Multiple changes as Friday night's Gallagher Premiership teams named
Table-toppers Exeter head to embattled Northampton for Friday’s Gallagher Premiership clash with both sides seeking to avoid a Champions Cup phoney war. Exeter host Northampton on September 20 in the keenly anticipated Champions Cup quarter-final, but both outfits are intent on Friday’s league clash being anything but a European curtain-raiser.
The Premiership fixture glut has seen Exeter rotate their resources again, with an entirely new XV due to start against the Saints. Northampton have lost five league games on the spin at Franklin’s Gardens and boss Chris Boyd knows even a victory against the high-flying Chiefs might not be enough to keep the Saints in the play-off picture.
Northampton’s desperation for a Premiership victory has provided enough material for Exeter rugby director Rob Baxter to keep his charges on their toes this week. “It’s a really interesting challenge for us,” said Baxter.
“Obviously, we’ve been going well and Northampton have had a bit of a mixed bag since we all came back. Chris Boyd has come out this week and said they have to change something, simply because they need to start winning games of rugby again.
“Whether that means we end up running into what you’d call their full-strength side – or we end up running into a mix-and-match side, we just don’t know what is coming. In a way, that’s a nice challenge for us in itself, because we feel we will be taking a good team up there and one which has shown previously that it can perform extremely well.
Grave warning about the credibility of Euro 2020/21 ??????? https://t.co/BhFp89cSAy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 3, 2020
“As I’ve said to the lads, it’s not always the result which is the most important factor for me. It’s often how you improve as a player and as a team which is more important and that’s very much the approach we must take into Northampton. I want us to be a better group of players by the time we come through this next block.
“Over the Northampton, Gloucester and Saracens games, we need to come out that being a really strong, tough, well-prepared unit, who are ready to go into a European quarter-final then, hopefully, a semi-final, then rolling into what will be some huge knockout fixtures as the Premiership comes to a conclusion.”
Saints boss Boyd has made eleven changes from the side that lost at Harlequins, with Northampton having endured three defeats in their four outings post-lockdown. Teimana Harrison will captain the Saints, with JJ Tonks and Courtney Lawes alongside him in the back row.
“We’re not going to talk about the recent home record, and just focus on beating Exeter and keeping our opportunity to make the top four alive,” said Boyd about a must-win Premiership encounter. “Exeter are really good at what they do and they’re a tough nut to crack, but we’ve got to face what they bring and make a plan to break them down, and then convert our opportunities into points – we’ve got to be good enough to take them.”
Melani Nanai will be back in action when Worcester host third-placed Bristol at Sixways. Nanai returns after a three-match suspension to replace Chris Pennell, with the Warriors seeking back-to-back home wins. Bristol have made 13 changes from their 40-7 loss at Sale, restoring many of their frontline talents to the starting XV.
Steven Luatua will captain Bristol from the back row, with England prop Kyle Sinckler starting at tighthead prop. Only Ed Holmes and Siale Piutau have kept their places from that hefty defeat at Sale.
Worcester Warriors v Bristol Bears (Sixways, 6pm Friday)
WORCESTER: 15. Melani Nanai; 14. Tom Howe, 13. Ollie Lawrence, 12. Francois Venter, 11. Noah Heward; 10. Duncan Weir, 9. Francois Hougaard; 1. Ethan Waller, 2. Niall Annett, 3. Nick Schonert, 4. Anton Bresler, 5. Graham Kitchener, 6. Ted Hill (capt), 7. Matt Kvesic, 8. Cornell du Preez. Reps: 16. Isaac Miller, 17. Callum Black, 18. Richard Palframan, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Matt Cox, 21. Gareth Simpson, 22. Billy Searle, 23. Ashley Beck.
BRISTOL: 15. Charles Piutau; 14. Luke Morahan, 13. Semi Radradra, 12. Siale Piutau, 11. Henry Purdy; 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Max Lahiff, 2. Bryan Byrne, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Ed Holmes, 5. Chris Vui, 6. Steven Luatua (capt), 7. Dan Thomas, 8. Nathan Hughes. Reps: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. John Afoa, 19. Joe Joyce, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Andy Uren, 22. Ioan Lloyd, 23. Piers O’Conor.
Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs (Franklin’s Gardens, 7.45pm Friday)
NORTHAMPTON: 15. George Furbank; 14. Ahsee Tuala, 13. Matt Proctor, 12. Rory Hutchinson, 11. Tom Collins; 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Henry Taylor; 1. Francois van Wyk, 2. James Fish, 3. Owen Franks, 4. David Ribbans, 5. Api Ratuniyarawa, 6. Courtney Lawes, 7. JJ Tonks, 8. Teimana Harrison (capt). Reps: 16. Sam Matavesi, 17. Nick Auterac, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Shaun Adendorff, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Piers Francis,23. Taqele Naiyaravoro,
EXETER: 15. Josh Hodge; 14. Tom O’Flaherty, 13. Phil Dollman, 12. Tom Hendrickson, 11. Corey Baldwin; 10. Gareth Steenson, 9. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; 1. Alec Hepburn, 2. Jack Yeandle (capt), 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Dave Dennis, 5. Sam Skinner, 6. Jannes Kirsten, 7. Sean Lonsdale, 8. Don Armand. Reps: 16. Jack Innard, 17. Billy Keast, 18. Alfie Petch, 19. Tom Price, 20. Richard Capstick, 21. Joe Snow, 22. Harvey Skinner, 23. Tom Wyatt.
Getting the inside track on Saracens' second-tier rivals ? https://t.co/rOGpQxNyKA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 3, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, 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.
56 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 comments