Transfer Tips: Gallagher Premiership Round 4
Round 4 of the 2018-19 Gallagher Premiership is approaching, and Fantasy League points are accumulating fast and exponentially, like an avalanche or my student debt. Ahead of this weekend’s action, we offer some pointers on who to sign and who to cut in order to make your Fantasy team bring home the proverbial bacon.
IN: Alex Cuthbert (Exeter)
After not featuring at all in Round 1, and warming the bench in Rounds 2 and 3 Exeter’s star (and indeed only) summer signing Alex Cuthbert is preparing for his first start on the wing against Newcastle on Friday night. After a stellar career in Wales, the former British Lion will be hoping to make his mark on the English game in the same way as international team mates such as George North, Jamie Roberts and Richard Hibbard. Exeter play an expansive, meticulously planned attacking game (as we’ve discussed in the past), and having been given a couple of weeks to find his feet Cuthbert should slot seamlessly into the Chiefs’ back line. A real potential points-machine here.
OUT: Denny Solomona (Sale)
1 try in the first three games isn’t a particularly bad return by any stretch, but Solomona isn’t quite hitting the points tallies that justify his 4.8m salary just yet. With Sale struggling somewhat, and a game against the formidable (Round 1 aside) Wasps, it seems unlikely that Big D will be adding to his haul to the same extent as other wingers this weekend. Obviously since I’ve said this, Solomona will now score a hat trick, be awarded Man of the Match and save a family of kittens from a house fire.
IN: Danny Cipriani (Gloucester)
Despite some phenomenal performances in the early rounds of the Premiership, Cipriani has (somewhat) surprisingly not been named in the England training squad this week. England boss Eddie Jones has claimed that his selections were made on form, though eyebrows were raised when Chris Ashton made the cut despite, you know, not actually playing this season. Nonetheless, Cipriani has a habit of reacting to critics by upping his game, so this omission might actually turn out to be a catalyst for even better performances. With seemingly no international commitments on the horizon, Cipriani is someone you can build your team around for the next few weeks. Provided nobody asks him to return his drink to the bar.
OUT: George Ford (Leicester)
A very controversial suggestion here, with Ford currently the MVP of the tournament so far on a hefty 66.1 points. However, despite our love of using statistical analysis to judge elite athletes whilst we sit on our sofas covered in crisps and remnants of Chocolate Digestives, it’s not all about the numbers. To paraphrase Grace Jones, one mustn’t be a slave to the algorithm. Leicester have delivered some decidedly mixed performances so far this season, and whilst the Tigers (and Ford) will most likely impress this weekend against struggling Worcester, it’s difficult to see Ford sustaining this form throughout the season. Given that he will almost certainly be absent due to his England duties for several weeks, you may wish to reconsider whether Ford forms part of your long term plans.
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Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments