Julian Salvi to Leicester - confirmed

[Ben the Tiger]

Julian Salvi - no thanks.

Merely enquiring, why not?

[TomR96]

He is a great player, if he is coming, looking forward to seeing him in the future. Great talent (25 years old) and highly rated. However, do Tigers need a flanker? Maybe a more experienced one.

[PM76]

He is a great player, if he is coming, looking forward to seeing him in the future. Great talent (25 years old) and highly rated. However, do Tigers need a flanker? Maybe a more experienced one.

Not so much a flanker more of a 7. He is a great talent but has perhaps never reached his full potential. He was thought to be the next George Smith but Pocock beat him to it. He is fairly experienced, he has a full season at Bath as well as 4 seasons of Super rugby and could do a real job for Tigers although he has always given lots of penalties away.

[sam16111986]

If we were going for an openside at the end of next season I'd rather we went after Steffon Armitage as he is a better ball carrier and gives away far less penalties. Still offers the 'fetcher' at the breakdown.

If we were going to blow a decent bit of cash on a star name then Heinrich Brussow would be my favourite option, he reminds me of Backie. Nightmare to play against at the ruck, very savvy to the referee, not big but stocky and tough.

Or we could just give Armes and Watson a go and see if either offer a cheaper alternative.

[PM76]

Or we could just give Armes and Watson a go and see if either offer a cheaper alternative.

Given the signing is rumoured to be at the end of next season it cannot have been confirmed yet, for various reasons. Therefore if Armes or Watson or Newby or Woods or Mafi or anybody else makes the 7 shirt their own then there will be no need to bring in Salvi, a year is a long time and a lot can change both in terms of Leicester and in terms of Salvi's own options. I do think we either need to bring a top class 7 or 2 next season with the extra allowance in the cap and Cockers seems to have recognised this, if the rumour is true that is.

[sam16111986]

I do think we either need to bring a top class 7 or 2 next season with the extra allowance in the cap and Cockers seems to have recognised this, if the rumour is true that is.

I don't think Salvi is top class, he certainly wasn't at Bath and when I've seen him play in the odd occasion in the Super14 I've seen no improvement.

[Bud]

Some Bath fans call him the best open side they've had in years. Better value for money than Moody, an "immense" player and they don't want to see him with us

http://www.rugbynetwork.net/boards/read ... 8,12544708

[arickett]

Evans better player, better teacher and never away

[tb1]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/lo ... 19011.aspx

Maybe something has been lost in the "next season" talk between the NH and SH?

It seems Salvi could be showing up soon.

[PM76]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/lo ... 19011.aspx

Maybe something has been lost in the "next season" talk between the NH and SH?

It seems Salvi could be showing up soon.

Interesting: "it is understood he has already agreed to terms with Leicester and the that English club will confirm his signing by the end of the week."

Suprised the mercury or any english press have not picked up on it, they normally do. I have no idea if the Canberra Times is a good source although to state it so categorically it must be fairly likely. If he signs he will be a good signing, yes he has been brought in over Everard, Armes etc. but we have all seen how we suffer without a 7, suprised we could afford him though. If he has a similar impact to our last Super rugby import then I will have no complaints .

[sam16111986]

I do feel slightly underwhelmed by news of this signing. For two reasons, the first being that he isn't that good and has a tendancy to give away penalties which we already suffer from and can't afford to add too and secondly at a recent charity event a friend of the family spoke to Cockers who confirmed that there were some excellent youngsters in the academy who would shine this coming season. In which case why are we signing a player who is deemed surplus to requirements at an under performing franchise and who has seemingly failed to threaten the Aussie first team.

If we were going to splash the cash on an openside there are a couple of Saffas and an Englishman or two I would prefer to have targeted over Salvi. Having said that if he comes in and cleans up his game and finally solves our openside issues he will be a big fan favourite.

[Ben the Tiger]

Moody committed his fair share of penalty offences when playing at 7, I think it comes with the nature of the position and the role within the game. I think that if it were to become a serious problem he could be taught differently as it were.

Personally I think it would be a good signing to make, however the end of the week is fast approaching and no news...

[Qbec]

The signing of Julian Salvi now makes sense as it seems that Craig Newby will be out for some 5 months after he has a knee op.

I must add this "may" only be a temporary signing to cover for the time Craig will be absent, but don't quote me on that.

[Suz]

Now confirmed as injury cover for Newby
http://www.leicestertigers.com/news/17461.php