CONNACHT (A) - Saturday 15th January 2022 - 3-15pm

[Scott1]

Connacht favourites for me,I’d be happy with an LBP. Should still qualify then with a win against BB
A proper mish mash of backs for us but IBWT

[Old Hob]

Need to keep Carty quiet. Sense a close battle. Tigers to win by 3

[OakhamTiger32]

STARTING XV
15 Bryce Hegarty [5]
14 Freddie Steward [46]
13 Matt Scott [35]
12 Juan Pablo Socino [5]
11 Kini Murimurivalu [31]
10 Freddie Burns [85]
9 Richard Wigglesworth [23]
1 Ellis Genge (c) [100]
2 Nic Dolly [14]
3 Joe Heyes [86]
4 Harry Wells [139]
5 Calum Green [74]
6 Ollie Chessum [22]
7 Tommy Reffell [61]
8 Jasper Wiese [27]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [38]
17 James Whitcombe [11]
18 Nephi Leatigaga [54]
19 Tom Manz **
20 Francois van Wyk [7]
21 Jack van Poortvliet [33]
22 Dan Kelly [32]
23 Hosea Saumaki [5]

Not a fan of this team selection and can’t see us getting a win away to a strong Connacht side that gave us a stern test at home. It’s Europe so a degree of rotation as expected and I’m guessing if we don’t win this then we will likely field a stronger side at home to Bordeaux but the team balance doesn’t seem right to me.

Don’t like Steward on the wing, and would rather have seen JvP start then Wigglesworth coming on to tighten things up later on if required and the second and back row options on the bench are very weak due to the ongoing availability issues.

I get this is a sensible selection given who we have available and the fact that the Premiership is likely the priority but I’d sooner have seen Saumaki start on the wing with JvP starting.

LBP would be a good return for me but clearly SB knows far more about the squad than me so I will try and stay positive and hopefully enjoy an exciting match.

Great to see Kini getting a start on the wing though after his back row appearances

[Scott1]

STARTING XV
15 Bryce Hegarty [5]
14 Freddie Steward [46]
13 Matt Scott [35]
12 Juan Pablo Socino [5]
11 Kini Murimurivalu [31]
10 Freddie Burns [85]
9 Richard Wigglesworth [23]
1 Ellis Genge (c) [100]
2 Nic Dolly [14]
3 Joe Heyes [86]
4 Harry Wells [139]
5 Calum Green [74]
6 Ollie Chessum [22]
7 Tommy Reffell [61]
8 Jasper Wiese [27]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [38]
17 James Whitcombe [11]
18 Nephi Leatigaga [54]
19 Tom Manz **
20 Francois van Wyk [7]
21 Jack van Poortvliet [33]
22 Dan Kelly [32]
23 Hosea Saumaki [5]

Not a fan of this team selection and can’t see us getting a win away to a strong Connacht side that gave us a stern test at home. It’s Europe so a degree of rotation as expected and I’m guessing if we don’t win this then we will likely field a stronger side at home to Bordeaux but the team balance doesn’t seem right to me.

Don’t like Steward on the wing, and would rather have seen JvP start then Wigglesworth coming on to tighten things up later on if required and the second and back row options on the bench are very weak due to the ongoing availability issues.

I get this is a sensible selection given who we have available and the fact that the Premiership is likely the priority but I’d sooner have seen Saumaki start on the wing with JvP starting.

LBP would be a good return for me but clearly SB knows far more about the squad than me so I will try and stay positive and hopefully enjoy an exciting match.

Great to see Kini getting a start on the wing though after his back row appearances

Can’t argue with this post. We’ve won with mish mash backs before but this seems a step too far.

[RagingBull]

I mean given Connacht conditions potentially starting off tighter with Wigg starting is logical imo.

Also Connacht didn’t look that fit so having JVP come on With 20/30 to go to speed things up is also logical.

We are starting 3 full backs so clearly expecting Carty to use all his knowledge of the ground and try and control it like they did v Munster.

[Big Dai]

A right mix up!

As I've said before. Difficult to outguess the master........but it's worked before.

Is this on the telly?

[Tigerbeat]

A right mix up!

As I've said before. Difficult to outguess the master........but it's worked before.

Is this on the telly?

On BT Sport

[Big Dai]

A right mix up!

As I've said before. Difficult to outguess the master........but it's worked before.

Is this on the telly?

Ta!

On BT Sport

[RagingBull]

So if all but 1 of
Castres (Munster Home)
Cardiff (Quins Home)
Wasps (Toulouse Home)
Stade (Bristol away)
Scarlets (Bordeux away)

Lose then we are basically thought to the next round regardless of the next 2 games

[Scott1]

So if all but 1 of
Castres (Munster Home)
Cardiff (Quins Home)
Wasps (Toulouse Home)
Stade (Bristol away)
Scarlets (Bordeux away)

Lose then we are basically thought to the next round regardless of the next 2 games

Good work RB!

[Tigers86asw]

The key to the performance will be Burns. We rotated in Bordeaux and won so let’s not doubt Borthwick’s selection too much, the difference that day was we had Ford.
I have learnt not to right the team off although the bench and Burns are a concern.

[Scott1]

The key to the performance will be Burns. We rotated in Bordeaux and won so let’s not doubt Borthwick’s selection too much, the difference that day was we had Ford.
I have learnt not to right the team off although the bench and Burns are a concern.

We have plenty of options in the back 3 if we need to hook Burns and move Hegarty to FH though. I expect,injury barring,Hegarty to finish the game at 10 anyway

[RichieB]

So with that team I guessed 14 out of 23 right, albeit not necessarily in those starting positions - pretty poor guess really!

With injuries and players ‘resting’ or not playing for reasons unknown, it really has become a bit of a lottery predicting the match day 23.

[TigerFeetSteve]

At one of the windiest grounds in world rugby we've picked 3 fullbacks, plus a fly half who can cover fullback, we're planning for a lot to be kicked at us I think.

[Soggypitch]

So with that team I guessed 14 out of 23 right, albeit not necessarily in those starting positions - pretty poor guess really!

With injuries and players ‘resting’ or not playing for reasons unknown, it really has become a bit of a lottery predicting the match day 23.

Quite - IMO it's a joke we don't know anything about the fitness of Hanro, MVS and Martin to name just three. Not detailed medical bulletins, but just an idea of what is wrong and a rough idea of when they will be back.

Football teams are very secretive about their team selections, but I have a good knowledge of the injury situation at LCFC!