15 Geordan Murphy
14 Johne Murphy
13 Dan Hipkiss
12 Aaron Mauger
11 Matt Smith
10 Derick Hougaard
9 Julien Dupuy
1 Boris Stankovich
2 George Chuter
3 Dan Cole
4 Richard Blaze
5 Marco Wentzel
6 Martin Corry (captain)
7 Lewis Moody
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Mefin Davies
17 Santiago Bonorino
18 Ben Kay
19 Brett Deacon
20 Ben Youngs
21 Tom Varndell
22 Craig Newby
Looks a very strong side. Hope we get a good performance which should bring a positive result.
Yes I agree it's a strong team but would have preferred to see Cozza at lock and Newby in the back row. What's wrong with Julian White? Cannot believe he's not in the 22 and Meyer never referred to him being injured in the week.
Also can't work out the bench; why have Newby, Deacon and Kay? 5 forwards is OTT and leaves us exposed in the backs, surely Vesty should be on the bench to cover at fly half and centre?
Does anyone know if Tuilagi is injured or just out of favour?
Still all in all a strong team and if the forwards provide good ball I think we'll win.
Most of the backs could have been predicted. That said, Johne's loss of form, my continued scepticism over Hipkiss, some nervousness over Hougaard (Mauger's input will be vital) and the lack of cover on the bench all ring a few alarm bells.
We do not have our best front row, and the inclusion of Bonorino in the 22 suggests that White is injured, but my biggest concern is the back row. Corry and Crane are not an effective partnership, and given that Moody is still rusty (see his understandably edgy performance against Sale) I am more than a little concerned at the makeup of this unit. Familiarity has clearly been preferred to balance, with Newby the loser.
Bench is also uneven; Kay is a decent enough impact forward and Newby and (potentially) Varndell give you something extra. On the other hand Mefin is on the way down and Bonorino has been massively unimpressive in the 'A' league. Brett is a solid backup, but Youngs still looks more like a 7's player trying to work out how to play the 15-man game.
Very worrying front five - and with Bonorino on the bench, we should be looking for uncontested scrums please......(apparently this is standard practise in the GP)
Anyone know how good Barnes, Dixon and Bell are in the Bath front row?
This year I'm on the Whisky diet. It really works - last week I lost three days!
Just to be positive in the face of all the negative chi on the board this morning, I think this is a great starting XV.
Stanks and Cole make up a very physical front row alongside Chuter, who has his moments around the park.
Blaze and Wentzel is, arguably, our best lock combination as it provides both grunt and mobility in the open and great presence in the scrum and line out.
The back row is spot on. Corry, Moody and Crane should be the envy of any full-strength squad - think how lucky we are that they're considered the "best of what's left" at this time of the year. Power, experience and pyschopathy (Lewis we've missed you) gives us a massive advantage at the breakdown and around the field. I think we've absolutely got the upper hand on Bath's back row combination of Short, Faamatuainu and Browne.
Dupuy and Hougaard is a partnership that needs to settle down and mature quickly. Ellis and Flood are going to be away for a lot of this season so we need to see these two firing well. Just like Butch James, Hougaard has to adapt to Premiership rugby, and that can only happen with game time. Hopefully tomorrow will herald the day these two click as a unit.
Mauger and Hipkiss I think can still be one of the best centre pairings in the GP. Fingers crossed they'll prove me right tomorrow against Berne and Crockett.
The back three of Murphy, Smith and Murphy hasn't failed to be anything short of electric this season. With Murphy Snr. understandably gutted about missing the matchday XXII tomorrow and Murphy Jr. champing at the bit for his full Irish call-up we might see something very special indeed from them in the coming weeks. I've been totally impressed with Matt Smith this season too - way more mature on the field than he could be for his age and a 100% work ethic; what a great prospect from the Academy.
Bench:
Davis - solid, if long in the tooth.
Bonorino - he's got to be played sometime, eh?
Kay - awesome to bring off the bench.
Deacon - a Deacon is a Deacon is a Deacon.
Newby - cover across the back row; masses of experience and talent.
Youngs - Fantastic young talent.
Varndell - SHOULD be eager to prove he's not a waste of a jersey. Big things are required of Tom.
Whilst echoing the comments about missing Julian White, I think it is quite a strong line-up.
As is Bath's.(I think their front row is pretty strong, even without Stevens and Mears)
Bath start as narrow favourites - top of the league, and home advantage, but I think it will be a close run thing.It might come down to which of the S.A. fly-halves has got his kicking boots on.
Would have been nice to see a Kay - Grewcock battle in the lineout.
Having read other posts still non the wiser about White, who would be in most GP teams starting line up.
Anyone know what's up or is it his turn for a rest.
Breifly as I know its been done to death, but I am delighted to see Geordan back in a Tigers jersey, we will happily keep the talent all to ourselves Mr Kidney!!!
We also need to give Houggard as much game time as possible as when he clicks he will be fantastic for us
Just had a squint at the met office website, and it's going to be a bit Mork & Mindy down in Baff tomorrow.
Gusts up to 29mph.
So what with the inevitable kicking down field that is for now a massive part of the game (courtesy of ELViS) a lot will depend on Murphy, Murphy and Smiff.
They're going to need nerves of steel dealing with anything that comes their way and then the ability to punt it back with interest.
Unless we think about running it of course? Naaah.
Kicks and scrums and ruck and roll.....Is all my brain and body need!
Looks a very good squad to me on an international day,this time of year when it's likely to be a forwards dominated type of day,you'd want to see this area covered.Full of confidence up here in the frozen north.
It is a bit of strange team to me..the backs I would say are possibly what Mayer considers our strongest (Ellis not available)...But the bench lacks a bit of spark for me, in that we have 2 players covering the back row....I would have had Erinle there if fit.
On another note it seems contract talks with Hipkiss are not going well and if we lose him and Erine decides to leave (which given the amount of playing time he gets would not surprise me) we could well be struggling in that area...
I expect the team to perform well, but for me a bonus point loss will be acceptable.....
