RugbyRebels

Ref: Adam Leal (14th Premiership game).
TJs: Neil Chivers & Jamie Leahy
TMO: Dean Richards.
Saturday, Kingston Park, 3pm

Newcastle:
15 Mike Brown
14 Tom Penny (c)
13 George Wacokecoke
12 Matias Orlando
11 Adam Radwan
10 Will Haydon-Wood
09 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti

1 Trevor Davison
2 George McGuigan
3 Mark Tampin
4 Greg Peterson
5 Sean Robinson
6 Josh Basham
7 Connor Collett (c)
8 Gary Graham

16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Rob Farrar, 20 Will Montgomery
21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Pete Lucock


Bath:
15 Tom de Glanville
14 Tom Butt
13 Max Clark
12 Max Ojomoh
11 Will Muir
10 Danny Cipriani
09 Ben Spencer

1 Valeriy Morozov
2 Jacques du Toit
3 D’Arcy Rae
4 Mike Williams
5 Ewan Richards
6 Josh Bayliss
7 Miles Reid ©
8 Nathan Hughes

16 Tom Doughty, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Sam Underhill
21 Joe Simpson, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Captain Szyslak!
That's a record low for us this season, of just the 2 academy players out there (Richards and Ojomoh).
Hope we're confident that all those injury returnees are actually ready

OPTA STATS

● Newcastle Falcons suffered defeat in their last home fixture against Bath Rugby in the Premiership (19-38 in March 2021); however, they emerged victorious in the four meetings prior to that, claiming a bonus-point on one occasion (29-12 in February 2018).

● Newcastle Falcons are winless in their last seven Premiership matches (D1 L6), their longest run without a victory since a seven-game sequence between October-December 2015, which was halted by a win at home to Bath Rugby in January 2016 (19-14).

● Bath Rugby have lost their last three games in the Premiership after winning the previous two, conceding 40 points or more twice in this current run; they have also lost their last 10 away matches in the league, with their last win coming against Newcastle Falcons in March 2021 (38-19).

● Bath Rugby have lost each of the three games this season in which they have been leading at half-time, with their two wins both being come-from-behind victories. Comparatively, Newcastle Falcons have gone on to win three of the five games in which they’ve been ahead at the interval (D1 L1).

● 23% of Newcastle’s tries in the Premiership this season have originated from counter attacks (7/31), the highest ratio of any side; meanwhile, Bath are one of three teams to have scored over a fifth of their tries following a turnover (23%, also Wasps 25% and Bristol 24%).

● Newcastle Falcons (1624) and Bath Rugby (1517) have completed fewer tackles than any other team in the Premiership this season. Bath also have the lowest tackle success rate (84%), whilst Newcastle Falcons have completed the fewest dominant tackles (33).

● Newcastle Falcons attempted 37 kicks from hand in last weekend’s round of fixtures, the most of any side, whilst Bath Rugby attempted 28 kicks from hand, the joint-third highest amount, despite having attempted the least throughout the course of the season so far (315).

● Bath Rugby have conceded more penalties than any other side in this season’s Premiership (212), whilst Newcastle Falcons have conceded the second fewest (161, just one more than Harlequins).

● Bath Rugby’s Valery Morozov was one of two players to concede four penalties in last weekend’s round of fixtures, alongside Newcastle Falcons’ Adam Brocklebank.

● Newcastle Falcons’ Will Haydon-Wood carried for 141 meters in last weekend’s round of fixtures, only the fifth time a fly-half has put up more than 100 carry meters in a Premiership game this season.

Uh oh. That’s a lot of stats….. good luck.

Mellsblue wrote:Uh oh. That’s a lot of stats….. good luck.

Yeah, but no graphic, so I should get away with it

Which Tyler wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:Uh oh. That’s a lot of stats….. good luck.

Yeah, but no graphic, so I should get away with it

Ahh. So that’s the secret

Mellsblue wrote:

Which Tyler wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:Uh oh. That’s a lot of stats….. good luck.

Yeah, but no graphic, so I should get away with it

Ahh. So that’s the secret

it's my theory, I'm just testing it out...

If we're lucky, no-one else will have noticed

What's the likelihood Underhill and Cokansiga get on then immediately clash heads?

Mikey Brown wrote:What's the likelihood Underhill and Cokansiga get on then immediately clash heads?

Given their respective injury history, it’s more likely Underhill will head butt Cokansiga’s knee instantly knocking himself out and rupturing Coka’s ACL, MCL, PCL and LCL.

Which Tyler wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:

Which Tyler wrote: Yeah, but no graphic, so I should get away with it

Ahh. So that’s the secret

it's my theory, I'm just testing it out...

If we're lucky, no-one else will have noticed

Seems to be working.

Can you imagine the shock the ref got when he saw that Dean Richards was now going to be TMO...

Raggs wrote:Can you imagine the shock the ref got when he saw that Dean Richards was now going to be TMO...

Shock and surprise as the RFU roll out their new disciplinary policy of, "You think it's so easy, why don't *you* do it then?!"

Puja

I'm also not expecting the TMO to have much work, and for play to continue during injuries, unless absolutely required to stop the clock. They're all going to want to watch the England game.

Underhill put before KO - illness rather than concussion return.

Well, that's a relief. What a difference a couple of senior players back makes - now for some tight 5s!

Nice brace for Coka on return, with no work required of him either. Welcome back big man.

Raggs wrote:I'm also not expecting the TMO to have much work, and for play to continue during injuries, unless absolutely required to stop the clock. They're all going to want to watch the England game.

If they did, I hope they came away with the same sense of regret of a wasted 2 hours as me.

Which Tyler wrote:Underhill put before KO - illness rather than concussion return.

Well, that's a relief. What a difference a couple of senior players back makes - now for some tight 5s!

Nice brace for Coka on return, with no work required of him either. Welcome back big man.

Looked like he was enjoying himself as well, which is reassuring after people were writing him off for the opposite