Loose Heads

[Shugs]

Anyone else seriously impressed with Harris and West? Harris often flies under the radar but he does everything well and always makes hard yards in contact. I'm loving the impact West is having at scrum time and he's one of those deceptive props who seems to always trouble his opposite number. SM and ZZ still to come means we're in good shape at LH.

[Neils]

Anyone else seriously impressed with Harris and West? Harris often flies under the radar but he does everything well and always makes hard yards in contact. I'm loving the impact West is having at scrum time and he's one of those deceptive props who seems to always trouble his opposite number. SM and ZZ still to come means we're in good shape at LH.

+1 plus quite impressed how Jeff TA coped. Best game he has played.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

JTA had a very good day. 5 months off and he is far quicker around the park, has more stamina, so I suspect he is leaner and fitter.

[Horusthewasp]

Anyone else seriously impressed with Harris and West? Harris often flies under the radar but he does everything well and always makes hard yards in contact. I'm loving the impact West is having at scrum time and he's one of those deceptive props who seems to always trouble his opposite number. SM and ZZ still to come means we're in good shape at LH.

Completely agree that Harris is under rated. He’s always been solid and dependable. Excited to see him continue to develop with more game tame. Definite potential there.

JTA had a very good day. 5 months off and he is far quicker around the park, has more stamina, so I suspect he is leaner and fitter.

I thought he looked bigger today than before the “break”    I could be wrong though! He did have a good day in the office though

[MarleyWasp]

It's a measure of Dai's legacy that Ben Harris was going nowhere at Newcastle yet is now one of the first names on our team sheet. He just gets better and better. Tall props will always struggle on occasions against certain opponents (think Tom French v Julian White and Carl Hayman), but on the whole I think he does a very solid job and his ball carrying is more like a back rower than a prop. I still remember his backrow cameo away to Gloucester in February 2018 where one Gloucester fan said to me he "had a great future in the back row and could make the England squad if he lost a bit of weight".

West - a lot of people said losing Will Stuart would be a disaster but I've always rated West as the better of the two.

JTA - really pleased with him today. I thought he dominated the Saints looseheads. The enforced break has done him a lot of good and out of all the players, his social media posts impressed me the most. With Kieran out for a while by the looks of it, it's a big chance for him. I think Brookes may struggle to get his place back.

[backdoc]

I suspect Kieran has an ACJ dislocation [the joint between the clavicle and shoulder]. Typically 6 weeks for grade 1-2 and 12 weeks for grade 3 [rarely surgery].

It did not look like a shoulder joint dislocation, although they can pop out and then relocate.

[Heathen]

No club wants injuries, particularly with such an intense block of games happening. We certainly look well stocked at LH, although I still fear for the longevity of Big Mac. Like David, I always Tom above Will.

JTA has remained a bit of an enigma up until yesterday. There had been some glimpses of what he could do previously, but not regular enough to warrant selection on a regular basis. We have now got new coaches and S&C. With these and the 5 month layoff, JTA would appear to really upped his game. Don't forget that Alo was looking good before the break as well.

Looking forward to seeing the team selection for Friday. Wuss shipped 44 points at home to Glaws on Saturday. If we continue in the same vein as our last 4 games, then I can see us getting another 5 pointer,

[Steve from Cov]

No club wants injuries, particularly with such an intense block of games happening. We certainly look well stocked at LH, although I still fear for the longevity of Big Mac. Like David, I always Tom above Will.

JTA has remained a bit of an enigma up until yesterday. There had been some glimpses of what he could do previously, but not regular enough to warrant selection on a regular basis. We have now got new coaches and S&C. With these and the 5 month layoff, JTA would appear to really upped his game. Don't forget that Alo was looking good before the break as well.

Looking forward to seeing the team selection for Friday. Wuss shipped 44 points at home to Glaws on Saturday. If we continue in the same vein as our last 4 games, then I can see us getting another 5 pointer,

Steady Heathen.

With a huge game next Tuesday I suspect selection will be very different for this Friday’s game.

I suspect Paolo and Watson will come in with Ben Velacott, Ryan Mills, Biyi Alo, Thibaud, Tom Cruse etc.

It will be a test of our strength in depth against a team that are desperate for a win.

[Rossm]

Like Heathen and David, I was never that impressed by Will Stuart.

[Shugs]

Think it depends on what you want. Stuart always carried well and was just OK at scrum time. West looks great in the scrum and overall is probably a better player. Stuart was a good prop but overall at both TH and LH we now have better depth of talent.

[Rossm]

Think it depends on what you want. Stuart always carried well and was just OK at scrum time. West looks great in the scrum and overall is probably a better player. Stuart was a good prop but overall at both TH and LH we now have better depth of talent.

As an ex-front row, I expect my props to be top scrummagers. One of the reasons I'm no great fan of Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinkler, though the latter does seem to be improving in the scrum.

[WonkyWasp]

Our family has always called KS 'Yellow-card Sinkler'; he was usually to be found at the bottom of a scrum/maul/etc.

[BG]

I think JTA had a bit of a wake up call last autumn.

He's tall for a TH but as someone mentioned eons ago.. so was Sheridan.

He should be giving looseheads all sorts of trouble (being a mahoosive unit) but I have a feeling he wasn't at the peak of physical fitness when he arrived and because of that was using his height as an anchor point.. his feet/legs were too far back which gave the flanker and 2nd row nothing to push against which meant he'd either lose balance or hinge upwards.

He's either widened his stance or lost upper body weight which is now allowing him to choose what he wants to do. Either be a solid platform on our ball or go chasing the oppo LH on their ball. You could hear encouragement from Willis and Rowlands (I think) for JTA to wrestle for every inch... wear his oppo down.

On a side note..

I'm not sure about the overlayed crowd noise. Maybe BT think its a good addition.

Its a bit like watching a French/German/Scandanavian film with dubbing. The plot is playing out in front of you but you know the translated voice over isn't quite in sync

[Shugs]

Yes, quite agree. It's all about the scrum for me. I don't really want a prop selected because they pop up in the loose with a ten metre carry or a fancy offload. Nice if it happens but not their main purpose.

[backdoc]

"Its a bit like watching a French/German/Scandanavian film with dubbing. The plot is playing out in front of you but you know the translated voice over isn't quite in sync"

 The screenplay isn't usually very important in those sort of films, BG.