LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

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Tiglon
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by Tiglon »

I'm sure if Bower reads this he'll be delighted to be referred to as a "young lad" :smt003. He's what, third choice? Decent squad player who was needed at short notice with probably not a lot of options. Not as good as Bateman, but we have plenty of good props, we don't need to spend the entire cap on the front row, it isn't 2003 any more. Same could be said about Mamukashvili, not as talented a player as Polota-Nau, but I'd rather spend the cap elsewhere. Neither signing was supposed to be an improvement, it was about balancing the squad and, for example, being able to afford a back row that can actually compete in the Premiership.

Similar kind of situation with 11, 13, 14, 15 - are Moroni, Van Wyk, Nadolo and Murimurivalu better than Tuilagi, May, Holmes and Veainu? Maybe, maybe not, but I suspect they are cheaper and will be available for a lot more matches. There's a reason that Chiefs only started signing 6N internationals in recent years - there's no point having them unless you can get to the playoffs without them. It was insane to have so many England internationals when we were struggling in the bottom of the table.

Kalamafoni is a very good player, but he's not as explosive as Wiese or Liebenberg. Different kind of player, and we needed the latter.

It doesn't really matter whether the new individuals are better than those they replaced, this is a team sport and our team is now better balanced than it was before - that's what is important. For too long there was too much focus on the front row and England internationals, at the expense of the back row and squad depth. Of course it helps massively that the academy appears to have come good, but all in all I would say our recruitment has been good.
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by Traveller »

ay2oh wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 11:43 am
Cardiff Tig wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 11:31 am I'll only consider Wiese an improvement on Kalamafoni if Wiese puts in consistently good performances every single game.
Wiese has already shown in the few games that he has played that he is a massive improvement on Kalamafoni in almost every aspect of performance all in my opinion of course.
I just felt sorry for Kalamafoni. At times he seemed to be the only one prepared to pitch up, week after week and be prepared to put his body on the line for a victory, whilst the rest of his 'teammates' (the worst 4-8 I've ever seen at Tigers) seemed to stand around, watch or go off with yet another hamstring injury. Kalamafoni turned up and worked and worked and worked. It was just that by the time he joined us his best years were behind him, whilst Wiese's best years are probably ahead of him - which is very positive for Tigers. He's been very good thus far.
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by ay2oh »

Agree that sometimes Kalamafoni was the only forward who seemed to be putting the effort in. Although he made a lot of carries they were often only a metre or two as he had little or no support.
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by Rod »

When you compare any of the current first choice locks' carry and tackle rate with Kitchener's over the past two years, there has been a massive improvement.
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by ay2oh »

Rod wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:24 pm When you compare any of the current first choice locks' carry and tackle rate with Kitchener's over the past two years, there has been a massive improvement.
Defo and I think that Martin and Henderson are ones to watch
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by RagingBull »

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Montoya not going to Aus.

"Our Argentinian contingent is set to commence training at Force HQ next week. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Julián Montoya will not be travelling to Australia."
https://www.westernforce.com.au/rob-kearney-has-landed/

Western Force are hoping that Jack Winchester will be his replacement.

I wonder :smt017
:smt003

Oh and has also followed Premiership rugby on Instagram

UPDATE
Argentine press saying he's coming to Tigers instead of the Force now.
https://www.aplenorugby.com.ar/site/int ... o-en-force

https://twitter.com/AmericasOval/status ... 3344790528

Like to point out I did beat the argentine press to this one by just a couple of minutes
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by kpj tiger »

RagingBull wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 2:01 pm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Montoya not going to Aus.

"Our Argentinian contingent is set to commence training at Force HQ next week. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Julián Montoya will not be travelling to Australia."
https://www.westernforce.com.au/rob-kearney-has-landed/

Western Force are hoping that Jack Winchester will be his replacement.

I wonder :smt017
:smt003

Oh and has also followed Premiership rugby on Instagram

UPDATE
Argentine press saying he's coming to Tigers instead of the Force now.
https://www.aplenorugby.com.ar/site/int ... o-en-force

https://twitter.com/AmericasOval/status ... 3344790528

Like to point out I did beat the argentine press to this one by just a couple of minutes
I wonder what has changed?
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by strawclearer »

Supported by Paul Tait:

Big news for Leicester Tigers

Julián Montoya will be joining you very shortly.

He will not play for Western Force.

Change of plans for Julián Montoya. After some paper problems he will not play for the Western Force and will play for the Leicester Tigers. He will have his first experience abroad in the Premiership.
The Tigers take home a world-class hooker.
Happy days clearing straw from the pitch before the Baa-Baas games! KBO
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by TA30 »

Already training with us having completed his quarantine according to this:

https://www.periodismo-rugby.com.ar/2021/01/13/montoya/
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by kpj tiger »

TA30 wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 3:09 pm Already training with us having completed his quarantine according to this:

https://www.periodismo-rugby.com.ar/2021/01/13/montoya/
Guess the two weeks off will be handy to fully integrate him
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by Tiglon »

Well that's a fantastic mid-season bonus!
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by JP14 »

Great news for us, but I'm interested to know what happened for his plans to change, I know I would rather be in Australia right now :smt003.

If he is joining us immediately that leaves us with 4 international hookers, does that mean Kerr or Mamukashvili will be going on loan?
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by Scott1 »

Nice! Which hooker does everyone think Is off?
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by RagingBull »

Kerr and maybe Mamu.
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Re: LEICESTER TIGERS 2020/21 SQUAD/TRANSFERS/CONTRACT THREAD EPISODE IV: A New Hope

Post by Tiglon »

Kerr doesn't seem to be part of SB's plans with Clare ahead of him, so I would expect him to move on at the earliest opportunity.
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