Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

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TigerFeetSteve
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Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by TigerFeetSteve »

Well England stars are back, possibly needing a break, but we know the Bristol front row will be fully loaded....

This is how I see it.

Brown
Watson
Scott
Porter
Potter
Pollard
Youngs
West
Montoya
Cole
Martin
Henderson
Cracknell
Reffell
Wiese

Dolly (Clare if Dolly not fit)
Cronin
Heyes
Wells
Liebenberg
Whiteley
Atkinson
Simmons


With Genge back I would be tempted to try diffuse him with Cole at TH, but I'd be equally happy with Heyes who it's harsh to drop.

I'd have Steward and JvP given their breaks this week and rest them with the form of the likes of Brown and Youngs.
Used to run around with an 11, 14 or 15 on my back.
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by RunTigerRun »

TigerFeetSteve wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 7:06 am Well England stars are back, possibly needing a break, but we know the Bristol front row will be fully loaded....

This is how I see it.

Brown
Watson
Scott
Porter
Potter
Pollard
Youngs
West
Montoya
Cole
Martin
Henderson
Cracknell
Reffell
Wiese

Dolly (Clare if Dolly not fit)
Cronin
Heyes
Wells
Liebenberg
Whiteley
Atkinson
Simmons


With Genge back I would be tempted to try diffuse him with Cole at TH, but I'd be equally happy with Heyes who it's harsh to drop.

I'd have Steward and JvP given their breaks this week and rest them with the form of the likes of Brown and Youngs.
How many weeks do the England lads need? If it’s only 1, I’d be tempted to use out bye week that. If so I’d go:

Brown
Watson
Scott
Porter
Potter
Pollard
Youngs
Wiese
Reffell
Liebenberg
Henderson
Martin
Heyes
Montoya
West

Dolly / Clare
Cronin
Cole
Wells
Cracknell
JVP
Atkinson
Steward
Ian Cant
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by Ian Cant »

If England lose to Ireland I’d think the England lads will want to get back into a team that’s got used to winning.
We cannot afford to lose to a confident Bristol team.
Cole hasn’t played much so I’d start with him: if he doesn’t get injured v Ireland.
Then I’d put Steward, Watson and JVP on the bench.
Sadly I can see George Martin getting injured playing for England as it was intimated last week that George would benefit from a weeks rest!
3 league games left so no rest unless absolutely necessary!
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by KiwiTig »

I would have to disagree Ian, which is rare as I agree with much of what you say
The players who haven’t been involved in the international series have created a winning mentality and that has been infectious
The 6 Nations hasn’t been kind to many of our internationals and although I understand that you think they will have a point to prove I strongly believe that replacing anyone of the currently successful Tigers squad would have a negative impact on morale and motivation …you earn the right to a shirt and in my opinion form is worth far more that reputation. It’s a great position to be in ie about to welcome back a raft of international players but I think the bigger picture is not to upset the amazing team spirit, ethic and ethos created of late …the internationals need to earn their Tigers shirt back !
westwinds31
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by westwinds31 »

My usual take on resting players…..why ? If anything the players who weren’t on international duty may need a break, as the England boys have either not played a full 80 and they’ve had a couple of weeks with no game. The only thing they may be is mentally tired. Anyway, with 3 games left (maybe a couple more), we have to go full beans every game. Why leave your top players out at a crucial time in the season ?
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by KiwiTig »

Form?
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by westwinds31 »

KiwiTig wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 11:12 pmForm?
Yep, absolutely. So Cole is our #1 tight head, he’s in as fresh as a daisy (ish). Steward is on top form, he’s in despite how good Brown has been. Watson also starts. The only debate would be Youngs vs JVP.
ABClub
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by ABClub »

With a 6 day turnaround to the Edinburgh KO I'd expect some rotation between the two games.

Bears

1.West 2.Montoya (c) 3.Cole 4.Wells 5.Henderson 6.Hanro 7.Reffell 8.Wiese
9.Youngs 10.Pollard 11.Potter 12.Porter 13.Scott 14.Watson 15.Steward

16.Clare 17.Cronin 18.Heyes 19.Martin 20.Cracknell 21.JvP 22.Atkinson 23.Simmons

Edinburgh

1.Cronin 2.Clare 3.Heyes 4.Martin 5.Henderson 6.Cracknell 7.Reffell 8.Hanro (c)
9.JvP 10.Pollard 11.Potter 12.Porter 13.Scott 14.Watson 15.Brown

16.Montoya 17.West 18.Cole 19.Wells 20.Wiese 21.Youngs 22.Atkinson 23.Steward

Perhaps something along those lines? Very nearly full strength against Bears then really stack the bench against Edinburgh.

Worth noting that if we win against Edinburgh the odds on QF opponent is Leinster the weekend after as well.
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by baz1664 »

ABClub wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:35 am With a 6 day turnaround to the Edinburgh KO I'd expect some rotation between the two games.

Bears

1.West 2.Montoya (c) 3.Cole 4.Wells 5.Henderson 6.Hanro 7.Reffell 8.Wiese
9.Youngs 10.Pollard 11.Potter 12.Porter 13.Scott 14.Watson 15.Steward

16.Clare 17.Cronin 18.Heyes 19.Martin 20.Cracknell 21.JvP 22.Atkinson 23.Simmons

Edinburgh

1.Cronin 2.Clare 3.Heyes 4.Martin 5.Henderson 6.Cracknell 7.Reffell 8.Hanro (c)
9.JvP 10.Pollard 11.Potter 12.Porter 13.Scott 14.Watson 15.Brown

16.Montoya 17.West 18.Cole 19.Wells 20.Wiese 21.Youngs 22.Atkinson 23.Steward

Perhaps something along those lines? Very nearly full strength against Bears then really stack the bench against Edinburgh.

Worth noting that if we win against Edinburgh the odds on QF opponent is Leinster the weekend after as well.
The core of Montoya, Wiese and Pollard need to start every game when possible, the team ticks when they play.
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by mightymouse »

Steward is the one England man who needs a rest I think .. he’s played every minute of every game .. He has been Englands standout player in every single game but I thought by the end of the French game he had been run ragged from one end of the pitch to the other and looked out on his feet. He could use a week off.
JVP would benefit from a couple of matches on the bench behind his mentor to sort his bruised ego out. The 6 nations have not been kind to him and he needs a confidence build and I think he’ll be in no better place than than in hands of Lenny and Wiggo.
All the rest should start.
Just pray big George doesn’t get injured.. he is far too valuable now!
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by KiwiTig »

Fair and valid points re Steward and JVP Mighty Mouse
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by westwinds31 »

mightymouse wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 7:01 am Steward is the one England man who needs a rest I think .. he’s played every minute of every game .. He has been Englands standout player in every single game but I thought by the end of the French game he had been run ragged from one end of the pitch to the other and looked out on his feet. He could use a week off.
JVP would benefit from a couple of matches on the bench behind his mentor to sort his bruised ego out. The 6 nations have not been kind to him and he needs a confidence build and I think he’ll be in no better place than than in hands of Lenny and Wiggo.
All the rest should start.
Just pray big George doesn’t get injured.. he is far too valuable now!
Steward played 3 x 80 mins in February, with a weekend off (18th/19th Feb). In March, he had a weekend off 4th/5th March. then 80 mins vs France and potentially another 80 vs Ireland this weekend. I get that the intensity is greater but I think he's had sufficient time off between games. If you want to rest him, which I don't think we should, go for the Exeter game. Bristol are arguably the form team in the Premiership so any win would be good against them, and because they're on a decent run of form, you'd want to play you "gun" 15 surely ? It's not like we've got games to play with where we can lose one.
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by Tigerbeat »

Agree that the England players should all be available for selection. They have had 2 rest weeks during the Six Nations and the Club will just manage the intensity of their training when they return next week.
Bristol and Edinburgh are the next big games so need to have them available.
Win against Edinburgh would mean an away game weekend 07-09th April
17th April - Exeter (H)
24th April - Weekend - No game
30th April - Friendly game against Saints
06th May - Quins (H)

They should be able to manage that schedule with the Fitness and Conditioning under the supervison of Aled Walters and the team.
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by TTRITH »

Given how Brown has been playing, I'd have Steward on the bench vs Bristol.

15. Mike Brown
14. Anthony Watson
13. Matt Scott
12. Guy Porter
11. Harry Potter
10. Handre Pollard
9. Ben Youngs
1. James Cronin
2. Julian Montoya
3. Joe Heyes
4. Cameron Henderson
5. George Martin
6. Hanro Liebenberg
7. Tommy Reffell
8. Jasper Wiese

16. Charlie Clare
17. Tom West
18. Dan Cole
19. Harry Wells
20. Olly Cracknell
21. Jack van Poortvelt
22. Charlie Atkinson
23. Freddie Steward
Richard Burnett
:axe: :smt100
SthrnTiger
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Re: Tigers v Bristol (H) - Saturday 25th March 2023 - KO 12:30pm

Post by SthrnTiger »

Interesting to see what happens with the Steward red given all the backlash. Putting aside the ‘framework’ dont see the point in it - what behaviour is that trying to prevent? Will have zero impact on actions of Steward and all other players in the future.

On the plus side will be great to have Watson back in the team, I sometimes forget he’s at Tigers, despite hardly any opportunities or ball looked class this 6 nations.
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