And So On To Worcester at Home

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Absolutely agree if Willis is not 100% then Brad has to play. If he is 100% Willis has got to play 6, or am I over rating Willis?

On current form I don't think you are.  Brad was immense before he came to England, he's not managed to replicate that for us yet.  Right now I think we need the win enough that we have to play on current form, not on potential. 

Though even saying that I think JW may well be one of the best we've ever had eventually.

[Rossm]

Dai will play shields, therefore I put him in the 2nd row. Hasn’t he played there plenty of times?


Pretty much only when brought off the bench as cover. EJ has I think done this several times. In general I don't particularly like players out of position and, AFAIK, Brad is a flanker or 8. I know you don't rate Dai but I would be surprised if he started Brad in the back row, assuming full fitness of Jack and YY. If either of those are carrying knocks then I can certainly see a place for Brad, but in the back row.

Absolutely agree if Willis is not 100% then Brad has to play. If he is 100% Willis has got to play 6, or am I over rating Willis?

You are certainly not over rating Jack. In my opening post I hammered on about experience. In an absolutely vital game such as Wuss, this is very important but fitness also plays a part. On the whole, I wouldn't play anyone who is carrying an injury.

[RBB]

Interesting views on selection, I will be interested so see how we suppress the attacking threats Wuss possess., in particular Weir, Adams and Heem. All of those players will cause us problems if we don't get hold of them early on. I do agree with the points earlier in the thread that we need to score, in equal measure we need to defend well, not fall off tackles and avoid penalties in the 22. Our issues (notwithstanding injury) have largely been poor shape and poor discipline. This is the biggest game of our season, Dai knows what is wrong so has to work hard on fixing those issues this week. As I said in another post I cannot wait. #coyw

[Rory87]

I think we could all guess what Dai's team will be and perhaps that's not a bad thing as it's perhaps not the game for gambles, given it's significance. However, clearly something has to change to spark new life into us. I wouldn't completely drop the 'out of form stars' as I agree with others stating they bring so much expeirience to the side. The one i would drop though is Daly. I'm a massive fan of his and am still gutted he's off. However, he's simply not offered us anything of note in recent games. So for me, JdJ should start ahead of him.

Its brilliant to have the backrow selection headache that we've not had in months. For this, fitness must play a factor and anyone not at 100% shouldn't be in the 23, not when we have options. I'm a Brad shields fan... I know he's not hit his strides with us yet and people remain unconvinced. However, I think he brings a physicality to the backrow and destructive tackling that we got from Hask in his prime. Plus, he's a leader and has a calm head on him.

I know the A Team game has got everyone excited (myself included!) with not only bringing another W, but showing what our youngsters can do. I was the most excited I'd been all season reading the match report form the Leicest game last weekend! However, i'm not sure this crunch game is the one to blood them in. Win this and then I think we shoukd start introducing them.

With the above reasoning, I would go with....

15 - Willie
14 - Watson
13 - Neal
12 - JdeJ
11 - Bassett
10 - Lima
  9 - Simmo
  8 - Hughes
  7 - YY (not convinced Willis is fit, but would take one of him or YY)
  6 - Shields
  5 - Gaskell
  4 - Launchbury
  3 - Jake
  2 - Cruse
  1 - ZZ

  16 - Taylor
  17 - Chesty (If fit)
  18 - Brookes (If fit, Stuart if not)
  19 - Rowlands
  20 - Carr (tough call leaving one of Willis or YY out, but i think it will come down to fitness with them)
  21 - Porter
  22 - Umaga (Not been at the A Team games, but sounds like a Cips style flyhalf so potentially a game charger for us)
  23 - Miller

[Hymenoptera]

No way Shields starts for me, decent work rate but just doesn't make any impact other than defensive errors. Willis/Nemo 6, YY 7.
I'd start with Hughes to take the energy out of them, he is a genuine gain line threat and Worcs do challenge the ruck in a major way, then bring on Ash to lead the team in the final 30.
Never thought i'd say it but I'd start Miller, he has at least matched Lima and for that he continues..Lima just hasn't turned up and we are nearly closing out the season, very disappointing.
12/13 is a head ache, prob JdJ and Daly, Worcs have some big centre carriers. I'd also take Neal over Basset on the wing. ...maybe.

[wasps]

Does Lima actually have any recent experience at 12?
I know there was one game for the All Blacks where he moved to 12 when the AB's were already lots of points up, and they had 2 injuries in the centres.
Does he actually have any other experience at Inside Centre?
If he's struggling for form as much as people suggest, moving him to an unfamiliar position isn't going to help much.

I know that Shields played a bit of 2nd row before moving to England, but again, I think that was as emergency cover, rather than being a front line option.


It's difficult to know the real fitness levels of everyone.
Jack Willis is only recently back from injury, and has looked great.
He's a young guy and doesn't seem to struggle for match fitness (i.e. ability to run around), but I'm sure he's feeling hugely battered and bruised after a few games back.
This is such an important game, but it's also such an important time in Jack's career and it's paramount that the club ensure he's not trying to hide any soreness and play through the pain.


With both Jack and Brad's ability to swap to 8, we could see Carr missing out on a spot, with the 4 back row options being Shields, Young, Hughes and Willis.
Unfortunately, I want Ash and Carr in the squad too, and am struggling to make that work unless Ash covers hooker and Shields is the 2nd row replacement option (either starting or from the bench)

[Westy68]

 I accept that Willis May be back from a slight knock but he was awesome coming back from a long term injury.

If he doesn’t start, he must be in the 23. Let shields run like a mad man for 55/60 mins then Willis comes on. If Willis is fit he must be at least in the 23

[Brandnewtorugby]

Does Lima actually have any recent experience at 12?
I know there was one game for the All Blacks where he moved to 12 when the AB's were already lots of points up, and they had 2 injuries in the centres.
Does he actually have any other experience at Inside Centre?
If he's struggling for form as much as people suggest, moving him to an unfamiliar position isn't going to help much.

Yep, probably too big a risk now. My thinking was not changing/disrupting at 10. Rob has been solid, but complimenting Rob with a playmaker who seems similar in style to Gopperth next to him might unlock our attack. Having two fly halfs has worked before, I think Jimmy only played there out of necessity due to injury initially, but it worked well.

[wasps]

I accept that Willis May be back from a slight knock but he was awesome coming back from a long term injury.

If he doesn’t start, he must be in the 23. Let shields run like a mad man for 55/60 mins then Willis comes on. If Willis is fit he must be at least in the 23

Looks like he won't be fit at all

[Chunky24]

I know that Shields played a bit of 2nd row before moving to England, but again, I think that was as emergency cover, rather than being a front line option.


With both Jack and Brad's ability to swap to 8, we could see Carr missing out on a spot, with the 4 back row options being Shields, Young, Hughes and Willis.
Unfortunately, I want Ash and Carr in the squad too, and am struggling to make that work unless Ash covers hooker and Shields is the 2nd row replacement option (either starting or from the bench)

Hughes was England second row cover for the 6 nations game against Italy.

[Dgwasp]

I'd be tempted to leave Daly out and put Hughes on the bench to make an impact in the second half.  Only based on no longer knowing Daly's best position or him being our best 13 defensively; and Hughes being too prone to stupid play which we can't afford this weekend.  We have some decent options in the back row and we need to make this strength really count.

Should one or both of these two start then I'd not be surprised or particularly disappointed; it is an easy thing to post on a message board that you'd drop two England internationals in a crucial game.

[wasps]

I'd be tempted to leave Daly out and put Hughes on the bench to make an impact in the second half.  Only based on no longer knowing Daly's best position or him being our best 13 defensively; and Hughes being too prone to stupid play which we can't afford this weekend.  We have some decent options in the back row and we need to make this strength really count.

Should one or both of these two start then I'd not be surprised or particularly disappointed; it is an easy thing to post on a message board that you'd drop two England internationals in a crucial game.

Totally understand your quandry.

I would start Nathan without a moments thought (providing he's fit)

I totally appreciate what everyone is saying about him, and I can see their point.
For me, however, he's always picked up penalties at the breakdown. The way he looks at the ref when the whistle is blown often has me wondering if he's aware of all the laws. It used to be a sign of a good back rower to be on the cusp of being pinged all the time - however, these days, penalty stats are viewed more closely.

I agree with everyone who says that he doesn't break tackles like he used to. Partly that's because he's playing in tighter areas and partly because he's no longer underestimated.
That being said, he's still one of our main power runners.
Yes, I'd like him to take the ball at pace more often, but i'd like that for all our players.

There's aspects of his play where he's still better than anyone else in our squad and for that reason, I'd still pick him to start at 8

[Westy68]

I accept that Willis May be back from a slight knock but he was awesome coming back from a long term injury.

If he doesn’t start, he must be in the 23. Let shields run like a mad man for 55/60 mins then Willis comes on. If Willis is fit he must be at least in the 23

Looks like he won't be fit at all

Really is Jack Willis not going to be fit

Just spotted injury update, really disappointing. Hate that he has to see a specialist, that really could mean all kinds

[RBB]

https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/17545753.worcester-warriors-fitness-update-ahead-of-wasps-clash/

Wuss fitness updates - Singleton out but otherwise they look to be able to select their first picks. Slight concern over Heem's foot.

Wasps have been distributing free tickets to schools and additional tickets to ST holders, to try and boost attendance. It will be interesting to see what the numbers look like on Saturday, as I think a sizeable crowd behind the team will provide a boost, however what really matters is the 23 stepping up.

[mike909]

Having watched a few Wuss games (on TV) if they click at all, their play is pretty direct (in a positive way) and with ball they have finishers and power in the backs. They looked good going forwards vs Bristol and made life v hard for Quins

We need select experience to start and have options on the bench to change things if required