Newcastle (H) - Sunday 02nd January 2022 -KO 15:00

[sam16111986]

Am I the only one thinking we’re more likely to see Clare covering the back row than Dolly? Bench numbers mean little.

Yes. Dolly played 7 for us in pre season whilst Clare is most valuable at set piece time and in the tight exchanges.

[Grimlish]

I thought it was Porter who packed down at Blindside in the very last scrum on the left after the shoulda-bin-a-lineout/knock-on, before scoring on the right wing….

Ah yeah, you might be right. Porters a bit stockier than Moroni so makes sense.

I noticed because one of the nuances of that final frantic few minutes was that the final scrum collapsed while we were going forward, and the LH/blindside was going forward faster than the TH/openside, we had an eight (Martin I think) so I looked to who else was packing down.

[OakhamTiger32]

Charlie Maddison is making his first start of the season for Newcastle at hooker and has only played 6 games in 2 seasons for them. Robbie Smith on the bench has only played 3 premiership matches this season with 149 minutes total under his belt. Maybe a weak area for Newcastle. Sam Stuart the replacement 9 will be making his first start of the season also.

Will be a tough match but we should be winning this one, especially as we are at home

[OakhamTiger32]

Am I the only one thinking we’re more likely to see Clare covering the back row than Dolly? Bench numbers mean little.

Yes. Dolly played 7 for us in pre season whilst Clare is most valuable at set piece time and in the tight exchanges.

Agreed. Dolly in the back row and Clare at hooker for my money

[Offside]

I think Dolly is smaller and quicker than Clare. He may need to do some carrying though. Snyman’s ruck stats are very good so will compensate a bit for a smaller 8. Who is going to jump at lineout could be a guess for Falcons too.

[TigerFeetSteve]

Soooo match officials...


One has to be wrong...

https://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/i ... s-hits-250

https://www.premiershiprugby.com/match- ... 12#preview

One has Jack Makepeace on the whistle the other Karl Dickson....

Who do you reckon we have got?

[Scott1]

Please Dickson NO! Flashscore has Makepeace but I don’t trust it after the penalty try incident!

[OakhamTiger32]

Soooo match officials...


One has to be wrong...

https://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/i ... s-hits-250

https://www.premiershiprugby.com/match- ... 12#preview

One has Jack Makepeace on the whistle the other Karl Dickson....

Who do you reckon we have got?

I posted the officials a few days ago and it said it was Jack Makepeace.. no mention of Dickson. The list of officials for the games had Makepeace but now has been replaced by Dickson. That was posted on the Premiership Rugby website at 13:29 on 30 Dec. The official match preview was posted at 12:23 on 31 Dec and has Makepeace.

BBC, Mercury and Falcons website saying it's Dickson although I suspect they have just lifted the info from the Premiership rugby website. No mention of a referee change so I'd suggest it's Makepeace and the Dickson bit is a mistake.

Although last time we played Newcastle at MWWR we had Dickson on the whistle and Dean Richards wasn’t happy after the match:

“Newcastle Falcons boss Dean Richards suggested a meeting was held or 'seed planted' that influenced refereeing decisions during Sunday's heated encounter.

Referee Karl Dickson penalised the Falcons 17 times paving the way for Richards' former club to grind out a 26-12 at the Mattioli Woods Welford Road”

https://m.rugbynetwork.net/boards/read/ ... 8,17095645

According to this thread it is Dickson.. midweek change!

[TigerFeetSteve]

Soooo match officials...


One has to be wrong...

https://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/i ... s-hits-250

https://www.premiershiprugby.com/match- ... 12#preview

One has Jack Makepeace on the whistle the other Karl Dickson....

Who do you reckon we have got?

I posted the officials a few days ago and it said it was Jack Makepeace.. no mention of Dickson. The list of officials for the games had Makepeace but now has been replaced by Dickson. That was posted on the Premiership Rugby website at 13:29 on 30 Dec. The official match preview was posted at 12:23 on 31 Dec and has Makepeace also so I'd say it's him (well sincerely hope it's him).

BBC website saying it's Dickson although I suspect they have just lifted the info from the Premiership rugby website. No mention of a referee change so I'd suggest it's Makepeace and the Dickson bit is a mistake

What concerns me is if it originally all said Makepeace, then all but one has changed to Dickson it suggests an oversight after a late change. If it was say a covid enforced I doubt they'd advertise it...

[OakhamTiger32]

What do we have to do to get Barnes on the whistle? 12 rounds in and we’ve had Tempest mentioned more than at a Shakespeare book club! He seems to be in our list of officials every other week yet we’ve not had Mr Barnes once! Seems a little unfair!

[longlivethecrumbie]

What do we have to do to get Barnes on the whistle? 12 rounds in and we’ve had Tempest mentioned more than at a Shakespeare book club! He seems to be in our list of officials every other week yet we’ve not had Mr Barnes once! Seems a little unfair!

How times have changed. Once was that the name of Barnes on the whistle was met with exasperation and derision.

[TigerFeetSteve]

What do we have to do to get Barnes on the whistle? 12 rounds in and we’ve had Tempest mentioned more than at a Shakespeare book club! He seems to be in our list of officials every other week yet we’ve not had Mr Barnes once! Seems a little unfair!

Get to the final...

[sam16111986]

What do we have to do to get Barnes on the whistle? 12 rounds in and we’ve had Tempest mentioned more than at a Shakespeare book club! He seems to be in our list of officials every other week yet we’ve not had Mr Barnes once! Seems a little unfair!

How times have changed. Once was that the name of Barnes on the whistle was met with exasperation and derision.

Very true. He wasn't always one of the world's best but has certainly developed to that point now.

[Soggypitch]

What do we have to do to get Barnes on the whistle? 12 rounds in and we’ve had Tempest mentioned more than at a Shakespeare book club! He seems to be in our list of officials every other week yet we’ve not had Mr Barnes once! Seems a little unfair!

How times have changed. Once was that the name of Barnes on the whistle was met with exasperation and derision.

Very true. He wasn't always one of the world's best but has certainly developed to that point now.

The Saints fans still can't stand him. They will never forgive him for sending off Hartley at Twickenham I was there and it was one of the funniest moments in my rugby watching career............a view not shared by all!!!

[DeadlyDunc]

Maybe getting Dickson for a game we should win isn’t a bad thing - get him out the way before the bigger matches come round