Bayonne - next opponents

[Robespierre]

L'Aviron Bayonnais, as they are known, or Bayonne Rowing Club, is a club in the far southwest of France in the Basque country near the Spanish border.
They are currently 9th in the Top14 having played 11, won 5 and lost 6; points for 245 and against a whopping 352(an average of 32 points conceded per game which suggests they have a leaky defence!).
They've been champions of France 3 times - the last time in 1943.

For more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviron_Bayonnais

Will they field a strong team against Tigers? Who knows. They're not currently in danger of relegation but their next two opponents are Castres (away 17th Dec) and Pau (home 2nd Jan) who are below them in the Top14 and will be important matches.
The general opinion on the forum is that Tigers will not be fielding their 1st XV, but we'll see.
At the moment spectators are not allowed in the grounds. I've never been to a match in Bayonne but I'm led to believe that they're extremely partisan, so Tigers' players won't have the crowd baying for blood!!

[sam16111986]

I hope Tigers send a team more in line with that which played Sarries at the weekend than the one that played Brive. Don't risk the key players, get them prepping for Falcons, Bath and Saints three absolutely key games against the favourites for relegation and two teams suffering some pretty crappy form. All three games are winnable and two wins from three would put us in a good position.

Away in France I'd send;

de Bruin, Clare, Heyes
Henderson, Enever
Brink, Smith, Wallace
White, Henry
Taute, Porter
Potter, Worth, SAR

Kerr, Bower, Leatigaga, Green, Lewis, JVP, Bonilla, Kelly.

So for Falcons we'll have;

Genge, Youngs, Cole
Lavanini, Wells
Liebenburg, Weise, Taufua
Youngs, Ford
Scott, Moroni
Nadolo, Steward, Murimurivalu

Mamukashvili, Leatigaga, de Bruin, Green, Reffell/Brink, White, Henry, Porter.

Good rotation should help keep competition high and everyone match fit. Those that have played a lot get a nice weekend off. Taute's had a weekend off so can jump back in and Brink has been benching a bit so a start to keep working on his fitness is a good idea.

[RunTigerRun]

Difficult one for me, I can see arguments for resting some players for the prem games that are upcoming, but equally I think building partnerships will be very valuable for those prem games.

I know teams are different and even we are different from last year, however we did the rest players approach for Cardiff Away (and came away with a great win I must add) however then struggled against Saints in the first Prem game back with players looking rusty in their partnerships. I’d rather send a stronger team to Bayonne and build some partnerships, then use the full bench and hopefully be more cohesive for Falcons.

Just my opinion of course!

[TigerFeetSteve]

Personally I would field a strong team for ourselves, though not a first XV.

I'd again have the likes of Ford & Youngs on the bench. But I'd say to White and Bonilla/Henry that the plan is all being well to keep them on the bench unless required so get a rest out of the way through the back door so to speak.

Players coming in from Injury/just joining us, so:
Lavannini, Taufua, Moroni, Brink & De Bruin I'd start all of those (plus if he's fit Gienga), to start getting them fully match sharp.

I'd play the Fijians as they have been cooped up for ages wanting to get out.

The players I really would give a break to:
Wiese & Liebenberg, plus I would probably give Steward a rest.

That means my team would look something like this:

15. Murimurivalu
14. Van Wyk (if fit) if not Williams
13. Moroni
12. Porter
11. Nadolo
10. Bonilla
9. White
1. Gienga
2. Clare
3. De Bruin
4. Lavannini
5. Green
6. Taufua
7. Wallace
8. Brink

16. Mamukashvili
17. Leatigaga
18. Cole/Heyes
19. Henderson
20. Coghlan
21. Youngs
22. Ford
23. Taute

[mol2]

I guess many sides, not just Tigers, will probably take the view that they will need to rotate their squads during the compressed season.

On past season's performances many would say we need to prioritise the Premiership to avoid relegation rather than commit too much to Europe.

Does Borthwick thing we have enough in hand, in terms of the squad, to take us clear of our relegation rivals to go hunting European Glory?
I would like to think so. Winning the league is beyond us - we competed with Exeter for a while but I doubt we have the firepower to be at the top end of the league this season. Do we chase direct qualification for the main European competition for next year rather than trying to win the second tier competition (which is a big ask) and risk being part of a relegation dogfight again.

I would go for the league. We need to get back to making Welford Road a fortress again, where all but the very top sides don't expect to be in with a chance of winning. When you get to that point sides will start to debate sending a top side out - at present they are targettiing us as a potential away win. This makes every home game more of a battle than in days gone by.

[TigerMac3]

Agree with the other posts here, really am 50/50 on team selection. One of the major reasons we've struggled over the past few seasons is that players just haven't had chance to play together, building understandings and partnerships etc - BUT, imagine if we pitched Ford in and he got injured... we need him to pull the strings Vs Falcons, Bath, Saints if we're to get the points we need. I'm still of the opinion that, if Ford played Vs Irish we win that match. Lack of control / execution killed us.

I'd go similar to the team Vs Brive, +

Wallace and/or Reffell for Wiese and/or Liebenburg.
Start De Bruin

[Robespierre]

I would go for the league. We need to get back to making Welford Road a fortress again, where all but the very top sides don't expect to be in with a chance of winning. When you get to that point sides will start to debate sending a top side out - at present they are targettiing us as a potential away win. This makes every home game more of a battle than in days gone by.

Valid points. We want few sides coming to Welford Road thinking they can win. I didn't see the Brive game but it appears that Tigers imposed themselves upon the opposition (clearly not top class oppo) and secured a good win.
For me, the Challenge Cup is of secondary importance, and a place in the top 6 of the Premiership should be this season's objective.

[JP14]

I would rest England players, maybe Liebenberg or Wiese too, but apart from that keep the backline more or less intact we need that to gel for the Newcastle game.

[TigerMac3]

I didn't watch the game on Saturday, but by all accounts Sam A-R apparently looked pretty sharp. May be a chance to get him back in the starting 23 picture...

[wellstiger]

I think the England boys should be on the bench and only play them if absolutely required.
Need to carry on selecting our starting XV so they gel and build. Not forgetting this is a route to Euro Champs Cup next season.
Lets build energy and momentum and the fear factor.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

The best way of getting in next seasons champions cup would be league position, the home Euro games more important than the away, if we get through reevaluate when the next round occurs.
A mixed team this weekend maybe?

[sam16111986]

I think the England boys should be on the bench and only play them if absolutely required.
Need to carry on selecting our starting XV so they gel and build. Not forgetting this is a route to Euro Champs Cup next season.
Lets build energy and momentum and the fear factor.

Having subs you don't want to use places a lot of pressure on the starting XV to play the entire 80. Not ideal. There's two more European games after the crucial three Prem games. Send a second team so that the fringe players can put their best foot forward this weekend whilst the first team prepare. After the three Prem games we'll have an idea of whether we want to put effort into Europe or not. Brive away and Bayonne at home are winnable and we can go for those if we've got points on the board in the Prem.

Worse case scenario we fly to Europe and players get injured and have to miss those crucial Prem games. We don't put points on the board at home meaning we then sack off Europe in the next two games meaning sending the strong team to France this week was completely pointless.

[Tigerbeat]

I would go with the strongest available squad and a win. It is still very early days in the season and what I have seen so far this season gives more confidence for later. During the six nations, very few players will be away so an area of weakness in previous years is strengthened.
This is not a development competition but has an entry to the Champions Cup. Tigers should be challenging in all comps at this stage of the season.

[RagingBull]

I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see that much rotation

[Cardiff Tig]

It's also a lot easier to rotate players into teams that are in good form. We should go for the win IMO, but be realistic that the best XV we have is probably overkill.