Coventry
Coventry Rugby XV v Northampton Saints XV.
By Tom Little.
December 19 2011
With no Coventry Rugby league fixtures between Christmas and the New Year, Coventry have arranged an exciting fixture against a Northampton Saints XV on Thursday 22nd December, kick off 7.30 at the Butts Park Arena.
A strong Coventry side has been selected including the first return to rugby this season by winger Tommy Harris.
Details of the Coventry side follows and the Northampton Saints XV side will be announced when known.
Admission will be £8 for all with free admission for U16.s. Gates and bars will be open from 6.30pm
Coventry team
15 Jack Howland
14 Luke Veebel
13 Jack Green
12 Heath Stevens
11 Tommy Harris
10 Will Maisey
9 Charlie Mumford
1 Ethan Waller
2 Jamie Harrop
3 Adam Parkins
4 Benji Dechartres
5 Liam Mather
6 Andy Weaver capt
7 Jethro Rawling
8 Ade Hall
Replacements
Graur fr, Dale Ager fr, Matt Weller fr, Luke Beales fr, James Gair, Sam Herrington, Jack Gibson, Lewis Barker, Spencer Sutherland, Will Owen,Tawanda Chipadza.
Tom Little
Coventry Rugby press office
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Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 19/12/2011 18:49
19/12/2011 18:49
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some late changes i am afraid.Tommy Harris is now out with a shoulder injury and is replaced on the wing by Spencer Sutherland,whilst Andy Murray comes in at fullback in place of Jack Howland who goes on to the replacements.
tom little
tom little
It looks like we have another home game to attend before the new year!
I will be there to watch, i hope its a good game with a chance for some of the nighthawk players to stake their claim for a spot in the first team.
Its these sort of games that will allow these players to put themselves on show in front of the coaches and prove what they are capable of.
It is up to them to make the most of these games and prove a point to the coaches.
Its great the club puts on these games, it is a chance for the supporteres to see up and coming new players who may hopefuly soon be in the first team selection.
COME ON COV!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will be there to watch, i hope its a good game with a chance for some of the nighthawk players to stake their claim for a spot in the first team.
Its these sort of games that will allow these players to put themselves on show in front of the coaches and prove what they are capable of.
It is up to them to make the most of these games and prove a point to the coaches.
Its great the club puts on these games, it is a chance for the supporteres to see up and coming new players who may hopefuly soon be in the first team selection.
COME ON COV!!!!!!!!!!!!
not neccesarily, if they get completely swamped it will serve no purpose at all
I suppose it could be the same when they nighthawks play a side that they swamped like the West Midlands Police who in all fairness were not up to the Nighthawks level of play.
They have to step up to the mark sometime and be tested against teams they will be up against if they succeed in getting picked for first team rugby.
They can't always play reserve games and expect to be ready for first team action, they need to put themselves up against real opposition.
I didn't post on the other Subject as i didn't want to get into the debate about gate prices.
COME ON COV!!!!!!!!!
They have to step up to the mark sometime and be tested against teams they will be up against if they succeed in getting picked for first team rugby.
They can't always play reserve games and expect to be ready for first team action, they need to put themselves up against real opposition.
I didn't post on the other Subject as i didn't want to get into the debate about gate prices.
COME ON COV!!!!!!!!!
Quite right Steve, it gives fans the chance to see the likes of Graur and Spencer to show their wares, and on the strength of last weeks performance I will recommend all to come.
And also there 13 of last saturdays squad named for thursday night so hardly a beefed up Nighthawks.
What does it matter if we do get swamped? It's just a measure of where we are against the "big" clubs of today. It gives Cov players a chance to play against guys at a different level, and as a supporter I'm looking forward to starting my Xmas hols on Thursday night. Good for CRFC for trying to get something sorted.
Yossa you are quite correct. When I played sport against better teams/players it made me work and think harder... and I did get smashed up physically and by the score board, but the amount I learnt during those games was immense and it made me a much better player! If I was the coach I would tell the players to go out there and enjoy themselves.
i was expressing a concern thats all as regards the current dip of form and loss of key players to injuries and losses on the spin.In so much that confidence within the squad has taken a few knocks recently and saints wanderers have beaten some top notch opponents this season including leicester ..away and oxford university varsity team away heavily,even the under 19s recently beat moseleys u19s by over 80 points.The system of players breaking through the ranks and being weened into first team action continues to play dividend with wallers brother now coming off the bench or even starting.
You can only hope the coaches involved are telling the team to go out enjoy the match and not worry too much about the result and who knows it may give some of the lads a little more confidence? I share your concern about the 3 losses in a row and lack of confidence, but surely this type of game can only help and give the coaches something to work on outside normal training or league matches. Hopefully the positive will outweigh the negative?
Being possitive, the best way to improve is to play against players of a higher standard. Look at how the Puma's have come on over the years.
I used to love playing at the highest standard I could. Don't care if it was only at the Memorial Park: pitch 33a or at the Cut and Fry Yorkley
I used to love playing at the highest standard I could. Don't care if it was only at the Memorial Park: pitch 33a or at the Cut and Fry Yorkley
Northampton side against coventry
15 Sempere, 14 Cato, 13 Stephenson, 12 May 11 Mogensen,
10 Tonks c 9 commins, 1 warren 2 sharman, 3 herriott, 4 hicks 5 day. 6 craig, 7 harris 8 ingle repl Mcmillan,waller, farmer, hopley, day. hooley, hughes, sadler.
a strong Northampton side.
tom little
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:12:22:09:11:52 by tom snr.
15 Sempere, 14 Cato, 13 Stephenson, 12 May 11 Mogensen,
10 Tonks c 9 commins, 1 warren 2 sharman, 3 herriott, 4 hicks 5 day. 6 craig, 7 harris 8 ingle repl Mcmillan,waller, farmer, hopley, day. hooley, hughes, sadler.
a strong Northampton side.
tom little
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:12:22:09:11:52 by tom snr.
this is a strong saints team on paper,with spanish international sempere at full back,fantatsic speed. cato on the wing ,making a come back after injury,you will recognise the hair.Tom may in the centre who has played regularly in the first team this season following a return to this country from playing in france,a superb player.Tonks ex of notts who was filling in for foden last season.Commins at scrum half was superb at the latter part of the season 10/11,taking part in the heineken cup final.Brett sharman was reserve hooker to dylan hartley all last season.Second row christian day also returns after injury, who was a very important person in the team last season and will be very good news to saints if he gets through this game.At 6 james craig is one for the future who came from leeds and played against castres last weekend,fantastic around the pitch.ALso on the bench theres waller senior who started against castres being replaced by tongahuia. As you can see its a strong team .
for the ladies...cato and may feature rather heavily in a calendar available to raise money for soldiers charity..ps photos dont leave much to the imágination
Wow,I was not expecting the Wandies to put a team like that out.. Good luck Cov, win or loose its a great lerning experience for both sets of lads, and a chance to gain some form for Cato/Day coming back from injury.
I like the look of your props though
I like the look of your props though
Greg Tonks also scored a fine try last Saturday against Castre. That team is definately worth making the effort to go and watch. It's years since i've been to Cov but I'll be there this evening.
7...Harris
is in fact a guy called Teimana Harrison (england qualified by blood) who was this year's captain of rugby at Rotorua Boys High (Dylan's old school - Dyl scouted him when he was at RWC this year) and has been playing brilliantly for the wanderers for the last couple of months.
apart from dylan, the school has produced loads of All Blacks . their best known captain recently was Liam Messam.
he's not really known on the circuit yet but very definitely one to watch and say you saw him first. he's got a 30 y.o. head on an 18y.o. body, not a 20 stone olympic sprinter, just a superb young rugby player . heaps of skill and intelligence. watch the hands, anticipation, body position and angles - and he does all the grubby jobs too.
is in fact a guy called Teimana Harrison (england qualified by blood) who was this year's captain of rugby at Rotorua Boys High (Dylan's old school - Dyl scouted him when he was at RWC this year) and has been playing brilliantly for the wanderers for the last couple of months.
apart from dylan, the school has produced loads of All Blacks . their best known captain recently was Liam Messam.
he's not really known on the circuit yet but very definitely one to watch and say you saw him first. he's got a 30 y.o. head on an 18y.o. body, not a 20 stone olympic sprinter, just a superb young rugby player . heaps of skill and intelligence. watch the hands, anticipation, body position and angles - and he does all the grubby jobs too.
It may be childish but I shall be shouting "Not now ...." whenever number 14 gets the ball?
thats what we always shouted to him when he played against the saints....i dont actually rate him...he is a very lazy player..whether thats just how he comes over ,but im not alone.
In all fairness the Northampton Wanderers players were more bigger and powerful than most of our players.
When their wingers got the ball they were electric, they had power and pace , this was a problem that was to be expected i suppose.
I thought it was a great game to watch though and the players that did step up for Coventry did fair well against a great side.
Our forwards faired up well against them, but there backs held a much better line than ours, we were getting sucked in alot, and our backs line always looked vunerable.
I think we would have done better had we a full strength squad out there, but we have alot of injuries at the minute.
But still a great effort by the Coventry team, i didn't expect us to win this game but i thought it was a great run out for some of our up and coming first team players.
Would be nice to get a few more of their players on loan as well!
Anyway, MERRY XMAS TO YOU ALL- Come on Cov!!!!!!!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:12:23:09:25:00 by Coventry Steve.
When their wingers got the ball they were electric, they had power and pace , this was a problem that was to be expected i suppose.
I thought it was a great game to watch though and the players that did step up for Coventry did fair well against a great side.
Our forwards faired up well against them, but there backs held a much better line than ours, we were getting sucked in alot, and our backs line always looked vunerable.
I think we would have done better had we a full strength squad out there, but we have alot of injuries at the minute.
But still a great effort by the Coventry team, i didn't expect us to win this game but i thought it was a great run out for some of our up and coming first team players.
Would be nice to get a few more of their players on loan as well!
Anyway, MERRY XMAS TO YOU ALL
- Come on Cov!!!!!!!Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:12:23:09:25:00 by Coventry Steve.
WOW what a quality side the Wanderers are, well done all the Cov players that took part, that was something to aspire to and I'm sure in another couple of seasons that we will be there. Great entertaining Rugby.
Along with the other 408 I enjoyed the evening. As expected Northampton were far too good for us, but it must be noted that we did not give up and fought until the final whistle. I was impressed with Spencer Sutherland on the wing. My advice (for what it’s worth) is to sign the lad up straight away as I believe he is already good enough to go into the first team. On a final note, it was nice to see Jim Mallinder and Dorian West at the game.
I think our current wingers need to be getting the ball more, earlier and in space,before we start increasing squad size. I have yet to watch a game other than earlier in the season when that was the case. Time and time again I have seen the backs space be eaten up with the forwards starting to drive the ball back in field before it has even gone any where near the 5 yard channel. All this does is cramp the midfield and create a narrower channel to defend. Northampton, Fylde, Ealing, Rosslyn Park all happy to stretch teams in to that channel creating space for their backline. We have a talented pacey creative back line - lets give them the space and see what they can do. Having said that if playing from 15 yard line to 15 yard line is the game plan to secure the wins then so be it, but I do not expect to see the same tally of wingers tries this season.
Any chance of you guys letting on the score for this ex-pat in the sticks?
i fully agree,
it wasnt about the score line, i was stood in the "tunnel" as the saints ran in after warm up and then cov ran in, i have to say the saints were huge!!
they are a multi million pound proffesional outfit and we are a very part time group of working lads that train twice a week amd play on saturdays for what is basically "expenses"
but the cov lads were not intimidated or walked upon in any way, if the money could be found to go fulltime with all that entails then i think what we would see would be very interesting indeed,
in the meantime the lads will have a well earned christmas break and return on the 7th to start winning again,
all the best!
it wasnt about the score line, i was stood in the "tunnel" as the saints ran in after warm up and then cov ran in, i have to say the saints were huge!!
they are a multi million pound proffesional outfit and we are a very part time group of working lads that train twice a week amd play on saturdays for what is basically "expenses"
but the cov lads were not intimidated or walked upon in any way, if the money could be found to go fulltime with all that entails then i think what we would see would be very interesting indeed,
in the meantime the lads will have a well earned christmas break and return on the 7th to start winning again,
all the best!
coulnt fault the effort but the organisation at scrum, line out & defensively was poor .cov hardly won a line out all night & loss numerous scrums against the head. several times saints had overlaps from 2nd or 3rd phase ball, too many of our players committed to the ruck.all basic stuff which seems to be happening too often in the last few weeks.
lets hope the players can rest up & com eout fighting in the new year.
merry xmas to all
lets hope the players can rest up & com eout fighting in the new year.
merry xmas to all
Enjoyed last nights game. I thought the Cov boys stuck at it and worked really hard! I was really impressed with all of them and was also great to see a lot of great players from Saints playing at Butts Park.
For me both the lineout and the scrum worked well in the first half. We even turned over a couple of their scrums. Defensively, in attack and organisationally they were always going to over power us eventually. However was a fun game. With a few players standing out; the wingers who managed to contain Noah Cato many times during the game and the front row in the first half had great games.
Looking forward to the next half of the season after that!
Come on Cov!
For me both the lineout and the scrum worked well in the first half. We even turned over a couple of their scrums. Defensively, in attack and organisationally they were always going to over power us eventually. However was a fun game. With a few players standing out; the wingers who managed to contain Noah Cato many times during the game and the front row in the first half had great games.
Looking forward to the next half of the season after that!
Come on Cov!
From all your accounts Cov defianatly did not disgrace them selves. Also there seems to be a lot more possitives at the club nowadays compared to a few years ago.
Coventry are a hugely respected club around the West country. I go to watch Cinderford and Gloucester fairly regulary and each set of supporters have fond memories of Coventry RFC.
So lets have more contact with the current "Big Boys" such as The Saints and you never know, Cov could get back up there. When ever I make the trip up to my home town I am always impressed by the support for the level we are currently playing at. There is massive potential at The Butts, we are just missing the one vital ingredient: CASH. Should I start doing the lottery again?
Coventry are a hugely respected club around the West country. I go to watch Cinderford and Gloucester fairly regulary and each set of supporters have fond memories of Coventry RFC.
So lets have more contact with the current "Big Boys" such as The Saints and you never know, Cov could get back up there. When ever I make the trip up to my home town I am always impressed by the support for the level we are currently playing at. There is massive potential at The Butts, we are just missing the one vital ingredient: CASH. Should I start doing the lottery again?
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