Worcester Warriors
Will we ever replace Dave
By Phill the Warrior
December 7 2012
or will others just play in his shirt? Tevita Taumoepeau, TT or Dave to most. Missing in action for the 2012 / 13 season, so far! This is not meant to be a eulogy, more a definition of respect for a much loved Worcester Warrior.
Dave, born in Ha’apai, Tonga in 1974, measures in just under 6” and batters his opponents with the full force or is 118+ Kg. The Tighthead arrived at Sixways in 2005 from Bourgoin, having spent time at Northampton Saints, Aukland Blues and Waikato Chiefs.
His recorded playing career stems more than a decade in top flight and international rugby, including:
Tonga – Played 35 scored 2 tries AND 1 conversion
Having played for both Saints and Worcester in the Premiership:
Northampton Saints – Played 9
Worcester – Played 113 scored 1 try BUT no conversions
In 2009 he was rated as the best Tongan rugby player in the premiership.
So in 7 years Dave has played in a total of 181 games for Worcester, scoring 1 try. His last appearance was against London Irish in April 2012 prior to having a summer operation. We have not seen him on the pitch since.
Who do we have at the moment to cover his prolonged absence? In no particular order of how effective I think they are:
Rob O’Donnell – Standing at 6’ 5” and signed from Championship side Rotherham in the summer. O’Donnell is by far the biggest (height) tighthead I have ever seen and this shows in a slightly awkward looking approach to “set”. Stories from the Titans say that he has not been quite the same since a double fracture of his leg, least season. Yet to have his debut against Premiership opponents and with limited 2nd string performances, he is yet to convince the Warrior faithful.
John Andress – Has already played 10 times for Worcester, after being signed from fellow Premiership outfit Exeter Chiefs. The Belfast born prop has previously played for Quins and Ulster, so came with some degree of pedigree. Though tightheads are not fabled for being the pretty boys of the game, his looks were somewhat adjusted at the ‘friendly’ A League game between the Cavs and Exeter United last season, when he picked a fight, with young 7 Tom Leach, that he could not win. There are many varied reviews and views on the prop’s start to his Warriors career, I am of the opinion that he was never signed to be the first choice 3 and has played in such a way. If he is to progress at this level his personal and technical penalty count needs to be radically reduced.
James Currie – Still in the Worcester Academy, though having played 16 times for the first team and scoring 2 tries, James has been one of the shining lights of the recent crop of talented academy hopefuls. A big strong tighthead with enough mobility and technical ability to hold his own against some of the countries best, he looks to be far from the finished item – but with guidance form Nigel Redman and Phil Vickery, working with the likes of Dave and Murray, Currie has a very bright future and a potential candidate to fill the massive shirt of Tevita and having played age group rugby for England maybe even an Elite star.
The signing of Euan Murray from Newcastle Falcons, would indicate that we will not see our front row talisman return. Murray has a great track record and warrants his own article:
49 International appearances including 2 tries, plus Lions honors.
29 appearance for Northampton Saints with 1 try
23 appearances for Newcastle, most recently on loan to Top 14 outfit Agen Lot-et-Garonne
It would appear to most that Murray, reported as a fearsome and hard playing prop, is to be the replacement for Dave, but will he? As a Scotland international and Lions hopeful it is likely that he will be away on international duty and miss up to 10 Warriors fixtures, then when you take into account resting for LV= Cup games and rotation for Amlin games it would appear, based on his matches played statistics at previous clubs and if he stayed 100% fit that he will only play 12 or so games for Worcester Warriors, each season, leaving a lot of game time for O’Donnell, Andress and Currie to play for. This is not to mention any Sunday fixtures we land.
Bringing me full circle to my original question “Will we ever replace Dave”? I think we will, but for now, it is taking 4 guys to fill those considerably large boots, left in the wake of Big Dave leaving the building.
PS… I would love to find a clip of Dave scoring his conversion!
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07/12/2012 10:11
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:01:03:19:45:57 by Powick Eastander.
Andress is even younger than Euan and getting better all the time. I wouldn't write him off as a replacement just yet.
Currie does look a prospect and I think he could be a star in the making.
I agree that the jury is still out on O'Donnell and of the summer signings he was the one I was not sure of. I still remember him getting dismantled up at Sale one year, with Shane Drahm winning the game for us by kicking the resulting penalties.
As for having several players to fill Dave's boots, I see that as only a good thing. The best sides have strength in depth at tighthead. One of our key weaknesses since Horse retired (and even when he was fit/injured) was that we did not have any back-up for Dave, meaning that he had to play when suffering from niggles, instead of being rested.
We can manage that much better now and I think that that will only do the team good.
Whatever you do, do it safely!
