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Leicester change six and prime ex-Wasps back for debut off bench
Richard Wigglesworth has made six changes to his Leicester team for Friday night’s Heineken Champions Cup round-of-16 clash at home to Edinburgh following last weekend’s Gallagher Premiership success over Bristol. Tigers were 46-24 winners over the Bears last Saturday to consolidate their league title retention bid and they have now rung the changes for the visit of the Scottish URC franchise.
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Freddie Steward, who had his recent England red card rescinded, Guy Porter and Jack van Poortvliet take over from Mike Brown, Matt Scott and Ben Youngs in the backs. In the pack, there are inclusions for James Cronin, Dan Cole and Tommy Reffell at the expense of Tom West, Joe Heyes and Jasper Wiese.
In the replacements, midfielder Dan Kelly is in line for his return from injury after being sidelined for 10 weeks and ex-Wasps scrum-half Sam Wolstenholme will make his Leicester debut following his January signing on a short-term deal.
Edinburgh, meanwhile, welcome the return of several Scotland stars. Prop Pierre Schoeman, back row duo Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson, and wing Duhan van der Merwe all return to the starting line-up with head coach Mike Blair making five changes to the XV that lost at Connacht last weekend. WP Nel at tighthead is the other alteration as the Scots make a first visit to Welford Road since the 2007/08 campaign.
Blair said: “These are the occasions you truly relish as a player and it’s a privilege to lead this club into our biggest game of the season. Some of Edinburgh’s biggest moments have come on the European stage and we understand how significant this match is to everyone connected to the club. It will be a brilliant moment, going up against the English Champions on their home patch. We are hugely excited.”
LEICESTER: 15. Freddie Steward; 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Guy Porter, 12. Jimmy Gopperth, 11. Harry Potter; 10. Handre Pollard, 9. Jack van Poortvliet; 1. James Cronin, 2. Julian Montoya (capt), 3. Dan Cole, 4. George Martin, 5. Cameron Henderson, 6. Hanro Liebenberg, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Olly Cracknell. Reps: 16. Charlie Clare, 17. Tom West, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Eli Snyman, 20. Jasper Wiese, 21. Sam Wolstenholme, 22. Charlie Atkinson, 23. Dan Kelly.
EDINBURGH: 15. Emiliano Boffelli; 14. Darcy Graham, 13. Mark Bennett, 12. James Lang, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Blair Kinghorn, 9. Henry Pyrgos; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. Stuart McInally, 3. WP Nel, 4. Sam Skinner, 5. Grant Gilchrist (co-capt), 6. Jamie Ritchie (co-capt), 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Viliame Mata. Reps: 16. Dave Cherry, 17. Boan Venter, 18. Luan de Bruin, 19. Marshall Sykes, 20. Luke Crosbie, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Cammy Hutchison, 23. Damien Hoyland.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments