London Irish

[OakhamTiger32]

If Taute starts again then he needs a big performance to justify continued selection.

Don’t think he’ll be a starter going forward but not sure who else we have instead? Moroni for sure next term but for Wednesday..

Worth didn't do himself any favours today but I thought Porter looked like he might be an option at 13 - obviously not in the picture for Wednesday though. He was far from flawless today but I liked his energy, by comparison Taute always seems a bit tired.

I’d like to see Scott and Moroni as starting centres next season. Think Porter could be a great option too once he’s settled in

[WhitecapTiger]

14. Murimurivalu

Is he here yet?

"Murimurivalu will link up with his new team-mates in the coming weeks ahead of the scheduled resumption of the English Premiership campaign in August" This was posted on 21 Jul 20 and the BBC also said he would be available for the restart of the campaign so he should be but not 100% sure about fitness/availability tbh. I hope so! If not then Olowafela or Williams.

Ah I see, apologies, for some reason I thought he was one of the ones for 'next' season If he is here, and ready to play then definitely give him a trot out.

[sapajo]

If Taute starts again then he needs a big performance to justify continued selection.

Don’t think he’ll be a starter going forward but not sure who else we have instead? Moroni for sure next term but for Wednesday..

Worth didn't do himself any favours today but I thought Porter looked like he might be an option at 13 - obviously not in the picture for Wednesday though. He was far from flawless today but I liked his energy, by comparison Taute always seems a bit tired.

Taute is way past his best and over a season out with an ACL at his age has not helped him

[Ian Cant]

Hopefully we will put out a strong side as I think Irish will as they rested some players no doubt believing Tigers can be beaten.
Today I thought Hardwick, for a short period, looked good again along with Zac Henry whom, I thought looked really confident when he moved to fly half.
Steward is certainly worth trying as poor George Worth seems to have lost all confidence!
I think Hardwick can get over the gain line and it would give another kicking option. I’m not sure why he didn’t start today!
It was a shame Cole had to play for most of the second half as he made a huge difference. Bower, sadly, had a poor game when he came on and looked very rusty.

[Cagey Tiger]

It used to be that teams generally picked their strongest sides to face Tigers either in hope of a notable victory or at least as damage limitation. Unless and until we start winning matches and showing some grit and class, others will still select full- or nearly full-strength sides. Those in the top 'half' of the table in search of a bonus point win and those at the bottom end in search of a morale boosting win (points not being of overriding importance this season). Tigers, Irish and Worcester are all going to target each other in particular I would expect.

[kk20gb30]

Game time,rotation ,experimentation when nothing is at stake may be acceptable . There is however a necessity to learn how to win rather than how to lose with the resources at our disposal.Personally would hope for a stronger side (on paper) and a morale enhancing victory on Wednesday evening.

[Robespierre]

Game time,rotation ,experimentation when nothing is at stake may be acceptable . There is however a necessity to learn how to win rather than how to lose with the resources at our disposal.Personally would hope for a stronger side (on paper) and a morale enhancing victory on Wednesday evening.......

...... and I believe that is what we’ll get! I wouldn’t object if one or two younger players are in the squad for Wednesday, George Martin for example, but I’d drop Lavanini who has been a disappointment for me. Henry deserves a place on the bench coming on for Ford for the last 20 and I’d pick Steward at fullback.

[TigerFeetSteve]

14. Murimurivalu

Is he here yet?

"Murimurivalu will link up with his new team-mates in the coming weeks ahead of the scheduled resumption of the English Premiership campaign in August" This was posted on 21 Jul 20 and the BBC also said he would be available for the restart of the campaign so he should be but not 100% sure about fitness/availability tbh. I hope so! If not then Olowafela or Williams.

That was before the government brought in quarantine from France. The club since stated on the 10th August (with the main squad announcement) he was he was sorting out his visa and then would have to quarantine. So he at very best will still be in quarantine at the moment so no chance he'll play vs Irish. He won't be playing for at least a couple of weeks IMO.

[JP14]

I would like Steward to start and Hardwick to be involved, the issue for me is tighthead prop for Wednesday. Do we start with Cole and bring on someone like Dimen with 30 minutes to go? Cole can only play a maximum 180 minutes over a 3 game period.

[Hot_Charlie]

I really don't like the tactic of selecting first XV and second XV pretty much separately to one another but hopefully it can bring us a result on Wednesday.

3 matches in 8 days, arguably the 2nd and 3rd more targetable. I think yesterday’s squad was more of an administrative exercise to allow a pretty strong squad selection on Wednesday and on Sunday next week.

Lavanini and Worth probably won’t feature at all on Wednesday, but be back on Sunday, same perhaps with Wallace.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Either by accident or design, there is a lot of pressure on the team to win on Wednesday with some sort of game plan emerging.
The attitude & effort are obviously there to see, some sort of end result would be good now.
Still some players to see, defence still not right, glimpses of attack thoughts yesterday maybe as there were 2 players with knowledge & experience of "Rod" Taylor.

[Hot_Charlie]

I would like Steward to start and Hardwick to be involved, the issue for me is tighthead prop for Wednesday. Do we start with Cole and bring on someone like Dimen with 30 minutes to go? Cole can only play a maximum 180 minutes over a 3 game period.

Thought it was 180 minute rule was within a week period? Bath to Gloucester is 8 days. Expect Genge/Bower/Cole/Heyes/Leatigaga to rotate as required. Maybe see Leatigaga feature at TH perhaps.

[ABClub]

I really don't like the tactic of selecting first XV and second XV pretty much separately to one another but hopefully it can bring us a result on Wednesday.

3 matches in 8 days, arguably the 2nd and 3rd more targetable. I think yesterday’s squad was more of an administrative exercise to allow a pretty strong squad selection on Wednesday and on Sunday next week.

Lavanini and Worth probably won’t feature at all on Wednesday, but be back on Sunday, same perhaps with Wallace.

I've stated in a few posts that I do sympathise with a tough situation for Borthwick to start. Cramped schedule, most the new signings not here and nowt in the way of form or structure to build from. Targeting particular games is fair enough, I think we will particularly see the Challenge Cup QF targeted.

I just wish there had been some sort of balance though. Cole starting in the front row, B Youngs at 9 or Scott in the midfield, etc. Give those young players that bit of experience around them to at least make it a contest and allow them to learn from the internationals. Lavanini aside though that was missing every starter from our full strength XV at current.

[BG01]

There's no right answers with selection at the moment. I think as a principle you don't want anyone involved in all 4 of this 'block' (Exeter to Glocs); you don't want anyone starting two games in a row or starting one and benching the other, as an injury means that suddenly they're playing 80 minutes; and you probably also want to avoid having a midweek team/binjuice.

With all that in mind--and assuming that an senior players we haven't seen yet won't become available in this block--I think the following team works quite well:

1. Genge
2. Youngs
3. Cole
4. Wells
5. Green
6. Liebenberg
7. Reffell
8. Taufua
9. B Youngs
10. Ford
11. Olowofela
12. Hardwick
13. Scott
14. Williams
15. Taute

16. Vanes
17. Bower
18. Dimen
19. Chessum
20. Coghlan
21. Law
22. Kelly
23. Steward

The issue is the bench is ridiculously young, but I don't see away around that without asking too much of the players from the weekend.

[BFG]

These Premiership matches are effectively a pre-season.
I'd start Henry at 10 and Steward at 15 behind a strong pack including Leatigaga and see what occurs.