Any ideas as to who will win the league in England this year ?
Do you think it will be a two horse race again or are Bath back in trim ?
Would love to know your thoughts,
RM
Would love to know your thoughts,
RM
>Would love to know your thoughts,
>RM
Here's my top 5 teams:
Leicester
Bath
Saracens
Gloucester
Northampton (they've got Lam now)
Bryan Ray
>Would love to know your thoughts,
>RM
<<sorry no idea who the first quoted person is, wasn't in the follow-up)
>Newcaslte won't do much this year, even with the signing of Bok Hurter
>at tighthead. Pat Lam is a HUGE loss, and Alan Tait has gone back to
>Scotland, leaving a big hole in the centers as well. Will Rob Andrew
>play flyhalf, or will he hand over the no10 to Jonny Wilkinson? No,
>Newcastle won't be up there this year.
>New singings? Lynagh was a good flyhalf, but don't underestimate
>French flyhalf Alain Penaud. He's won something like 30 caps, and he's
>not over the hill yet. Sella was good too, but they still have Ryan
>Constable (who will probably be on the wing again) and new South
>African signing Jeremy Thomson, who went on a couple Bok tours in the
>past and is no slouch either. Saracens should be a force this year.
>They also signed former Wallaby Troy Coker in the offseason, and while
>he won't start ahead of Johns, Grewcock, or Diprose, he should make an
>impact off the bench.
With Pienaar's leadership, and Noddy and Big Ears' money, it's hard not see
Saracens putting together a good year again. However with the potential of
even more tight games this year, it will be interesting to see how much
Sella and especially Lynagh are missed.
>Should be an excellent side this year, especially with the front row
>of new signing Mike Worsley, Phil Greening and Phil Vickery. This
>could be the England front row of the future. Indeed, the tight 5
>(with Sims and Fidler) could be the best in the league. Ojomoh is back
>on form, as is Scott Benton, and former All Black Simon Mannix should
>provide some flair from the no10 jersey in place of slumping
>Mapletoft. Tombs and Fanolua can only improve over last years
>excellent form, and the back three of Saint-Andre, Johnson and Catling
>are underrated. A very good side to be sure.
If history suggests anything with Ojomoh, it is that his top form will be
temporary, just lasting up until he decides he can rest of his laurels.
Not sure I agree that Tombs and Fanolua can only get better -- given how
good they were it seems quite likely that regression to the mean could
occur.
>My pick this year. Too many excellent players both in the 1st XV and
>on the bench not to compete. Two new Canadian signings utility back
>David Lougheed and prop Harry Toews should do very well. Stimpson
>should be raring to go as he is trying to win back the England #15
>jersey, and Patrick Howard should add plenty of offense in the centers
>with Greenwood. A very good team.
Leicester's problem is likely to be their outside backs again -- not that
Stransky seems to trust them enough to give them the ball. Still there are
worse things in world than having your attacking play revolve around
Greenwood and Back.
Are we sure that Leicester haven't bought Howard to alternate with Healey
at scrumhalf? Any ideas where Healey will be playing, at least for the
first week?
It will be interesting to see what sort of shape Richards is able to drum
the Leicester pack into, if the Tigers are going to win things then the
boys up front have got to get back to dominating (much harder to do with
all these imported guys to line up against.)
>I'm thinking that Eric Peters might be slotted in the second row with
>either Haag or Sturnham, to make room for Lyle, Nathan Thomas, and
>Russell Earnshaw in the back row. Nigel Redman might make an impact as
>well, old as he is. Catt will probably be at the helm again, but don't
>be surprised to see Jon Preston in the no10 jersey and Catt in the
>centers to make room for Andy Nicol at scrumhalf. Bath certainly has a
>lot of options in the backline, that's for sure, especially with Irish
>signing Kevin Maggs, who I'd like to see partner Guscott in the
>centers. I pick them to come in second next to Leicester.
Still even with all the options, the balance of the backrow looks like it
will be problem yet again, hopefully either Earnshaw or Thomas will
eventually develop into a top class openside -- you'd think Robinson would
have some idea how to coach that at least!
There wont be any trouble accommodating Preston, either Nichol or Catt will
be injured and he can step in there, or Guscott or DeGlanville will get
hurt and Catt will slide across. I was a little surprised they manage to
sign up Preston (who I would have thought had a decent shot at the All
Black RWC squad), my money would have been on Simon Culhane.
Glad to see Jim Fallon back, hopefully he'll be fully fit and can get back
to his best. More puzzling to me than the players Bath have been
desparately trying to sign are the ones they let go or lost -- no not the
Argentine boys (who for all their class clearly weren't working out), but
Ewens and Lofthouse.
My worry with Bath is that they may still not have a clear idea about what
they are aiming for. Contrast their situation with Newcastle, where Andrew
identified what he wanted first and then went out got the players to fill
that, it seems to me like Bath are still shopping for the best names they
can get.
Still looks like it should be an interesting season, if they actually play
it -- two weeks left for the game in England to rip itself apart...
Cheers,
Ben
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University of Oregon | http://SportToday.org/~benc
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> Would love to know your thoughts,
> RM
--
Tony Elson
__________________________________________________
I dreamt of being a geographer, but I found the
subject too complex. So I switched to physics
A. Einstein
> > Any ideas as to who will win the league in England this year ?
> > Do you think it will be a two horse race again or are Bath back in trim ?
> > Would love to know your thoughts,
> > RM
> The Queens or the ***cats. The Crusade Busters may be worth a look and
> also the Plugs and Sparrows. Rank outsiders would have to be the Bumble
> Bees.
--
Mike Gooding
"You're pretty brave in ***space, flameboy"
"Step inside"
Boonie - (Please remove FEZ when replying)
Darts,Beer,Saracens Fez Boys - The 'Official' Website now at;
http://www.boonie.demon.co.uk (at version (0.1.3) 22/ 7/98)
> > > Any ideas as to who will win the league in England this year ?
> > > Do you think it will be a two horse race again or are Bath back in trim ?
> > > Would love to know your thoughts,
> > > RM
> > The Queens or the ***cats. The Crusade Busters may be worth a look and
> > also the Plugs and Sparrows. Rank outsiders would have to be the Bumble
> > Bees.
> I think you're confused. It's S12 teams that have stupid names.
--
Mike Gooding
"You're pretty brave in ***space, flameboy"
"Step inside"
I think Newcastle will be fighting for it too, Saracens will
really miss Selles and Lynagh and will not be a threat. As
an outside shot if Richmond can show more consistency then
they will be up there too.
For the drop? West Hartlepool and London Scottish.
Rec Head.
>Would love to know your thoughts,
>RM
Bullshit isn't it. Missed a couple of friendlies.
>Boonie - (Please remove FEZ when replying)
>Darts,Beer,Saracens Fez Boys - The 'Official' Website now at;
>http://www.boonie.demon.co.uk (at version (0.1.3) 22/ 7/98)
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