Ian Cant wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 1:31 pm
Will be gutted if Mike Brown doesn’t stay on in some capacity. Watson is great but will be off with England and that’s if he stays fit!
Hopefully we can keep Mike Brown on as he has that “Old Fashioned “ Tigers’ spirit: real passion, good leadership and full back skills that need passing on to help Freddie Steward.
I am not fully convinced that we will be losing Watson to England or at least not all the time. Much depends on how SB looks at his role going forward.
Watson will be 30 next year and it is a case of whether SB wants to start bringing on the next generation of wingers and full backs ready for the world cup in 4 years or whether he wants to retain some experience.
I did have similar thoughts but then why would they offer him a training contract if he wasn’t in at least the medium term plan
The plan I assumed was to keep him available for the world cup. He was out of contract at the end of last season and looking at France and it appears we did not have cap space for his salary. The training contract allowed him to sign with us for later in the season and so fit in the cap and also stopped him signing abroad. It backfired due to the injury.
A few selections, Marler for example, were clearly meant as short term solutions just to get through the World Cup. Now is time for the long term selections.
TigerFeetSteve wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 12:10 pm
We're certainly more likely to keep him as a dispensation for Simmons (if his injury period is longer) than JVP, as you are right they do have to play the same position.
Yes, I was forgetting about Harry (who must rank amongst the most unlucky with illness and injury!)
I am not fully convinced that we will be losing Watson to England or at least not all the time. Much depends on how SB looks at his role going forward.
Watson will be 30 next year and it is a case of whether SB wants to start bringing on the next generation of wingers and full backs ready for the world cup in 4 years or whether he wants to retain some experience.
I did have similar thoughts but then why would they offer him a training contract if he wasn’t in at least the medium term plan
The plan I assumed was to keep him available for the world cup. He was out of contract at the end of last season and looking at France and it appears we did not have cap space for his salary. The training contract allowed him to sign with us for later in the season and so fit in the cap and also stopped him signing abroad. It backfired due to the injury.
A few selections, Marler for example, were clearly meant as short term solutions just to get through the World Cup. Now is time for the long term selections.
A 29 year old winger should be in his prime. When you are looking for genuine class in the backline then Watson is one you will want in there. When fit and in form he's our best all round winger by a distance. If we stick with Steward at 15 and then select another up and comer on the other wing then having Watson in there brings experience to the back three without any drop in class.
Marler and Cole were short term picks with an eye on the world cup and may well not come back in for the 6N unless there's injuries. I don't think Borthwick will want to throw away experienced internationals just because they are of the wrong age, we'd need the right young talent to be pushing them out.
McKellar saying we are hoping to keep Brown amd no correlation with when Watson is starting, so hopefully we keep both! (Side note I like how McKellar deals with press and speculation, honest but giving nothing away)
Used to run around with an 11, 14 or 15 on my back.
Re Cole, a poster made the point, apologies I can’t remember who, that there is a drop off below Cole, and Borthwick may have asked him to hang around for the 6 nations while he assesses other options
Good luck to him. I was a little surprised when he rejoined but with our forwards stocks replenished by RWC returnees plus senior academy folk no doubt pressing for game time, it isn’t surprising he’s off.
fortysix wrote: ↑Sat Nov 04, 2023 5:11 pm
Second row strong ??? They were humiliated today.
If you are referring to our lineouts then I don't agree with 'humiliation', it's more to do with poor timing and throw judgement. I thought Henderson had a decent game and Wells was really good.
Our lineout seems to consist of throwing to Liebenberg a backrow man. On one of our lineouts our receiver was out jumped but the lifter had their back bent when the ball came in, choreography or timing wrong.
johnthegriff wrote: ↑Sun Nov 05, 2023 8:07 am
Our lineout seems to consist of throwing to Liebenberg a backrow man. On one of our lineouts our receiver was out jumped but the lifter had their back bent when the ball came in, choreography or timing wrong.
Similarly went to pot during the Murphy era and became a well oiled machine during Borthwick's tenure
Some poor lineout drills .. that Saracens had obviously done their homework on .. Clare got a bit spooked by it . Actually towards the end with Dolly throwing to Henderson it seemed to improve slightly.. also Have to say Otoje played and absolute blinder .. just hope our returnees play with as much passion pride power and skill as he did.
