PRC Semi final vs London Irish (A) - 26th April 2022

[markharbtiger]

Both sides entered 3 competitions at the beginning of the season. Throughout the season both sides select according to availability, injuries, suspensions and as the season develops, priorities. Irish chose to pick their side for the semi final, Tigers chose to pick their side for the semi - final. It’s a level playing field ( salary cap issues aside! ) Move on.

With all due respect this misses the point (1) that no team ought to be disadvantaged by remaining in multiple competitions. It also misses the points that (2) this competition needs some eligibility rules and (3) premiership sides are not equal in terms of available players.

[TigerFeetSteve]

Here's a stat for you, thr London Irish 23 (White, Gigena, Reid & Mafi) had more appearances for Leicester Tigers than our starting 15.

[Rugbygramps]

Ben White was awesome and was clearly out to show that Tigers were wrong in letting him go.
That the player preferred to him was the captain of Tigers was all the motivation he needed.
Much has been written about the selection of both teams and the more experienced pack gave him a great ride.
He was everywhere.
It is unfortunate that with Ben and Jack ahead of him, both exceptional players, there was no berth for him in the long run.
From the little I saw of Edwards, he is also clearly a talent.
Always painful when "one that got away" comes back to bite us but good luck to him.
Yet again catching the eye was Harry Arundell. What a talent.
Could we find a place for him at Tigers when we have the England fullback in our ranks?
I suspect he will be on Freddie's heels soon enough but I would love them both here.

White has made the most of his move and good luck to him, I believe it wasn’t just rugby reasons that prompted the move, but also if my fading memory serves me a professional tennis playing girlfriend who needed to be nearer London.
As for Arundell as you say awesome going forward, and yet he isn’t Irish first choice at 15. Would like to see him defending more and under a few high balls on a wet day before I make my mind up

[Smudge]

That's true but what teenager is the complete package. He has much to learn and does not have the advantage of height,
so beneficial to catching the high "bombs" but he oozes natural talent and is a delight to watch, even against us.
I suspect he will become a very good centre if the way ahead is blocked by others at FB.
One thing you can be sure of, Quins, Wasps and Cheaters will have their eyes on him as will the wealthy French Clubs.

[Rugbygramps]

That's true but what teenager is the complete package. He has much to learn and does not have the advantage of height,
so beneficial to catching the high "bombs" but he oozes natural talent and is a delight to watch, even against us.
I suspect he will become a very good centre if the way ahead is blocked by others at FB.
One thing you can be sure of, Quins, Wasps and Cheaters will have their eyes on him as will the wealthy French Clubs.

Being pedantic a certain Freddie Steward wasn’t bad at that age. But no I get what you’re saying. The danger of losing players to French clubs, especially young ones is reducing due to their academy squad requirements. He maybe needs to bulk up a little, the game is littered with jet healed youngsters who never quite made it. LRZ would be an example of someone who has bulked up especially round the hips torso area without losing pace

[TigerFeetSteve]

With Arundell you have to also point out London Irish also have Tom Parton who is IMO up there in terms of English Fullbacks, prior to his injury I'd have said he wasn't far behind Steward in terms of playing for England (certainly should be ahead of the likes of Daly and Furbank playing there)

[Rugbygramps]

With Arundell you have to also point out London Irish also have Tom Parton who is IMO up there in terms of English Fullbacks, prior to his injury I'd have said he wasn't far behind Steward in terms of playing for England (certainly should be ahead of the likes of Daly and Furbank playing there)

Have always liked Parton and I would say he is a more complete player than Arundell at present

[wormus]

With Arundell you have to also point out London Irish also have Tom Parton who is IMO up there in terms of English Fullbacks, prior to his injury I'd have said he wasn't far behind Steward in terms of playing for England (certainly should be ahead of the likes of Daly and Furbank playing there)

Have always liked Parton and I would say he is a more complete player than Arundell at present

Daly Parton would be a lot to handle too!

[aslongaswebeatsaints]

This and other one sided results in this competition says more about the failings of the governing body than the teams. Particularly in missing the golden opportunity to replace the Anglo Welsh Cup with something both meaningful and commercially successful. There are so many great opportunities that this competition could become with tweak in criteria or purpose. A proper development opportunity on a level playing field? A FA Cup style competition for the prem to mix it with (and bring on) the championship?

You can’t blame Tigers for wanting to develop young talent or LI to get some silverware. But you can look at the framework that has (has not?) been created. Mismatches like you get in this competition does nothing to grow rugby beyond its very narrow base.

On a more positive note a loss in the league and then this game could be just the right jolt everyone needs just before we move into knockout rugby. Specific to the game, it’s great to see Tigers have another crop of talented youngsters learning the standard and experiencing the crucible they need to aim to be successful in, and we have the right coaches to make this a great learning opportunity towards their goals. This will no doubt pay dividends in future seasons.

[LE18]

A couple of points I would like to make.:-
Change rules to say no one with more than say 5 appearances for 1st team can be selected, unless they are returning from a serious injury that kept them out for more than 5 games.

Don't put an age limit to the rules, for instance a first team might all be under 23 yrs old, the way teams are trying to bring youngster through.

Also regarding those that say youngsters are departing to places like France for more money, is this really happening, I don't see it, but there again I haven't seen any stats? Who are they?

[PIEANDAPINT]

[/quote]
With all due respect this misses the point (1) that no team ought to be disadvantaged by remaining in multiple competitions. It also misses the points that (2) this competition needs some eligibility rules and (3) premiership sides are not equal in terms of available players.
[/quote]

Re your points:
1) By definition successful teams have to manage their squads for competing on all fronts - it has always been the case
2) I totally agree with you - a clear set of rules regarding eligibility would prevent some of the complaints/ dissatisfaction which has arisen. However at the moment there are none so all teams are impacted in the same way. The teams which the Clubs have selected are by choice, taking into account the criteria I have already highlighted ( and probably some others as well)
3) They never have been and they never will as international call ups, injuries, suspensions etc impact clubs differently at different times

[markharbtiger]

Just because some things are a certain way doesn't make it right. Yes you can shrug and move on, but personally I'd prefer sporting outcomes to be determined from an on-field contest of skill between broadly equal teams. Apart from anything else, blatant inequality makes for a v poor contest.

[ay2oh]

If the positions were reversed and we only had one competition to compete in would we have done the same. Yes of course we would. Let’s move on and try to win the league and European cup.