting down Shields and then driving back Gopperth from the kick off was pretty handy as well. Surely POC can't be far from Eddie's summer tour can he?

POC does look pretty handy week in, week out.

Does Piutau play first receiver this often?

Can't be bothered to watch any more. Won't even regret it if we manage to win. Stupid penalties still. Just watched Harris stand offside (obviously) get told by the ref he's offside, and does nothing about it.

Raggs wrote:Can't be bothered to watch any more. Won't even regret it if we manage to win. Stupid penalties still. Just watched Harris stand offside (obviously) get told by the ref he's offside, and does nothing about it.

I feel like we're seeing a lot of the results recently of years going by where refs will 'coach' players on the field.

Mikey Brown wrote:

Raggs wrote:Can't be bothered to watch any more. Won't even regret it if we manage to win. Stupid penalties still. Just watched Harris stand offside (obviously) get told by the ref he's offside, and does nothing about it.

I feel like we're seeing a lot of the results recently of years going by where refs will 'coach' players on the field.

Nah, I don't think so. I think Wasps and England are just being stupid at the moment, and are in a bit of a spiral, where they lose, try and force it, which means more pens, which means they lose etc etc.

Not sure what happened to Wasps in this one - started well, looked sharp and was looking to be a really close game. Then they just fizzled out... Somehting seems not quite right there, they're missing a few key players but they have experienced cover (it seems) so not sure what's going on.

Score line flattered Bristol I think, Wasps just seemed to stop playing. Tiff Eden did pretty well, nothing flash but kept things moving and with more game time looks capable of stepping up. It surprises me how well the squad are coping with injuries/absences we have, I know a loss is coming, but we've done way better than I expected.

Peej, CP never normally acts as first reciever. He (& POC) offered to back up 10 if needed but think he stood in to taker pressure of Tiff as he's had almost no game time. IT worked quite well so can see it being used again.

Attwood has been playing out of his skin and I think sticking Fekitoa on his bum knocked some of the wind from Wasps.

POC - massive again! He's now played every minute of the season and is in great form, he's come on so much in the last year. Just hoping he stays fit now. He certainly should be in the picture for the England tour, but don't think he fits Eddies game plan.

Our discipline dropped again (at least up until I stopped). When we were not giving away daft penalties, we're OK, but when we do, we just lose it.

POC could be our AAC.

POC's undoubtedly having a great season, so much so it makes you wonder why he hasn't been looked at before now. But he's looked decent without raising any eyebrows in the past, so it could well be a case of the rising Bristol tide raising all boats. Can't be bad playing in that Bristol team can it. I'd like to see what he can do while the Lions is on certainly but I'm not sure Eddie would want to given his age, 25 might be too old for Eddie seeing as he's not from the SH.

This is an amazing interview:



Puja

I thought he was entertaining when he did a commentary stint on a recent Bristol game.

He'd be a great addition to BT Sport, or even better to liven up the dull as ditchwater BBC/ITV 6N coverage.

I’m super high and that was surreal.

Puja wrote:This is an amazing interview:



Puja

Christ! It's like when the wife puts on Made in Chelsea...

fivepointer wrote: I thought he was entertaining when he did a commentary stint on a recent Bristol game.

That was the Bris v Leicester game. The Leicester fans didn't seem to appreciate his "distinct" style!

He's a pretty marmite character.

Who is he? Long career doing the bantz up ahead!

Max Lahiff right?

Mikey Brown wrote:Max Lahiff right?

Yup

Brilliant. I thought he was an Aussie for some reason!