Rugby Union 2012/13

[AV82EC]

40 years ago this weekend (27 Jan)......................... "this is Gareth Edwards................... a dramatic start................ what a score !"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21205137


Phil Bennett's side-steps.... wow

And those David Duckham dummies as well.

[cheltenhamlion]

Kvesic is off to Glaws next season.

[lovejoy]

Yes Wuss are moaning, how many players have they had off us over the years?

[cheltenhamlion]

We take their promising youngsters. They have those we don't want but with the experience to keep them up. They are very much our feeder club.

[paul_e]

Could've sworn I'd already replied on here, but clearly not.

Kvesic is an exceptional talent, I fully expect him to be an england regular within a few years.  A back row of him, vunipola and launchbury, behind kitchener and lawes in the 2nd row is a very exciting prospect.

[Dave Summers]

Could've sworn I'd already replied on here, but clearly not.

Kvesic is an exceptional talent, I fully expect him to be an england regular within a few years.  A back row of him, vunipola and launchbury, behind kitchener and lawes in the 2nd row is a very exciting prospect.

When I read that yesterday I thoght there will be a few excited Glaws fans on here.  Not a fan of one club per se, but I do love the way Gloucester play the game so I guess they would be my adopted side.

What are you doing with Wood, Croft, Robshaw and Morgan in the back row then?.  Embarrassment of riches in those positions :-)

[paul_e]

Could've sworn I'd already replied on here, but clearly not.

Kvesic is an exceptional talent, I fully expect him to be an england regular within a few years.  A back row of him, vunipola and launchbury, behind kitchener and lawes in the 2nd row is a very exciting prospect.

When I read that yesterday I thoght there will be a few excited Glaws fans on here.  Not a fan of one club per se, but I do love the way Gloucester play the game so I guess they would be my adopted side.

What are you doing with Wood, Croft, Robshaw and Morgan in the back row then?.  Embarrassment of riches in those positions :-)

Morgan and Wood will still be around but of them only Wood is better than I think these kids are going to be (I've said before I think Wood is the best 6 in europe, and is probably in the top 2-3 in the world). Vunipola in particular is going to surpass Morgan in every way within a year or 2.  He's potentially as good as any 8 I've ever seen.

Croft is too 1-dimensional, if he loses his pace he'll be nowhere near the england squad.
Robshaw is unlucky to an extent.  He's a very good 6 and an ok 7, but once Armitage (fingers crossed) is back in england and Kvesic has had another year developing I just don't see him deserving a place, regardless of how good a captain he is. 

[cheltenhamlion]

I like the look of the youngsters Gloucester are putting together. They need to keep the group together for a couple of years but could be very exciting.

[paul_e]

I like the look of the youngsters Gloucester are putting together. They need to keep the group together for a couple of years but could be very exciting.

The front 5 is still the weakness for me, outside that they're as good as anyone in the league.  Even then the individual players are all decent, they just don't perform like you'd expect from a glaws pack.

[Dave Summers]

Could've sworn I'd already replied on here, but clearly not.

Kvesic is an exceptional talent, I fully expect him to be an england regular within a few years.  A back row of him, vunipola and launchbury, behind kitchener and lawes in the 2nd row is a very exciting prospect.

When I read that yesterday I thoght there will be a few excited Glaws fans on here.  Not a fan of one club per se, but I do love the way Gloucester play the game so I guess they would be my adopted side.

What are you doing with Wood, Croft, Robshaw and Morgan in the back row then?.  Embarrassment of riches in those positions :-)

Morgan and Wood will still be around but of them only Wood is better than I think these kids are going to be (I've said before I think Wood is the best 6 in europe, and is probably in the top 2-3 in the world). Vunipola in particular is going to surpass Morgan in every way within a year or 2.  He's potentially as good as any 8 I've ever seen.

Croft is too 1-dimensional, if he loses his pace he'll be nowhere near the england squad.
Robshaw is unlucky to an extent.  He's a very good 6 and an ok 7, but once Armitage (fingers crossed) is back in england and Kvesic has had another year developing I just don't see him deserving a place, regardless of how good a captain he is. 

It continues to stagger me and I was one of these people in the beginning, just how underrated Robshaw is.  Dewi Morris always says on Sky he is a 6.5 playing as 7 and Barnesy has to keep reminding him he is a bona fida number 7.  I think he is coming very strongly on the rails to captain the Lions and be openside flanker.

Kvesic may or may not be better than him in time, but he is going to have to be bloody good to usurp him anytime soon.  Armitage has never produced the level of performances for England that Robshaw has, albeit he has never had a run.  Also I don't think he was ever anywhere near Robshaw's level when playing for Irish.  I don't have ESPN so don't see much French ruby so can't comment on his Toulon efforts.

[lovejoy]

I like the look of the youngsters Gloucester are putting together. They need to keep the group together for a couple of years but could be very exciting.

The front 5 is still the weakness for me, outside that they're as good as anyone in the league.  Even then the individual players are all decent, they just don't perform like you'd expect from a glaws pack.

Especially with Jim Hamilton off next season. i am not getting too excited, even though I think we're moving in the right direction, as we have been here before under Dean Ryan with the Ryan Lamb, Anthony Allen, Jack Adams and Marcel Garvey era. Having potential is one thing, fulfilling it is another.

[paul_e]

At the very highest level you want 7 to be the first guy to every breakdown and you want them protecting your own ball or stealing it from the opposition.  Everything else is secondary to this as far as I'm concerned and, unfortunately, Robshaw isn't great at it.  You'll find most of the ex pros who question him were either backrows or 9s who know just how big a difference it makes if your 7 is exceptional in that area.  You will also find that they all want England to find a way to include Stefon Armitage, who's work around the breakdown, and general work rate, are phenomenal.

Robshaw's strengths are in tackling and positioning himself around the breakdown, which are strengths you want in a 6.  Hence he's a very good 6 (behind a world class 6 in Wood) and a decent 7.  So far we've got away with it because Dan Cole does a great job of filling in for the work a 7 would normally do in those situations but that's not ideal.  Dewi Morris is spot on, Robshaw is a great backrow forward, with all the qualities you want from a generic backrower but he doesn't quite have the skillset or mindset to be a world class openside.  That's why I think he's unlucky and lucky at the same time.  Unlucky in that England have some truly exceptional backrowers right now, and lucky that he was in the right place at the right time to be made England captain.  If Wood had been fit when Lancaster got the job I think he'd be captain and Robshaw would be under a lot more pressure.

[cheltenhamlion]

By the way, I do wish we had a proper pack like days of old. The kind of guy that would be building your extension until half 3 and then play that evening. The good old days...

Here is a mega stake in the ground to start a conflab then.

Gloucester: Will they win the Heineken Cup in the next five years?

[paul_e]

By the way, I do wish we had a proper pack like days of old. The kind of guy that would be building your extension until half 3 and then play that evening. The good old days...

Here is a mega stake in the ground to start a conflab then.

Gloucester: Will they win the Heineken Cup in the next five years?

If they get a couple of good front 5 forwards in - yes.

With Kvesic in they have exceptional talent from 7 to 15 who are young enough to stay together for 4-5 years, they just need to get the platform in front right.

[cheltenhamlion]

Who would you suggest? I got excited when Ryan was in charge and there was a preliminary deal done for Dontcha O C from Munster. It fell through.

Him and big, ginger Paul were astonishing at that time.