Bath v Newcastle

[Which Tyler]

Sat; 3.00pm
Ref: Craig Maxwell-Keys
TJs: Joe James & Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Peter Allan

Bath Rugby:
1 Francois van Wyk
2 Niall Annett
3 Will Stuart
4 Quinn Roux
5 Charlie Ewels ©
6 Ted Hill
7 Sam Underhill
8 Alfie Barbeary

09 Tom Carr-Smith
10 Ciaran Donoghue
11 Louie Hennessey
12 Will Butt
13 Cameron Redpath
14 Ruaridh McConnochie
15 Austin Emens

Wrecking Crew:
16 Tom Dunn, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Josh Bayliss, 20, Guy Pepper, 23 Kepu Tuipulotu
21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Finn Russell

Newcastle Falcons:
15 Louis Brown
14 Alex Hearle
13 Connor Doherty
12 Max Clark
11 Ben Stevenson
10 Brett Connon
09 Sam Stuart

1 Adam Brocklebank
2 Jamie Blamire
3 Richard Palframan
4 John Hawkins
5 Sebastian de Chaves
6 Freddie Lockwood
7 Cameron Neild
8 Callum Chick ©

Replacements:
16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Oscar Usher, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow
21 Max Pepper, 22 Oli Spencer, 23 Sammy Arnold

[Which Tyler]

3 hookers
No DeGlanville is a surprise (hope he's not hurt)
Pity we can't give Finn a full rest, but it looks we've run out of backs

[Epaminondas Pules]

3 hookers
No DeGlanville is a surprise (hope he's not hurt)
Pity we can't give Finn a full rest, but it looks we've run out of backs

I'd guess Kepu will come on in the backrow? Otherwise seems really odd.

[TheNomad]

Some impressive running from Ciaran Donoghue! Looks a talented player

[Which Tyler]

He's come from nowhere, and absolutely exploded onto the scene the last few months.
Looks to have a very high ceiling too, but we need to see how he reacts to adversity, and if he can kick on from here.

I've seen talk about taking him to Argentina - which is... ridiculous.
I've also seen talk that taking him would be poaching by England - as far as I can tell, that's because the amateur who runs All.rugby assumed he was Irish because of his name (and had to tick the box), then Wiki linked that (both ignoring the "born in Salisbury" bit); and everyone else has quoted Wiki. None of which means that he doesn't have Irish parents; but "born in Wiltshire, educated in Wiltshire and Somerset, Bath academy for 6+ years + 1 as 'senior'" doesn't scream "purebred Irish" to me.

[Puja]

He's come from nowhere, and absolutely exploded onto the scene the last few months.
Looks to have a very high ceiling too, but we need to see how he reacts to adversity, and if he can kick on from here.

I've seen talk about taking him to Argentina - which is... ridiculous.
I've also seen talk that taking him would be poaching by England - as far as I can tell, that's because the amateur who runs All.rugby assumed he was Irish because of his name (and had to tick the box), then Wiki linked that (both ignoring the "born in Salisbury" bit); and everyone else has quoted Wiki. None of which means that he doesn't have Irish parents; but "born in Wiltshire, educated in Wiltshire and Somerset, Bath academy for 6+ years + 1 as 'senior'" doesn't scream "purebred Irish" to me.

Hah - just posted almost exactly the same in the Argentina thread (albeit mine was more confused and less authoritative).

I'd rather take him to Argentina than some of our other 4th choice options; at least he's not proven he can't yet! We have also got the USA game after the Argentina ones, so there is a prime opportunity for taking very green players on tour to see how they do in an elite environment and then giving them a go against unchallenging opposition. That's not even to mention the advantages of laying a claim to dual-qualified players like him and Tuipulotu.

Puja

[Danno]

Who's got their thieving eye on Tuipolotou, is it the bloody Scots again?

[Which Tyler]

Who's got their thieving eye on Tuipolotou, is it the bloody Scots again?

Wales, of course

[Danno]

Who's got their thieving eye on Tuipolotou, is it the bloody Scots again?

Wales, of course

Ahh right, if memory serves (which is rare) he's a cousin of the Vunipolae?

[Which Tyler]

Who's got their thieving eye on Tuipolotou, is it the bloody Scots again?

Wales, of course

Ahh right, if memory serves (which is rare) he's a cousin of the Vunipolae?

Sibling of the Welsh international Tuipulotu. Not sure if related to the Scots/Aussie Tuipulotus.
Cousin of Faletau isn't it? Or is it both?

TBH, family trees of vehement Catholics post-horrendous-infant-mortality gets... expansive and confusing

[Danno]

Ha, indeed

Faletau is definitely a Vunicousin so likely both ways

[Which Tyler]

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/bath-bre ... st-claims/

Born into a military family in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Donoghue qualifies for both England and Ireland.

Until I raised it during Bath’s media session a few weeks ago, Donoghue’s dual nationality hadn’t been the topic of much discussion and which country to throw his lot in is not something he’s considered yet, either.

“My mum’s Irish, but that’s a long time away, before I have got to think about anything like that,” he said.