New and Improved EPS Watch/Player Form Thread

[FKAS]

Ben Curry 974 mins for Sale 191 attempted tackles 92.1% tackle completion.

Ted Hill 946 mins for Bath 125 attempted tackles 80.8% tackle completion.

I think that's probably the reason. Curry also had a higher proportion of dominant tackles.

[Danno]

I don't doubt that Hill is a top club player but we're stacke...


I still can't be bothered

[Which Tyler]

Suggestions that Lawrence might be back in time for the new season...

That's about 6 months? bloody hell - that's pretty much "miracle cure" territory. Didn't expect to see him this side of Christmas.
I also wonder if that puts us in a salary bind, having signed Chris Harris as injury cover - which I had thought came from the injury dispensation
ETA: May shed new light on Bailey's departure as the club will have been far more aware of his rehab progress

[FKAS]

Suggestions that Lawrence might be back in time for the new season...

That's about 6 months? bloody hell - that's pretty much "miracle cure" territory. Didn't expect to see him this side of Christmas.
I also wonder if that puts us in a salary bind, having signed Chris Harris as injury cover - which I had thought came from the injury dispensation
ETA: May shed new light on Bailey's departure as the club will have been far more aware of his rehab progress

I think the player has to be unavailable for three months for the injury dispensation to count. If the new season counts as starting in July then Lawrence would need to be out until October to count feasibly.

I presumed Bailey was allowed to go to free up space to help the Carreras signing to happen.

[Puja]

Suggestions that Lawrence might be back in time for the new season...

That's about 6 months? bloody hell - that's pretty much "miracle cure" territory. Didn't expect to see him this side of Christmas.
I also wonder if that puts us in a salary bind, having signed Chris Harris as injury cover - which I had thought came from the injury dispensation
ETA: May shed new light on Bailey's departure as the club will have been far more aware of his rehab progress

Would imagine there'd be a quick loan or two to a Champ club to free up space if it is causing a cap issue. Bath are normally quite savvy about these things.

In other news, Alex Sanderson has said that TCurry will be out till November with the wrist surgery he delayed till after the Lions.

"Tom’s surgery went really well, everything is super positive. He is back in doing physio now and is around the place, which is great. He will be coming back probably before the date the specialist scheduled, but it won’t be in time for the start of the season or anytime before the Autumn.

"If we get him back a week before Autumn, it’ll be a surprise to us. I think he will go straight back into international camp in the Autumn.”

Puja

[FKAS]

Danny Wilson leaves Quins to join the Welsh national team setup. Leaves Quins a bit in the lurch.

[Which Tyler]

I think the player has to be unavailable for three months for the injury dispensation to count. If the new season counts as starting in July then Lawrence would need to be out until October to count feasibly.

Good point - but it's 8 weeks as it spans 2 seasons (and 3 months total); so IF it counts from July - then it's already passed; and feels very wrong*

I presumed Bailey was allowed to go to free up space to help the Carreras signing to happen.

That would seem unlikely, given that Carreras was confirmed before Leicester began talking to Bailey


ETA: the wording of the regulation is

3.36 The entitlement to an Injured Player Credit shall be lost if the Injured Player is selected by a club for a match day squad in any match (i) before twelve weeks has elapsed from the date the Player was certified as having been injured in the Injury Certificate, or (ii) during the first eight weeks of the current Salary Cap Year, where an Injured Player Credit applied to the same injury in the previous Salary Cap Year.

So whilst it would feel wrong, it's probably the correct reading of the rules as written - and the rules would have been deliberately written that way (July being the standard start of contracts is not a new thing).

[Which Tyler]

Danny Wilson leaves Quins to join the Welsh national team setup. Leaves Quins a bit in the lurch.

From the predictions thread

Surprise of the season: Danny Wilson to keep his job despite Quins being mostly awful.

[Puja]

Danny Wilson leaves Quins to join the Welsh national team setup. Leaves Quins a bit in the lurch.

From the predictions thread

Surprise of the season: Danny Wilson to keep his job despite Quins being mostly awful.

In fairness, Scrumhead could still be technically correct - Wilson could keep his Wales job, despite Quins being awful.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

Danny Wilson leaves Quins to join the Welsh national team setup. Leaves Quins a bit in the lurch.

It does. However, I’m confident we’ll be better without him.

I don’t have anything against him as a person but he was never the right fit for Quins and we were only going backwards under his tenure.

[Mikey Brown]

Danny Wilson leaves Quins to join the Welsh national team setup. Leaves Quins a bit in the lurch.

It does. However, I’m confident we’ll be better without him.

I don’t have anything against him as a person but he was never the right fit for Quins and we were only going backwards under his tenure.

It’s crazy how long ago the prem win feels now. We’ve largely been a complacent/dithering/inconsistent side for a few years now. It’s still hard to make sense of how we can’t find a head coach to tie things together a bit.

[FKAS]

Danny Wilson leaves Quins to join the Welsh national team setup. Leaves Quins a bit in the lurch.

It does. However, I’m confident we’ll be better without him.

I don’t have anything against him as a person but he was never the right fit for Quins and we were only going backwards under his tenure.

It’s crazy how long ago the prem win feels now. We’ve largely been a complacent/dithering/inconsistent side for a few years now. It’s still hard to make sense of how we can’t find a head coach to tie things together a bit.

To be fair it's not like the Prem win came from a season of a settled Quins setup with no drama. Any coach coming in would still have a coaching staff who seem to be fixed on playing a certain way, the only benefit is that there's pretty much no more of the senior players that seemed to have such a significant say in how the team should be playing. I don't see it as an easy job unless an ideal candidate is found.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Danny Wilson coaching Wales, Wiggy coaching the Lions....talk about rewarding mediocrity!

Oh yeah Mapletoft too.

[TheNomad]

Interesting quotes by Freeman about more game time likely to come at 13 this year, and that there was a plan for it last year, were it not for injuries to Sleighthome and Hendy

Personally, I can see it. I think he has a higher ceiling at 13 than wing. Moreover, I think England have (for the first time in a while) some genuinely interesting options at wing as well.

I'd like to see him focus there, personally.

[Oakboy]

Interesting quotes by Freeman about more game time likely to come at 13 this year, and that there was a plan for it last year, were it not for injuries to Sleighthome and Hendy

Personally, I can see it. I think he has a higher ceiling at 13 than wing. Moreover, I think England have (for the first time in a while) some genuinely interesting options at wing as well.

I'd like to see him focus there, personally.

Spot on. He has been Slade's natural successor for two years, IMO.

[Puja]

Bandersnatch backed me to remodel attack - Blackett

Bit of a fluff piece, but it's good that he's being given his head - hopefully we'll see a continuation of the play in Argentina when it comes to the AIs. Sounds very excited about the whole thing - Wiggy's great, Backwithit's great, Johann's great, all the players are great! Nice to see excitement and enthusiasm in the camp.

I'm sure we'll beat it out of him.

Puja

[Oakboy]

Bandersnatch backed me to remodel attack - Blackett

Bit of a fluff piece, but it's good that he's being given his head - hopefully we'll see a continuation of the play in Argentina when it comes to the AIs. Sounds very excited about the whole thing - Wiggy's great, Backwithit's great, Johann's great, all the players are great! Nice to see excitement and enthusiasm in the camp.

I'm sure we'll beat it out of him.

Puja

Back in the nasty Australian's era there was lots of talk about succession from within. Might Blackett be the first genuine HC candidate in that quest at some later date?

[Puja]

Bandersnatch backed me to remodel attack - Blackett

Bit of a fluff piece, but it's good that he's being given his head - hopefully we'll see a continuation of the play in Argentina when it comes to the AIs. Sounds very excited about the whole thing - Wiggy's great, Backwithit's great, Johann's great, all the players are great! Nice to see excitement and enthusiasm in the camp.

I'm sure we'll beat it out of him.

Puja

Back in the nasty Australian's era there was lots of talk about succession from within. Might Blackett be the first genuine HC candidate in that quest at some later date?

I wouldn't be against it, although I am hopeful it'll be after Bradybunch successfully defends the 2031 RWC and decides to retire to spend more time with his collection of ex-Leicester coaches.

Puja

[FKAS]

Bandersnatch backed me to remodel attack - Blackett

Bit of a fluff piece, but it's good that he's being given his head - hopefully we'll see a continuation of the play in Argentina when it comes to the AIs. Sounds very excited about the whole thing - Wiggy's great, Backwithit's great, Johann's great, all the players are great! Nice to see excitement and enthusiasm in the camp.

I'm sure we'll beat it out of him.

Puja

Back in the nasty Australian's era there was lots of talk about succession from within. Might Blackett be the first genuine HC candidate in that quest at some later date?

I wouldn't be against it, although I am hopeful it'll be after Bradybunch successfully defends the 2031 RWC and decides to retire to spend more time with his collection of ex-Leicester coaches.

Puja

Come on we know that when Ballkick steps away from England in 2031 to focus on the next Lions Tour it'll be Wigglesworth (by then) the ex attack, defence, forwards, backs, scrum, lineout, skills, kicking, breakdown, strategy, S&C coach, kit man, waterboy and head groundsman who steps up to take the helm.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Wiggy is such a good coach he went with the Lions, only to be replaced in his role with England and moved to defence where he has zero coaching credentials, and El Abd moves sideways too. Sounds ace!

I am happy with Blackett, but the rest is just guff.

[Mikey Brown]

Wiggy is such a good coach he went with the Lions, only to be replaced in his role with England and moved to defence where he has zero coaching credentials, and El Abd moves sideways too. Sounds ace!

I am happy with Blackett, but the rest is just guff.

And here’s me still wondering if Felix Jones thought he was going to be England attack coach.

[Beasties]

Dunno if this has been posted before, dated 20 Sept.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... -atkinson/


https://archive.ph/Qnhx3

[Danno]

This does not fill me with confidence

"Steve kept things really simple,” Atkinson says. “He made me aware early doors that international rugby is a lot about physicality and discipline – not giving away penalties. Simple things and simple habits that maybe I didn’t appreciate quite how important they are towards winning rugby matches. That was a big thing and hopefully something I can bring back to Gloucester. Even in games where there are 50 points, matches will often come down to a few moments here and there. That really opened my eyes."

[Puja]

This does not fill me with confidence

"Steve kept things really simple,” Atkinson says. “He made me aware early doors that international rugby is a lot about physicality and discipline – not giving away penalties. Simple things and simple habits that maybe I didn’t appreciate quite how important they are towards winning rugby matches. That was a big thing and hopefully something I can bring back to Gloucester. Even in games where there are 50 points, matches will often come down to a few moments here and there. That really opened my eyes."

I don't know - seems pretty bang on to me. It's not saying that flair has no place, but that flair without the basic underlying core won't get you to the top level. There are lots of players that can trade on their skills and flair at club level and it masks their weaknesses, but they'll be found wanting at the step up - that's why Muir and Roebuck are preferred to Ibitoye, despite the latter's incredible successes for Brizzle.

I'm hopeful that that article's not 100% fluff and that SAtkinson is going up a gear after seeing the top level. He is a good player, but if he can reduce his error count, then he could be great, and that would be fantastic for England.

Puja

[Danno]

This does not fill me with confidence

"Steve kept things really simple,” Atkinson says. “He made me aware early doors that international rugby is a lot about physicality and discipline – not giving away penalties. Simple things and simple habits that maybe I didn’t appreciate quite how important they are towards winning rugby matches. That was a big thing and hopefully something I can bring back to Gloucester. Even in games where there are 50 points, matches will often come down to a few moments here and there. That really opened my eyes."

I don't know - seems pretty bang on to me. It's not saying that flair has no place, but that flair without the basic underlying core won't get you to the top level. There are lots of players that can trade on their skills and flair at club level and it masks their weaknesses, but they'll be found wanting at the step up - that's why Muir and Roebuck are preferred to Ibitoye, despite the latter's incredible successes for Brizzle.

I'm hopeful that that article's not 100% fluff and that SAtkinson is going up a gear after seeing the top level. He is a good player, but if he can reduce his error count, then he could be great, and that would be fantastic for England.

Puja

Aye I know what you mean. It just smells a bit like that thing of England coaching talent out of players that we've been a bit squinty eyed about for over a decade now.