Bath look to make it three from three at Franklin’s Gardens

Posted on Sep 16, 2010 in English Rugby, Premiership

Bath Rugby travel to Franklin’s Gardens to face top of the table chasers Northampton Saints on Friday evening, kick-off 7.45pm.

Defence and Skills coach, Brad Davis, is looking forward to a tough encounter, and believes the team deserves the results they have had so far.

“It’s been a promising start and to get two wins out of two is testament to the hard work of the players. They have been two performances that showed a lot of character, and the guys should take full credit for that.

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Borthwick returns for Sarries

Posted on Sep 10, 2010 in English Rugby, Premiership

Saracens are in action against Sale Sharks in the second round of the Aviva Premiership against Sale Sharks on Sunday, kick off at Vicarage Road is 3pm.

In team news ahead of the game, Director of Rugby Brendan Venter names an unchanged starting side with the only changes coming on the bench with the return of Steve Borthwick, Neil de Kock and David Strettle. Scrum half de Kock is in line to make his 100th appearance for Saracens while for Strettle, it’s a full debut for his new club.

Speaking ahead of the game, Venter said: “Everyone in the squad was disappointed with the result last week. We didn’t play well as individuals which meant we didn’t perform as a team. But we’ve been through that, learned the lessons and moved on. The opening round of the Aviva Premiership proved that you cannot afford to take your foot off the pedal even for one second. Sale had an impressive first round win after a summer of change to their coaching and playing staff, but proved that with hard work and togetherness, you can get rewards.”

Saracens line-up vs Sale Sharks

15 Chris Wyles
14 Noah Cato
13 Adam Powell
12 Brad Barritt
11 Michael Tagicakibau
10 Alex Goode
9 Richard Wigglesworth
1 Rhys Gill
2 Schalk Brits
3 Carlos Nieto
4 Hugh Vyvyan
5 Mouritz Botha
6 Kelly Brown
7 Jacques Burger
8 Ernst Joubert ©

16 Ethienne Reynecke
17 Deon Carstens
18 Petrus du Plessis
19 Steve Borthwick
20 Justin Melck
21 Neil de Kock
22 Derick Hougaard
23 David Strettle

Barkley starts in top of table clash between Bath and Irish

Posted on Sep 10, 2010 in English Rugby, Premiership

Bath Rugby welcome London Irish to The Recreation Ground tomorrow, for an early season top of the table clash. Kick-off 2.15pm.

After both sides recorded five point wins last weekend, against Leeds Carnegie and Saracens respectively, Head Coach, Steve Meehan, knows that the home side can expect a tough contest tomorrow.

“London Irish proved themselves a very good side on the weekend. They’ve got some very good individual players and pose threats all across the pitch. We are not expecting the best conditions and that will pose problems for both sides. With the conditions we expect, a lot will be determined by who handles them the best.

“The last four premiership matches between us and Irish have gone with the away team, which is certainly a trend we wouldn’t mind stopping this weekend! They will be very difficult to break down, but there are some opportunities and we just have to be accurate and patient.”

Olly Barkley makes his first start of the season in the number 12 shirt, with Matt Banahan reverting to the wing, and Tom Biggs providing cover on the bench.

Bath Rugby team to face London Irish

Bath: 15. Nick Abendanon 14. Matt Carraro 13. Shontayne Hape 12. Olly Barkley 11. Matt Banahan 10. Sam Vesty 9. Michael Claassens
1. David Flatman 2. Lee Mears 3. David Wilson 4. Stuart Hooper 5. Danny Grewcock 6. Simon Taylor 7. Lewis Moody 8. Luke Watson (c)
Replacements 16. Pieter Dixon 17. Nathan Catt 18. Duncan Bell 19. Ben Skirving 20. Andy Beattie 21. Mark McMillan 22. Tom Biggs 23. Jack Cuthbert

Meanwhile London Irish have named an unchanged squad for their away fixture against Bath on Saturday.

Head coach Toby Booth has opted for the same matchday 23 that beat Saracens 33-16 in emphatic style at the London Double Header last weekend.

The try scoring back three of Sailosi Tagicakibau, Delon Armitage and Topsy Ojo all start, while Ryan Lamb will be looking for a repeat of his visit to the Recreation Ground last season when he scored all the points in a 16-0 victory.

No fewer than five current or past academy players make up a strong Irish bench that also includes the international duo of Nick Kennedy and Seilala Mapusua.

Speaking about his side’s trip to the Rec, Booth said: “Everyone is delighted with the manner of our victory over Saracens, but it is a long season and we are expecting a challenging match this weekend.

“Both teams like to get their hands on the ball and play positive rugby and I am sure that will make for an entertaining afternoon for both sets of supporters.”

London Irish team to face Bath Rugby

London Irish: 15. Delon Armitage*; 14. Topsy Ojo*; 13. Elvis Seveali’i*; 12. Daniel Bowden; 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau*; 10. Ryan Lamb; 9. Paul Hodgson*; 1. Clarke Dermody* (captain); 2. David Paice*; 3. Faan Rautenbach*; 4. Kieran Roche; 5. Bob Casey*; 6. Declan Danaher; 7. Steffon Armitage*; 8. George Stowers*.

Replacements: 16. James Buckland; 17. Max Lahiff; 18. Alex Corbisiero; 19. Nick Kennedy*; 20. Matt Garvey; 21. Seilala Mapusua*; 22. Jonathon Joseph; 23. Chris Malone.

*Denotes international
Head Coach: Toby Booth; Attack Coach: Mike Catt; Defence Coach: Dave Ellis.

Sharks new signings to face Glasgow

Posted on Aug 20, 2010 in Rugby News

Sale Sharks’ new signings Paul Williams and Wame Lewaravu are included in a 27-strong squad to play against Glasgow Warriors tomorrow night (Friday) at Firhill Stadium, kick off 7.30 p.m.

Sharks squad: Nick Macleod, Paul Williams, Tom Brady, Fergus Mulchrone, Kyle Tonetti, Anitelea Tuilagi, Rhys Crane, Ben Cohen, Matty James, Rob Miller, Dwayne Peel, Chris Leck, Aston Croall, Jack Forster, Simon McIntyre, Karena Wihongi, Neil Briggs, Marc Jones, Nic Rouse, James Gaskell, Sean Cox, Wame Lewaravu, Carl Fearns, James Harris, David Seymour, Kristian Ormsby, Sisaro Koyamaibole.

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Borthwick out of England EPS

Posted on Jul 1, 2010 in Rugby News

England today named the 32-man Senior and Saxons Elite Player Squads for the 2010/11 season.

The changes made to the Senior EPS since the last announcement in January include the elevation of forwards David Attwood, George Chuter, Dan Cole, Paul Doran-Jones, Hendre Fourie and Tom Palmer. The backs promoted are Chris Ashton, David Strettle, Mike Tindall, Dominic Waldouck and Ben Youngs.

Players who appeared in the 2010 RBS 6 Nations stepping down into the Saxons EPS include Steve Borthwick, who led the side against Wales, Italy, Ireland and Scotland, Ugo Monye, Mathew Tait and Louis Deacon.

England Team Manager Martin Johnson said: “This was undoubtedly the most difficult EPS selection we’ve had to make in my time in the job. I think we’ve picked the best players and the fact that some experienced guys have missed out goes to show the depth we’ve now got.

“Leaving Steve Borthwick out was a very hard decision. He’s done a fantastic job for England over the last couple of years and it’s the most difficult call we’ve had to make. It is very tough on Steve but it goes to show the depth of talent we’ve got in that area.

“We want to build on what we’ve done this summer and a Southern Hemisphere tour that was hugely beneficial and a really positive experience for the group. We were able to give lots of opportunities to players and expose them to a high level of rugby.”

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