Back at 10

The Warriors (and the noisy, fun and respectful rabble that is their fantastic support) come north on the back of two defeats, away at Connacht in the Challenge Cup and more surprisingly, a 36-18 reverse at home to Bath last Monday.  That was their first home defeat of the season, and as someone has commented elsewhere, probably given them enough of a kick to rid them of any complacency that may have been setting in.

 

It has to be said, rather than consolidating their position in the top twelve this time around, the Warriors have pushed on, with new Aussie coach Anthony Eddy assisting Director of Rugby John Brain into giving them the sort of push onwards and convince the team that they can be successful at this level.  Indeed, the Bath defeat removed them from a top four spot, and if they can regain the momentum that they had with them up until a fortnight ago, may be a wise bet to gain a surprise fourth place that will give them the Heineken Cup rugby they desire, and a shot at the title.  And we all know what can happen in one off games, don’t we?

 

What have we got to look forward to?  Well, no Pat Sanderson for a start, due to injury, but as pointed out on their unoffy this week, he was missing for the whole of November and they didn’t do that badly then!  The 2005/06 version of the Warriors have more flair than their Premiership predecessors, with this season’s show being run by ex-Northampton and Bristol fly-half Shane Drahm, the Premiership Player of the Month for November.  Having watched a lot of Drahmy for the past two seasons, it was always going to be interesting to watch him behind a fully-firing pack, and he’s proved more than capable of dominating matches – Saints 21 Drahm 22 five weeks ago, for example.

 

Amazingly though, some of the supporters we spoke to that day were saying that they weren’t that keen on him, and would prefer to see James Brown in instead.  Must admit, I couldn’t quite work that out, especially as some of those comments came after the game – however (and can’t you tell I’ve bolted this bit on having just seen the team!) Brown starts on Sunday as Drahm is missing through injury, with Matt Powell (Brown's half back partner last season) replacing Andy Gomersall.

 

Alongside Brown and Powell in the back line experienced Springbok Thinus Delport, quality Frenchman Thomas Lombard, and Tongan Aisea Havili.  The pack is pretty unchanged from last season too – Craig Gillies still dominates the lineouts; Tony Windo still provides the grunt up front; there’s two useful hookers in Andre van Niekerk and the abrasive Chris Fortey; and the pack has been strengthened this year by the signing of Tevita Taumoepeau, a prop who doesn’t get around the pitch as quickly as you normally see at this level, but who rarely moves in the scrum.  His brother, Saimone, is currently on the fringes of the All Black squad, whilst Tevi has seven caps for Tonga.

 

The full Warriors team is:-

 

15. Thinus Delport

14. Aisea Havili

13. Thomas Lombard

12. Simon Whatling

11. Mike Maguire

10. James Brown

9. Matt Powell

8. Drew Hickey

7. Johnny Tuamoheloa

6. Kai Horstmann

5. Phil Murphy

4. Craig Gillies

3. Tevita Taumoepeau

2. Chris Fortey

1. Tony Windo (captain)

Replacements:

16. Gavin Hickie

17. Lee Fortey

18. Ed O'Donoghue

19. Siaosi Vaili

20. Dale Rasmussen

21. Andy Gomarsall

22. Jonny Hylton

 

So what of Falcons?  Well, with training curtailed by the weather somewhat this week, and with only five days between games, it’s no surprise to see only a small amount of fine tuning to the team that won at Headingley, with Walder, Parling and Woods stepping in for Flood, Grimes and Harris.  The team:-

 

15 Matthew Burke
14 Joe Shaw
13 Jamie Noon
12 Mark Mayerhofler
11 Mathew Tait
10 Dave Walder
9 James Grindal

1 Micky Ward
2 Andy Long
3 Robbie Morris
4 Andy Perry
5 Geoff Parling
6 Owen Finegan
7 Ben Woods
8 Colin Charvis (captain)

Replacements:

Jonny Williams
Matt Thompson
Stuart Grimes
Mike McCarthy
Andy Buist or Ollie Phillips
Shaun Richardson
Toby Flood or Jonny Wilkinson

The first thought that strikes me about the bench is “has Ollie Phillips ever played in the second row before?”.  The second is one of whether the man covering fly-half will be someone who’s match fit, or someone who’s recovering but who is a better player.  Interesting call for Rob; my guess is that it’ll be Toby Flood getting the bench splinters/blocking Touchline’s view (delete where applicable) in the first half on Sunday.

 

The referee is the man who did the corresponding fixture last season, Ashley Rowden.  As it’s due to be cold, look out for him shivering in a tracksuit from the moment he steps out of his car.  And for those getting to the ground early, keep an eye on his warm-up routine!  The connections to that game at Northampton in November continue here also – Ash was fourth official that day.

 

Lastly, a reminder that there is no public transport to and from Kingston Park on Sunday (that’s bus and metro), so either set out earlier, or use the Park and Ride scheme that the club have organised.  Smithy on the offy states:-

 

Free parking is available at Newcastle Race Course, with return coach tickets to Kingston Park priced only £2 per person.

The first coach leaves the race course at 12.30pm, with further buses every 15 minutes depending on traffic, right up until kick-off.

The first bus back to the race course departs from the back of the South Stand at Kingston Park from 4.30pm, with buses every 15 minutes until the last one at approximately 6.15pm.

You want a prediction now, don’t you?  Ok, I predict that I won’t find out the score until much later in the day due to not having Sky or teletext in Milton Keynes, and BBC News 24 forgetting that rugby exists.  And Falcons by three.

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