With Pre Season over, we can finally dispatch of that
dreaded word “Friendly”. We all know the
expression, “There’s no such thing as a Friendly”, but I never truly understood
it until I was on under 16 rugby tour in Holland with my local club. Due to the traditional fixture mix-up, the
team we were meant to be playing – a local college – were 80 miles away in
another City, so we ended up playing a Belgian University’s women’s side in a
so-called friendly. Never have I
experienced carnage like it, and I shan’t go into details, but suffice to say
that the ‘gentlemanly’ rules that govern where you can or can’t grab/punch –
unless you’re James So’oialo – did not apply to this game.
So now the Friendly season is out of the way, and I’ve got
the above off my chest, let’s turn to Part 4 of RuckedOver’s Premiership
Preview.
Sale Sharks
Coach: Steve “Sod it, I’ll do it myself” Diamond. He may have no patience and probably no sense
of humour, Diamond is Sharks through and through and knows how to get what he
wants, as he showed by leading his side to safety following a disastrous start
under the now-demoted Bryan Redpath.
Captain: Dan Braid. It speaks volumes that he has only been at
the club half a season and yet has been announced as captain already. His industrious work rate and bulldozing carries
were key to the Sharks finding safety last season after arriving to find them
rooted to the bottom of the table.
What happened last
year? Bryan Redpath managed to continue
a losing run he had began at Gloucester with his new employers, Sale. With a host of a big name signings such as
Richie Gray and Danny Cipriani, Sale were touted as being dark horses for a playoff
spot but ended up as disappointing as a Game of Thrones episode with no
nudity. They survived – just – but everyone
was hoping for so much more.
How do they look this
year? Well, mostly the same as last
year. The positive for the Sharks is
that they do have a good squad who underperformed last year, but did start to
find their feet towards the end and picked up a couple of wins. If they can continue where they left off they
shouldn’t be near the dogfight at the bottom of the table, but it’s doubtful
they have enough quality to push for a top 6 finish.
Players out: Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh), Richie
Gray (Castres), Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors), Andy Powell (Wigan Warriors),
Corne Uys (Pays d'Aix), Charlie Amesbury (Bristol)
Players in: Daniel Baines (Rotherham), Kirill
Kulemin, Jonathan Mills, Phil Mackenzie, Tom Arscott (London Welsh), Andy
Forsyth (Leicester Tigers), Michael Paterson (Cardiff Blues), Joe Ford (Leeds
Carnegie)
Key Player: Dwayne Peel. The Welsh veteran remains a class act with
gorgeous service and an eye for a gap.
His control of the game will be particularly valuable if the mercurial
(read: inconsistent) Danny Cipriani is standing outside of him.
One to Watch: Henry Thomas. It was all looking so promising for the highly-rated
young prop before he suffered a nasty knee injury early on in the season, but
he bounced back superbly later on to claim a spot on England’s tour of
Argentina, picking up a couple of caps in the process. He’s not in the Elite squad for this year,
but with his mobility and power you can bet he will be pushing very hard as the
season progresses.
Prediction: 9th. Comfortable mid-table obscurity will feel
like absolute bliss for the Sharks this time round. They shouldn’t be troubled by thoughts of
relegation, but they won’t be troubling the thoughts of the top four either –
despite Salford on a Friday night being one of the trickiest fixtures in the
calendar.
Saracens
Coach: Mark
McCall. For once there’s no suspicion of
puppetry on behalf of Brendan Venter (he’s moved to the Natal Sharks) and so
there’s no doubt who the main man is now.
McCall is backed up by a great team and they will want to continue some
of the positive steps they made last season, despite missing out on the Final.
Captain: Steve
Borthwick. The evergreen lock may be one
of the most boring men on the planet but he likes his lineouts and he knows his
rugby. Leading from the front is his
way, and Saracens value his leadership and attributes even if international
hopes have all but faded away.
What happened last
year? It all looked to be going so
well. They’d managed to turn their new
home, Allianz Park, into something of a fortress and were playing some
gorgeous, fast-paced and frankly un-Saracen rugby on there. With first place in the Premiership in the
bag, nobody expected them to fall at the semi-final stage...but that’s exactly
what they did as they brutalised by a relentlessly physical Saints side.
How do they look this
year? It’s a family affair at Saracens
this year as newly-capped number 8 Billy Vunipola arrives to make hay with his
brother Mako, and with James Johnston they add some very considerable beef to
an already sizeable pack. Tim Streather
also looks to be a sharp signing from Nottingham, if he can stay free of
injury, but it’s the pack where the Sarries look the real deal – especially if
Will Fraser can continue his superb form from last year.
Players out: Andy Saull (Newcastle Falcons), Carlos
Nieto, John Smit, Joe Maddock (Retired)
Players in: Billy Vunipola (London Wasps), James
Johnston (Harlequins), Tim Streather (Nottingham), Michael Tagicakibau
(Bristol)
Key Player: Will Fraser. He was RuckedOver’s player of the season last
year and for good reason. His relentlessly
physical defence and superb scavenging work was indicative of the “Wolf Pack” mentality
the side claim to have developed. If he
maintains that form from last year, Saracens will not only be challenging at
the top of the pile, but Fraser may find himself in an England shirt too.
One to Watch: Billy Vunipola. It’s hard not to spot him really. Being a raw talent was both wonderful and
forgivable whilst he was young, but he has to now grow up and play a more
mature game. Saracens will have been
hammering home the conditioning on the giant number 8, and if he can add
fitness levels and awareness to his already burgeoning skill set then we may
just see a very handy player emerge.
Prediction: 2nd (Runners Up). Like Leicester, Sarries have refined
rather than gone for wholesale changes, and I fully expect them to be even
stronger than last year. The only issue
for them is if they can find the finishing expertise out wide – both Strettle
and Ashton were handy in parts last year, but nowhere near consistent enough. I envisage a very close run chase in the
League and an even closer battle in the Final, but I think Sarries will fall
just short.
Worcester Warriors
Coach: Dean Ryan. He did a decent job with Gloucester and a
decent job with Scotland but his best work has been as a Sky Sports analyst
where he seems the only bloke around there who knows what he’s on about –
although he does only have the myopic Stuart Barnes and Dewi Morris for
competition. Let’s see if he can put his
money where his mouth is and help Worcester Warriors move away from the
relegation scraps fans at Sixways are so used to. It’s his first season after taking over from
Richard Hill.
Captain: Jonathan Thomas. A new era under Dean Ryan has meant a new
captain – even if he is a new addition.
Thomas is an experienced Welsh international who can be relied upon to
make the right decisions when the going gets tough – a shrewd call by Ryan, and
one that immediately stamps his mark on the team.
What happened last
year? They were looking a pretty
solid bet for a mid table finish before an abysmal run after Christmas, which
saw just the one win from their last 11 games, led to them slumping down to 11th
place and Richard Hill losing his job.
How do they look this
year? Some smart signings in the
forms of Thomas, Ignacio Mieres and Paul Warwick are promising for the
Warriors, but they’ve also lost a hell of a lot of talent, in particular young
flanker Matt Kvesic and points machine Andy Goode. Ryan has picked up players to slot right into
these spots but there’s no guarantee they’ll click – and other areas of the
team still look suspect.
Players out: Matt Mullan, Joe Carlisle, Andy Goode
(London Wasps), Ollie Hayes (Bristol Rugby), Aleki Lutui (Edinburgh), Neil Best
(London Scottish), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester), Blair Cowan (London Irish), Nikki
Walker (Edinburgh), Errie Claassens (Bristol), Craig Gillies (Retirement)
Players in: Paul Andrew (Cornish Pirates), Jérémy Bécasseau
(Stade Francais), Ofa Fainga'anuku (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Brooker
(Harlequins), Agustin Creevy (Montpellier), Michael Williams (Blue Bulls),
Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Cameron Goodhue (Auckland Blues), Leonardo Senatore
(Pampas XV), Jeremy Su'a (Crusaders), Ignacio Mieres (Exeter Chiefs), Paul
Warwick (Stade Francais), James Stephenson (Bedford Blues)
Key Player: Ignacio Mieres. The former Exeter Chiefs 10 endured a
difficult season last year after being usurped by Gareth Steenson, so he’s
joined the Warriors for regular first team action. He has big boots (not to mention a big shirt)
to fill at Sixways though. Andy Goode
may not have been the most stylish of flyhalves but his boot won the Warriors
countless games and his playmaking ability was vastly underrated. Mieres must at least match Goode’s influence
if the Warriors are going to avoid a relegation scrap this year.
One to Watch: Leonardo Senatore. The 29 year old flanker may be a bit of a
late bloomer on the international scene but he is making a big impact, looking
mightily impressive in the Pumas’ narrow defeat at home to the Springboks in
the Rugby Championship. This is his
first taste of fully professional club rugby (aside from a very short stint at
Toulon) and, if he sets his mind to it, his physicality and aggression could
become one of the Warriors’, and the Premiership’s, success stories.
Prediction: 11th. Dean Ryan is a very competent coach, and
that is why the Warriors will stay up this season. There are some great players scattered
throughout this Warriors side, but would anyone make a top four starting line
up? Doubtful. There remain to many weak links within the
Worcester side and they have a lack of depth which must be concerning. They will always be competitive at home though
and I think they have just enough class to avoid the drop.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your views