Saints away 7th December

[CiaranIrl]

I'm a little nervous about Henshaw's form. O'Brien at 12 yesterday was everything we were used to until recently.

[Cianostays]

Thought Robbie was excellent in defence in Lyon. I was very impressed with CO'B last night though. Lovely dillema to have tbh.

Sent from my SM-G531F using Tapatalk

[FLIP]

As mentioned in the On The Road forum, there is a rail strike on this weekend and trains are expected to be severely disrupted on the line to Northampton. Apparently earning a wage multiples higher than the average for doing a job a computer could do better isn't good enough for some.

I would suggest the following options if you can't think of any others.

1) National Express coach from Birmingham Airport to Northampton. I've looked and while there is nothing direct some are around 2.5 hours.
2) Virgin Trains to Milton Keynes Central, then get the X6 Stagecoach bus back up to Northampton. This would be 38 minutes to MK, then buses (every 30 mins) take an hour to central Northampton.

[carlow man]

Wixford- re jgp - He started a bit sluggish but got better as game went on. Thought he was very good in second half.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

There's an interview with Henshaw in the ST and he mentions that Lancaster went over some World Cup footage with the players to talk about what they would have done in blue if they were in the same situation. Sounds a bit like he was trying to deprogramme/reinvigorate them.

[St.Kenneth]

Hi Leinster Supporters,

Hope as many of you as possible are on your way to Franklin's Gardens at the weekend, your noisy and passionate support always adds to the atmosphere.

Hopefully we'll be able to give you a fair and honest test as sometimes we have rather let ourselves down in the past. We are playing well, squad seem to really enjoy the new regime and the way the coaching staff want us to play, but we have vulnerabilities which I'm sure your side are good enough to exploit. There are an awful lot of new faces in both sides since the last time we played and in the coaching setups, so it's hard to predict what will happen on the pitch..... off the pitch will be just as usual, lots of good natured banter, a warm welcome and a few Christmas drinks shared between 'rival' supporters.

Leinster are always the benchmark and easily the hardest fixture confirmed for this season. Will be good to see how far we've come and how far we've got to go to becoming a force in European rugby again..... 20 years since we won the HEC against Munster.

Safe travels to all that come, I'm sorry to hear that there may be hurdles with strike action, but I'm sure you'll all find a way to get to the game in large numbers.

[wixfjord]

Hi Leinster Supporters,

Hope as many of you as possible are on your way to Franklin's Gardens at the weekend, your noisy and passionate support always adds to the atmosphere.

Hopefully we'll be able to give you a fair and honest test as sometimes we have rather let ourselves down in the past. We are playing well, squad seem to really enjoy the new regime and the way the coaching staff want us to play, but we have vulnerabilities which I'm sure your side are good enough to exploit. There are an awful lot of new faces in both sides since the last time we played and in the coaching setups, so it's hard to predict what will happen on the pitch..... off the pitch will be just as usual, lots of good natured banter, a warm welcome and a few Christmas drinks shared between 'rival' supporters.

Leinster are always the benchmark and easily the hardest fixture confirmed for this season. Will be good to see how far we've come and how far we've got to go to becoming a force in European rugby again..... 20 years since we won the HEC against Munster.

Safe travels to all that come, I'm sorry to hear that there may be hurdles with strike action, but I'm sure you'll all find a way to get to the game in large numbers.

Cheers St Kenneth!

Any guesses at your likely starting team?

You seem strong at centre and Reinach/Biggar look to work well together?

[wixfjord]

Here's Northampton's highlights from the weekend btw:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLRI6JPXfwk

Some lovely back play there. Leicester look a complete shadow of themselves though.

I reckon we'll be trying to keep it nice and tight and forward dominated.

Nayaravoro versus Larmour should be absolute interesting!

[cormac]

Couple of injuries from the weekend's match against Glasgow. Josh Murphy went off with a head injury so will have to go through the RTP protocols this week. Peter Dooley suffered a knee injury.

Tomane and O'Loughlin should be available while sounds like it's still a week too soon for Sean Cronin.

[wixfjord]

Josh M looked in a bad way going off alright.

[dburns199]

Really don't know who I'd pick at 8. Assuming Rhys and Josh are good to go then whoever misses out of the 23 between Deegan, Doris, and Connors will be really unfortunate now. I'd say Deegan's spot in the squad is safe enough because of his versatility but not sure if he'll start. His last three appearances have been really good but Doris was great last night and had got the nod for Benetton so could see him starting next weekend.

Josh will go the 80 so not sure Connors makes sense for the bench, although I'd love to see them play together at some point.

Dev has played an awful lot this season. I know he wasn't in Japan but I wonder if his minutes are still being managed by the IRFU?

Relatively new to following rugby in general but have become increasingly more interested and thus wanting to expand knowledge but from what I have seen and know of, both Connors and JVDF (Penny also for that matter) only cover 7 and I dont think I've seen either played at 6 or 8, would that be correct? With that in mind, would it safe to say that 7 is the most specialist of back row positions or just that its the case with those 3? Sorry if that is too far off topic.

[St.Kenneth]

I suspect the side will be very similar to what was originally posted for our game against Leicester, so.....

https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/new ... s-gardens/


From what Boydy said on BT Sports on Saturday, all three that failed fitness tests were minor matters and hopefully the fact they didn't play again Leicester means that they were being given the chance to be available for this weekend. As well as Ehren Painter, Api Rat and James Grayson played, there is a reason why Owen Franks, Courtney Lawes and Dan Biggar have 250+ International caps between them.

As for Leicester they are sadly woeful. They keep clinging on to the 'Leicester Way' by bringing back old coaches or promoting from within with Murphy. They need a root and branch overhaul of the club. We were in a similar position at the end of Jim's reign but we changed the whole coaching setup and gone heavy with playing the youth players that were winning everything in their age/competition bracket. It's exciting times for us as some of these kids are barely 21 and have already been playing together for 5+ years at the Saints, so the club means the world to them. As a supporter we can see that everyone from the Chairman (ex player) down through the board to the coaching staff are executing their duties perfectly. I can't remember ever being so optimistic about the direction our club is going. We aren't at the final destination but we are having one helluva journey the last two seasons and the rugby is so exciting to watch.

Hopefully we'll be able to put out the proposed starting lineup for Leicester, but if not, the understudies have not put a boot wrong all season when all three of the senior players were unavailable during the World Cup.

[the spoofer]

I suspect the side will be very similar to what was originally posted for our game against Leicester, so.....

https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/new ... s-gardens/


From what Boydy said on BT Sports on Saturday, all three that failed fitness tests were minor matters and hopefully the fact they didn't play again Leicester means that they were being given the chance to be available for this weekend. As well as Ehren Painter, Api Rat and James Grayson played, there is a reason why Owen Franks, Courtney Lawes and Dan Biggar have 250+ International caps between them.

As for Leicester they are sadly woeful. They keep clinging on to the 'Leicester Way' by bringing back old coaches or promoting from within with Murphy. They need a root and branch overhaul of the club. We were in a similar position at the end of Jim's reign but we changed the whole coaching setup and gone heavy with playing the youth players that were winning everything in their age/competition bracket. It's exciting times for us as some of these kids are barely 21 and have already been playing together for 5+ years at the Saints, so the club means the world to them. As a supporter we can see that everyone from the Chairman (ex player) down through the board to the coaching staff are executing their duties perfectly. I can't remember ever being so optimistic about the direction our club is going. We aren't at the final destination but we are having one helluva journey the last two seasons and the rugby is so exciting to watch.

Hopefully we'll be able to put out the proposed starting lineup for Leicester, but if not, the understudies have not put a boot wrong all season when all three of the senior players were unavailable during the World Cup.

Leicester need Michael Cheika.

[footrush]

I suspect the side will be very similar to what was originally posted for our game against Leicester, so.....

https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/new ... s-gardens/


From what Boydy said on BT Sports on Saturday, all three that failed fitness tests were minor matters and hopefully the fact they didn't play again Leicester means that they were being given the chance to be available for this weekend. As well as Ehren Painter, Api Rat and James Grayson played, there is a reason why Owen Franks, Courtney Lawes and Dan Biggar have 250+ International caps between them.

As for Leicester they are sadly woeful. They keep clinging on to the 'Leicester Way' by bringing back old coaches or promoting from within with Murphy. They need a root and branch overhaul of the club. We were in a similar position at the end of Jim's reign but we changed the whole coaching setup and gone heavy with playing the youth players that were winning everything in their age/competition bracket. It's exciting times for us as some of these kids are barely 21 and have already been playing together for 5+ years at the Saints, so the club means the world to them. As a supporter we can see that everyone from the Chairman (ex player) down through the board to the coaching staff are executing their duties perfectly. I can't remember ever being so optimistic about the direction our club is going. We aren't at the final destination but we are having one helluva journey the last two seasons and the rugby is so exciting to watch.

Hopefully we'll be able to put out the proposed starting lineup for Leicester, but if not, the understudies have not put a boot wrong all season when all three of the senior players were unavailable during the World Cup.

Leicester need Michael Cheika.

Does Michael Cheika need Leicester ?.

[JohnI]

If the rumours be true they are trying to entice Steve Borthwick from the England set up which if they manage to achieve could get them back on track towards the end of the season / next season if they weren’t relegated to the Championship at the end of this season.

[Twist]

Really don't know who I'd pick at 8. Assuming Rhys and Josh are good to go then whoever misses out of the 23 between Deegan, Doris, and Connors will be really unfortunate now. I'd say Deegan's spot in the squad is safe enough because of his versatility but not sure if he'll start. His last three appearances have been really good but Doris was great last night and had got the nod for Benetton so could see him starting next weekend.

Josh will go the 80 so not sure Connors makes sense for the bench, although I'd love to see them play together at some point.

Dev has played an awful lot this season. I know he wasn't in Japan but I wonder if his minutes are still being managed by the IRFU?

Relatively new to following rugby in general but have become increasingly more interested and thus wanting to expand knowledge but from what I have seen and know of, both Connors and JVDF (Penny also for that matter) only cover 7 and I dont think I've seen either played at 6 or 8, would that be correct? With that in mind, would it safe to say that 7 is the most specialist of back row positions or just that its the case with those 3? Sorry if that is too far off topic.

Yeah, 7 is the most specialist position in the backrow (with the coda added that the role of the 6 and 7 tend to be reversed in South Africa). But you can always play with two 7s, like Australia do with Pocock and Hooper. It has worked brilliantly for them, but when we tried it away to Bath last year it didn't quite click.

I haven't seen him do it, but I suspect that with his height and athleticisim Will Connors could be a very decent 6.

[desperado]

I think its the 7 to 8 that generally doesn't work. We tried more of a 7 (Leavy) at 8 last year v Bath. 6 and 7, and 6 and 8 in the main are more interchangeable (depending of course on the personnel involved) than moving a 7 to 8. Hopefully that's clear as mud !. While 7 can be classed as 'specialised' ; I'd say alot of 8's would argue about that, particularly off the base of the scrum which is a key skill for an 8. Alot depends on the particular player. I would say that Dan Leavy could play 6 or 7 equally well at the highest level, probably a better 7, but not a high level 8. Pocock can play 6, 7, or 8. VDF and Will Connors are primarily out and out 7's though (as is Penny).

[joooooe]

While 7 can be classed as 'specialised' ; I'd say alot of 8's would argue about that, particularly off the base of the scrum which is a key skill for an 8.

Jamie Heaslip certainly would! He played over 300 professional matches and I think every one of them was at 8.

[joooooe]

I think its the 7 to 8 that generally doesn't work. We tried more of a 7 (Leavy) at 8 last year v Bath. 6 and 7, and 6 and 8 in the main are more interchangeable (depending of course on the personnel involved) than moving a 7 to 8. Hopefully that's clear as mud !. While 7 can be classed as 'specialised' ; I'd say alot of 8's would argue about that, particularly off the base of the scrum which is a key skill for an 8. Alot depends on the particular player. I would say that Dan Leavy could play 6 or 7 equally well at the highest level, probably a better 7, but not a high level 8. Pocock can play 6, 7, or 8. VDF and Will Connors are primarily out and out 7's though (as is Penny).

And then you have freaks like Sean O'Brien: European Player of the Year in 2010/11, when he played all 9 matches: four starting at 6, three starting at 7 and two starting at 8

[blockhead]

Lawes and Franks out, Biggar hopeful.
Lawes doubtful for Aviva, Franks out until new year.
I can't reveal my source/s.