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Every starting line-up for the Gallagher Premiership Christmas derbies
All of the starting line-ups for the Gallagher Premiership Round Four action this Boxing Day and Christmas weekend. Newcastle Falcons’ home match against Leicester on Boxing Day has been cancelled because of an outbreak of coronavirus at the Tigers, while London Irish and Bath’s game has also been cancelled for similar reasons.
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SALE SHARKS TEAM VS WASPS – KICK OFF 3PM
England international Tom Curry returns to the `Sale Sharks starting line-up as Paul Deacon names his side to face Wasps at the AJ Bell.
15. Sam James
14. Luke James
13. Roahn Janse van Rensburg
12. Sam Hill
11. Marland Yarde
10. AJ MacGinty
9 Faf de Klerk (c)
1. Valerey Morozov
2. Akker van der Merwe
3. Coenie Oosthuizen
4. Matt Postlethwaite
5. JP du Preez
6. Cobus Wiese
7. Tom Curry
8. Daniel du Preez.
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Curtis Langdon
17. Ross Harrison
18. Will-Griff John
19. James Phillips
20. Sam Dugdale
21. Will Cliff
22. Robert du Preez
23. Tom Roebuck
WASPS TEAM VS SALE SHARKS – KICK OFF 3PM
Head coach Lee Blackett has named his Wasps side to travel to Sale Sharks and there are three changes to the starting 15 that beat Montpellier last time out.
15 Lima Sopoaga
14 Zach Kibirige
13 Paolo Odogwu
12 Michael Le Bourgeois
11 Josh Bassett
10 Charlie Atkinson
9 Will Porter
1 Tom West
2 Tom Cruse
3 Kieran Brookes
4 Will Rowlands
5 James Gaskell
6 Ben Morris
7 Thomas Young (c)
8 Alfie Barbeary
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Tommy Taylor
17 Simon McIntyre
18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen
19 Levi Douglas
20 Tom Willis
21 Dan Robson
22 Jimmy Gopperth
23 Juan de Jongh
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GLOUCESTER TEAM VS EXETER CHIEFS, KICK 3PM
Jonny May and Fraser Balmain come in and are the only two changes to the starting 15 with Tom Seabrook also joining the 23 on the bench.
15. Kyle Moyle
14. Louis Rees-Zammit
13. Chris Harris
12. Mark Atkinson
11. Jonny May
10. Lloyd Evans
9. Charlie Chapman
1. Val Rapava-Ruskin
2. Jack Singleton
3. Fraser Balmain
4. Ed Slater
5. Matias Alemanno
6. Jordy Reid
7. Lewis Ludlow (c)
8. Ruan Ackermann
16. Henry Walker
17. Jamal Ford-Robinson
18. Ciaran Knight
19. Alex Craig
20. Seb Nagle-Taylor
21. Toby Venner
22. George Barton
23. Tom Seabrook
EXETER CHIEFS TEAM VS GLOUCESTER, KICK 3PM
Despite a Covid outbreak, Exeter Chiers have named a strong side to welcome rivals Gloucester to Sandy Parky.
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15 Stuart Hogg
14 Olly Woodburn
13 Ian Whitten
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Tom O’Flaherty
10 Joe Simmonds (capt)
9 Jack Maunder
1 Ben Moon
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie
3 Harry Williams
4 Jonny Gray
5 Sam Skinner
6 Dave Ewers
7 Jannes Kirsten
8 Sam Simmonds
16 Jack Yeandle
17 Alec Hepburn
18 Marcus Street
19 Don Armand
20 Richard Capstick
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22 Harvey Skinner
23 Tom Hendrickson
BRISTOL BEARS TEAM VS HARLEQUINS, KICK OFF 2PM:
Bristol Bears make five changes from the line-up that beat Connacht last weekend. Radradra is the only change to the backline, while Yann Thomas, John Afoa and Will Capon come into the front row.
15. Max Malins
14. Siva Naulago
13. Semi Radradra
12. Piers O’Conor
11. Ioan Lloyd
10. Callum Sheedy
9. Harry Randall
1. Yann Thomas
2. Will Capon
3. John Afoa
4. Dave Attwood
5. Ed Holmes
6. Steven Luatua (c)
7. Dan Thomas
8. Nathan Hughes.
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Bryan Byrne
17. Jake Woolmore
18. Max Lahiff
19. Joe Joyce
20. Jake Heenan
21. Andy Uren
22. Alapati Leiua
23. Niyi Adeolokun
HARLEQUINS TEAM VS BRISTOL BEARS, KICK OFF 2PM :
Gustard has made six changes to the side that faced Racing 92 last weekend. Loosehead prop Jordan Els comes in for his first start of the season in place of England prop Joe Marler, who is rested this week.
1. Jordan Els
2. Scott Baldwin
3. Wilco Louw
4. Dino Lamb
5. Glen Young
6. James Chisholm
7. Will Evans
8. Alex Dombrandt – Captain
9. Danny Care
10. Marcus Smith
11. Ross Chisholm
12. Ben Tapuai
13. James Lang
14. Louis Lynagh
15. Mike Brown
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Elia Elia
17. Santiago Garcia Botta
18. Simon Kerrod
19. Hugh Tizard
20. Tom Lawday
21. Martin Landajo
22. Lennox Anyanwu
23.Tyrone Green
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM v WORCESTER WARRIORS, KICK OFF 4.30PM
Co-captain Lewis Ludlam and Wales international Dan Biggar return to Northampton Saints’ starting XV as the men in Black, Green and Gold take on Worcester Warriors at Franklin’s Gardens.
15 George Furbank
14 Matt Proctor
13 Fraser Dingwall
12 Rory Hutchinson
11 Ahsee Tuala
10 Dan Biggar
9 Alex Mitchell
1 Alex Waller (co-capt)
2 Sam Matavesi
3 Paul Hill
4 David Ribbans
5 Nick Isiekwe
6 Courtney Lawes
7 Lewis Ludlam (co-capt)
8 Teimana Harrison
REPLACEMENTS
16 Mikey Haywood
17 Francois van Wyk
18 Owen Franks
19 Alex Moon
20 Shaun Adendorff
21 Tom James
22 Tom Collins
23 Taqele Naiyaravoro
WORCESTER TEAM VS NORTHAMPTON SAINTS, KICK OFF 4.30PM
15 Melani Nanai
14 Perry Humphreys
13 Ollie Lawrence
12 Ashley Beck
11 Nick David
10 Billy Searle
9 Francois Hougaard
1 Ethan Waller
2 Niall Annett
3 Nick Schonert
4 Justin Clegg
5 Andrew Kitchener
6 Ted Hill (C)
7 Matt Kvesic
8 Marco Mama
REPLACEMENTS
16 Beck Cutting
17 Marc Thomas
18 Richard Palframan
19 Joe Batley
20 Cornell du Preez
21 Gareth Simpson
22 Duncan Weir
23 Oli Morris
Comments on RugbyPass
Hope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
1 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
39 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to comments