The Official English Rugby Thread

[Margin__Walker]

Yeah, he's ex-Munster so you'd think he could at least kick well, but no joy. Just an absolute momentum killer. Especially with Edwards at 10 who is a sevens player at heart so isn't so hot on the back foot. Irish defence was brilliant to be fair but they got a lot of belief out of being able to line us up every time.

Irish have a ginger scrumhalf with an absolute bullet pass who I like very much and it turns out he's ex Quins academy, so that's fun.

Hyde's injury is a blow, he's one of the guys I thought would break through this season. Good to see some of the hyped youngsters get some game time, I do enjoy watching Cleaves / Smith / Oresanya / Hyde et al

Englefield definitely seems to have leapfrogged O'Sullivan this season and forced himself into prem contention. His style of play suits us, even if he isn't much of a threat on the fringes. He had an odd time at U18s as he played for Quins U18, whilst at the same time attending the LI ASSE School (St Pauls at the time). So he ended up wearing Quins and LI kits for a few years and being involved in both setups. No idea whether or not Quins also offered him a senior academy contract.

Cleaves comes with a very big rep from schoolboy rugby and you can definitely see the X factor there when he plays. Will be interesting to see whether he gets an opportunity in the prem later in the season. Riley also looks very sharp whenever I've seen him.

[ASMO]

Yeah, he's ex-Munster so you'd think he could at least kick well, but no joy. Just an absolute momentum killer. Especially with Edwards at 10 who is a sevens player at heart so isn't so hot on the back foot. Irish defence was brilliant to be fair but they got a lot of belief out of being able to line us up every time.

Irish have a ginger scrumhalf with an absolute bullet pass who I like very much and it turns out he's ex Quins academy, so that's fun.

Hyde's injury is a blow, he's one of the guys I thought would break through this season. Good to see some of the hyped youngsters get some game time, I do enjoy watching Cleaves / Smith / Oresanya / Hyde et al

Englefield definitely seems to have leapfrogged O'Sullivan this season and forced himself into prem contention. His style of play suits us, even if he isn't much of a threat on the fringes. He had an odd time at U18s as he played for Quins U18, whilst at the same time attending the LI ASSE School (St Pauls at the time). So he ended up wearing Quins and LI kits for a few years and being involved in both setups. No idea whether or not Quins also offered him a senior academy contract.

Cleaves comes with a very big rep from schoolboy rugby and you can definitely see the X factor there when he plays. Will be interesting to see whether he gets an opportunity in the prem later in the season. Riley also looks very sharp whenever I've seen him.

Certainly showed some gas for his try last night

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Yeah, he's ex-Munster so you'd think he could at least kick well, but no joy. Just an absolute momentum killer. Especially with Edwards at 10 who is a sevens player at heart so isn't so hot on the back foot. Irish defence was brilliant to be fair but they got a lot of belief out of being able to line us up every time.

Irish have a ginger scrumhalf with an absolute bullet pass who I like very much and it turns out he's ex Quins academy, so that's fun.

Hyde's injury is a blow, he's one of the guys I thought would break through this season. Good to see some of the hyped youngsters get some game time, I do enjoy watching Cleaves / Smith / Oresanya / Hyde et al

Englefield definitely seems to have leapfrogged O'Sullivan this season and forced himself into prem contention. His style of play suits us, even if he isn't much of a threat on the fringes. He had an odd time at U18s as he played for Quins U18, whilst at the same time attending the LI ASSE School (St Pauls at the time). So he ended up wearing Quins and LI kits for a few years and being involved in both setups. No idea whether or not Quins also offered him a senior academy contract.

Cleaves comes with a very big rep from schoolboy rugby and you can definitely see the X factor there when he plays. Will be interesting to see whether he gets an opportunity in the prem later in the season. Riley also looks very sharp whenever I've seen him.

Certainly showed some gas for his try last night

Cleaves also did good work covering for other people's defensive errors, of which there were plenty. He's no one dimensional speed demon.

[Margin__Walker]

Highlights from the game are here

[Margin__Walker]

In other news, Newcastle v Worcester is going ahead at the weekend.

Seems a bit pointless if there's no prospect of them meeting the Monday deadline, but we'll see.

[JM2K6]

Yeah, he's ex-Munster so you'd think he could at least kick well, but no joy. Just an absolute momentum killer. Especially with Edwards at 10 who is a sevens player at heart so isn't so hot on the back foot. Irish defence was brilliant to be fair but they got a lot of belief out of being able to line us up every time.

Irish have a ginger scrumhalf with an absolute bullet pass who I like very much and it turns out he's ex Quins academy, so that's fun.

Hyde's injury is a blow, he's one of the guys I thought would break through this season. Good to see some of the hyped youngsters get some game time, I do enjoy watching Cleaves / Smith / Oresanya / Hyde et al

Englefield definitely seems to have leapfrogged O'Sullivan this season and forced himself into prem contention. His style of play suits us, even if he isn't much of a threat on the fringes. He had an odd time at U18s as he played for Quins U18, whilst at the same time attending the LI ASSE School (St Pauls at the time). So he ended up wearing Quins and LI kits for a few years and being involved in both setups. No idea whether or not Quins also offered him a senior academy contract.

Cleaves comes with a very big rep from schoolboy rugby and you can definitely see the X factor there when he plays. Will be interesting to see whether he gets an opportunity in the prem later in the season. Riley also looks very sharp whenever I've seen him.

Riley had a few chances last season but tried a bit too hard to impress - too impulsive and made some big errors. Think he's the most obviously talented one of the three (Musk, Head, Riley). Cleaves is ace, that step is great.

[sockwithaticket]

Teams for tonight's 'who can be more disappointing?' clash

[JM2K6]

Good Lord. That is not a vintage Wasps side. And Bath's is rescued by a handful of really talented youngsters.

[Kawazaki]

Good Lord. That is not a vintage Wasps side. And Bath's is rescued by a handful of really talented youngsters.

It's a bit ropey from 13-15 but looks ok apart from that.

[JM2K6]

Good Lord. That is not a vintage Wasps side. And Bath's is rescued by a handful of really talented youngsters.

It's a bit ropey from 13-15 but looks ok apart from that.

Which team?

[Raggs]

When it sticks....

[Torquemada 1420]

FM, Bath really should do themselves a favour and place themselves into administration.

[Lobby]

Lovely try to take Wasps to 25 - 0. Bath are rubbish. Interesting to see how Wasps will contrive to screw this up in the second half.

[fishfoodie]

Bath should just sack the entire playing, & management staff, & hire the Worcester crew.

They'd save millions, & actually have a team worth paying to watch.

[sockwithaticket]

Lovely try to take Wasps to 25 - 0. Bath are rubbish. Interesting to see how Wasps will contrive to screw this up in the second half.

[Raggs]

Lovely try to take Wasps to 25 - 0. Bath are rubbish. Interesting to see how Wasps will contrive to screw this up in the second half.

I think the plan is to score enough in the first half that Bath can't actually put that many on us in the 2nd half when we decide not to score any more.

[Kawazaki]

I listened to The Rugby Paper podcast while on a run yesterday, never listened to it before. It had Bath player Cameron Redpath on it and they (disappointingly) spent the whole show just talking to him. Anyway, long story short, he's living in cloud cuckoo land. He seems to think all is well at Bath, they should have two wins in the league from the two losses they've had, it'll all be great in the city when they start winning etc etc. If the whole squad are like that then maybe it's no surprise they're so lethargic and casual about losing?

[sockwithaticket]

Lovely try to take Wasps to 25 - 0. Bath are rubbish. Interesting to see how Wasps will contrive to screw this up in the second half.

I think the plan is to score enough in the first half that Bath can't actually put that many on us in the 2nd half when we decide not to score any more.

Is 28 the magic number?

[Lobby]

I think the plan is to score enough in the first half that Bath can't actually put that many on us in the 2nd half when we decide not to score any more.

Is 28 the magic number?

Or even 31?

Edited to add that those two penalties have cancelled out Bath’s try, and mean that any positive impact it might have had has been entirely negated. All joking aside, it’s difficult to see Bath improving significantly in the second half, so Wasps might manage to win this one.

[ASMO]

Bath are utter gash, big Joe seems to be giving it a go though, the best of a badically trash bunch..

[sockwithaticket]

Bath are utter gash, big Joe seems to be giving it a go though, the best of a badically trash bunch..

You think? Been pretty underwhelmed. Muir's far more useful.

[ASMO]

Bath are utter gash, big Joe seems to be giving it a go though, the best of a badically trash bunch..

You think? Been pretty underwhelmed. Muir's far more useful.

Muir has been good too.

[sockwithaticket]

I think the plan is to score enough in the first half that Bath can't actually put that many on us in the 2nd half when we decide not to score any more.

Is 28 the magic number?

Or even 31?

Edited to add that those two penalties have cancelled out Bath’s try, and mean that any positive impact it might have had has been entirely negated. All joking aside, it’s difficult to see Bath improving significantly in the second half, so Wasps might manage to win this one.

Yeah I don't think Bath have the level of performance in them that Gloucester found a couple of weeks back.

[Kawazaki]

I'll say it again, Tom Dunne isn't good enough to keep that ridiculous haircut for two seasons. He's amongst the worst players that Jones has capped.

And yes, I know it was for charity.

[SaintK]

I'll say it again, Tom Dunne isn't good enough to keep that ridiculous haircut for two seasons. He's amongst the worst players that Jones has capped.

And yes, I know it was for charity.

Don’t worry he’s due to have it all chopped off on Sunday

[sockwithaticket]

He looks like he sprung from the loins of Bill Bailey at the moment.

[Kawazaki]

He looks like he sprung from the loins of Bill Bailey at the moment.

Cross between Bill Bailey and Pigsy.

[Raggs]

Bath have got to be close to another card after that Barnes was sounding frustrated with them.

[sockwithaticket]

Try bonus point achieved. Carr's offload out the tackle was really well done to keep things alive. Frankly, Bath lucky to avoid another yellow after giving away three more penalty advantages in really quick succession.

[Raggs]

I don't think we scored enough

[fishfoodie]

Why is Barnes coaching them on the pre-latch ?

[Lobby]

Despite their best efforts to screw it up, Wasps manage to scrape a win

[sockwithaticket]

A better team would've completed the comeback. Thankfully, we were playing Bath. Once again, Wasps struggle to arrest a momentum shift. A win's a win I guess?

[sockwithaticket]

Nice comments from van Graan in the post-match.

[JM2K6]

Sam Simmonds off to Montpellier next season apparently. Big surprise, that one.

[geordie_6]

Sam Simmonds off to Montpellier next season apparently. Big surprise, that one.

Salary cap issues? Or Eddie giving him short shrift?

[JM2K6]

Sam Simmonds off to Montpellier next season apparently. Big surprise, that one.

Salary cap issues? Or Eddie giving him short shrift?

Bit of both probably. It's very hard for most clubs to keep a squad of internationals

[Kawazaki]

Saracens look very light at lock with Swinson retired, Itoje rested and Isiekwe injured. I think McFarland might well be judged to be the best 6 to ever play for Saracens when his time is over, but as a lock, I'm not so sure. Lots more to come I hope from young Tizard. He didn't play well against Quins but I suspect the occasion and venue wearing a Saracens shirt would have made him feel anxious to say the least!

Saracens are sponsoring the 4Ed fundraising campaign in this match as well which is a nice touch. Should add a 5-figure sum to the pot.

[JM2K6]

Hunter-Hill being the bench option isn't the end of the world. Fringe Scotland squad member and all that.

[Torquemada 1420]

Stains discipline