Tigers vs Exeter - Saturday 18th September 2021 - 1500

[OakhamTiger32]

15 Josh Hodge
14 Jack Nowell
13 Henry Slade
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Tom O'Flaherty
10 Joe Simmonds
9 Jack Maunder
1 Alec Hepburn
2 Jack Innard
3 Harry Williams
4 Will Witty
5 Sean Lonsdale
6 Jannes Kirsten
7 Don Armand
8 Rus Tuima

16 Jack Yeandle
17 Ben Moon
18 Sam Nixon
19 Ryan McCauley
20 Christ Tshiunza
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22 Harvey Skinner
23 Tom Hendrickson

[OakhamTiger32]

Lots of big names missing for Exeter.. might be a good time to be playing them. Home crowd, first game of the season.. I fancy us for this one. Exeter missing Hogg, Ewers, Gray, Skinner, Vermeulen, Capstick, Cowan-Dickie.

Not a huge surprise with the team selection. Guess as others have suggested that OTY and Heyes must be injured. Shame Saumaki and Muri miss out but I think selecting Nadolo and Potter is the right call and Porter is a good utility option on the bench. Great half back pairing both in the starting XV and on the bench. Strength in depth.. finally! Crazy to think that we have Montoya, Youngs, Van Staden, Wiese and Moroni missing from the first choice match day 23!

Should be a cracking game. Not a fan of Tempo but there are worse refs and I am not starting a new season with anything other than optimism for the standard of officiating

Will be interesting to see how the new rules affect the game.. some great kickers on the field for both sides and both sides love a good rolling maul.. reckon I know how this one will play out!

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Well that's a better selection than I was worried we were going to get, if Reffell gets injured it will really cause issues, would rather have Kini vice Porter in the 23 shirt but that's minor.

It's still a decent Chiefs side & their back line has considerably more pace in it than ours, Nemani v Nowell should be fun to watch.

As for Sir & the Chiefs at the breakdown it would need a complete officiating reset to stop all the cheating, but it could be worse, Sir could be Dickson...

[bendy]

Strong team!

I'm genuinely excited about a visit from the Chiefs for the first time in about 5 seasons. This could be a real marker for the campaign....

[tigerburnie]

I like the selections made, just wish we had put in some stronger pre season performances to make me think we are going to win this game. The side is capable and certainly the full strength side with our SH players available are capable of beating anyone, lets hope Exeter's poor form from last weeks pre season game continues for another week.
COME ON YOU TIGERRRrrrrrrsssssssss

[Scott1]

Top Chiefs 15,even missing their players. But we have the stronger bench,with their backline though still favourites for me,Chiefs by 11-20.

[Ian Cant]

Two teams missing quite a few and I think we can give Exeter a decent game.
My fear is at hooker as the line out was poor in preseason!
I hope IF we are close to or beating Exeter Chiefs just after half time Borthwick will change the front row: last season there were a few games where this really did cause problems especially when a Heyes wasn’t available.
Hope those of us who made lots of noise v Bristol then Wasps at the end of last season can make even more noise helped by the larger crowd.
Come on Tigers.

[Pellsey]

Extremely surprised to see Saumaki and Kini missing, especially as Nadolo has not making 80 mins often recently.

This could be an interesting game. I think we will have to do well to win, but it is possible.Lets hope it is not decided again by another storm. Sorry.

[JP14]

https://twitter.com/sammdoubleu/status/ ... 11047?s=21

[RichieB]

I hope the coaching staff have drilled in the new laws to the players. Seems to have been a penalty-fest at Bristol and I hope our guys are going to be smart enough not be on the wrong side of the ref.

[Noggs]

If we stay the right side of Temps we have a decent chance of a W. Either way, it has all the makings of a great days entertainment.

[aslongaswebeatsaints]

Excited!

Think we have a genuine chance to win this

[Leicestertinytiger]

I’m expecting a win in all honesty - think we’ve got the stronger XV overall and better bench. Youngs and Ford have had the summer off and are the test team pairing - hoping they come out with a point to prove and give a commanding performance.

Exeter have a strong backline but missing key players in the pack. Think if we can match them up front as the game goes on we should get the upper hand. No excuses this season for poor performances.

[Scott1]

I’m expecting a win in all honesty - think we’ve got the stronger XV overall and better bench. Youngs and Ford have had the summer off and are the test team pairing - hoping they come out with a point to prove and give a commanding performance.

Exeter have a strong backline but missing key players in the pack. Think if we can match them up front as the game goes on we should get the upper hand. No excuses this season for poor performances.

Definitely agree with the last sentence. Don’t want to keep hearing “Sinfield needs time to bed in” ,”they are new players” blah,blah,blah. Every team in the league goes through a certain amount of transition every season with new players,new coaches,could be a promoted team etc. Time to hit the ground running now,fortress WR and all that.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

If we have a chance of finishing in the Top 4 this is the kind of game we have to win & without allowing the opposition any league points.