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Nat2S status 2019-2020 |
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Darth Raider 
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Joined: 12 Mar 2010 Location: Sussex Status: Offline Points: 1775 |
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 Topic: Nat2S status 2019-2020Posted: 08 Sep 2019 at 20:50 |
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I thought I'd start this thread a fair bit earlier than usual after taking a look at the Nat2S league table and wondering........i wonder how much different it might be at the end of the season ? Clearly, there will be much change over a further 29 games, but I would be surprised if some of the bits at the top and bottom are not already quite close to how it will all end ?
Otherwise, I suspect that each year, we all expect the team/s relegated from Nat1 will, if not bounce back up, that they will do very well. That has raerely been the case and most of these teams have been surprised by the standard. I personally thought ESher would buck this trend and they may yet do so, but very well done indeed to Choppers on their tight win. The fixtures secretary was not kind to either Sutton or Bournemouth......the latter will have been none too surprised having had a fair amount of more recent experience. I hope both sides did not lose players to injury in these rugged early encounters. Both will be aware that in all likelihood, survival MAY depend on winning home games against the lesser lights in this very tough league. Westcliff will be gutted I am sure to lose their own first game so late on against Dings. My lot started slowly against Old Reds.....absent their mercurial winger Bird. I thought that their half back were pretty good.....although the 10 who I saw against us before.....Kieron Hill ?? was missing....good player I thought. The pack were decent again, with the old guard of Pursall, Fry and Doyle all evident in the loose. That said.....on just this showing they might be in for another relegation battle.....just IMO of course. Another great season ahead  |
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Jester10
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Posted: 09 Sep 2019 at 14:23 |
Henry Bird had a storming debut for Rams away at Cambridge, bagged a brace and looked very dangerous whenever he got the ball.
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Enjoying life!
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Darth Raider
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Posted: 09 Sep 2019 at 14:47 |
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Hi Jester........i noted your fine opening win at Granchester.....not an easy place to go first up and you must be pleased with the 5pts ? not so pleased with shipping 32pts against though ? is it the longer term plan to deploy Henry at 15 ? I can see the logic but not sure about his kicking ?
Where was Jumpin Jack ? I note the absence of any tries from Ben Henderson so assume your rolling maul was not as effective as usual ? Well done regardless........6th to 8th a good result this year ?
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Jester10
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Posted: 09 Sep 2019 at 14:51 |
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We were very pleased with the 5 points, albeit 18 points clear with 10 minutes or so to go.....
I'm not privy to the Coaching set up, so don't know if Henry will always be at 15. Jumping Jak played for the 2's who also beat Cambridge 2's on the day. Hendo was outstanding, as usual, in fact the Cambridge Mail likened on of his runs to Johnny May, hopefully he hasn't read that. Just for a change, all five Rams tries came from the backs. I'd take 6th to 8th any day. Possibly a different challenge against Mosley this Saturday. Early days......... |
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Darth Raider
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Posted: 15 Sep 2019 at 20:47 |
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result of the week for me was Leicester Lions dramatic and conclusive win against OA's, who most would think of as an upper table prospect this year. what do we learn from this ? well a fair bit thanks to tigerburnies match report. i assume that LL have a pretty decent pack......they seem to have scored 4 tries from second row forwards in this game
 That is more than Canterbury scored all last season and the same as TJ's season total.......to give it some context. so is this LL forward excellence or a real weakness at OA's ? the answer is usually a combination of the two but we will find out more as the season progresses and MAYBE get a contribution from posters who were there ?  Otherwise, there is a chance that both the bottom 4 teams and the top 6 have already arranged themselves approximately  Unlikely i know, but it is not far from my own estimate of how the season will turn out. While LL have set their stall out for a competitive season, it would seem that S & E, Westcliffe, Bourne mouth and to a lesser extent Old Reds, are showing early signs of struggling to make the grade ? any posters from these clubs have a reason to disagree with that ? I personally was not too surprised to see Clifton e\win their derby......they looked a quality side to me last year and their league position did not seem to me, to reflect that. After losing at the Recreation ground and only scoring 8pts in doing so, i did onder if Esher might struggle at combative Barnes, who (i think) finished strongly last year. the result, 34-61, was a bit of a contrast ? anybody at the game explain this ? were barnes realky poor or esher excellent ? another interesting result was at taunton......choppers rarely great on the road and i wondered if the titans might impose themselves and rack up the points ? any observations from those in attendance ? can titans challenge for promotion this year ? my lot did ok at Chapel Gate......Bournemouth unbeaten at home since Oct 17......albeit at level 5. they have a pack that might cause some sides a problem and troubled us a bit. i suspect that the lack of a backs threat might be a problem for them. best of luck to all though......early days and maybe there are a lot of injuries out there ? |
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tigerburnie
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Posted: 15 Sep 2019 at 21:33 |
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Leicester Lions had a shocking start to the season last year with a fairly new side, by Christmas they were turning in some good performances and beating sides away and some of those at the top of the table. A large portion of that side are still here along with some astute signings, so I expect them to be difficult to beat at home. How they will adapt to some of the long journeys playing in the south is something we will have to wait and see. They seem to have a very good attitude and seem to be a good bunch who get on and play for each other, no idea where they will end up at the sharp end of the season, but I do know they will give it their best.
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RedPete
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Posted: 16 Sep 2019 at 10:39 |
When I saw the Redruth team in the programme, my initial thoughts were that Taunton would struggle. In fact Taunton dominated most areas of the game and, as the score suggests, won pretty comfortably. I agree, Redruth struggle on the road and even though ours is their closest away fixture it's still a pretty tiring journey on an unseasonally hot day. The thing that has impressed me has been the Taunton defence which stifled the Redruth (and Bournemouth) attacks, an area which was a problem during the pre-season. I can't remember if Julian Salvi played in the pre-season but he has been impressive the past two weeks. I'm not sure if he will be available due to Exeter commitments (the premiership cup starts this weekend). The new scrum half (James Tait) has impressed in both games, maybe we wont miss Jordan Petherbridge after all
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Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
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Darth Raider
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Posted: 16 Sep 2019 at 12:02 |
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Hi Pete......thanks for the update. it will be interesting to see how both defences perform next saturday ?
titans beat Raiders 62-24 at home last year, only to lose the away fixture 66-31......though the latter result probably had an end-of-season flavour to it for your team. Did I see Gary K playing at 10 recently ?
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RedPete
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Posted: 16 Sep 2019 at 12:13 |
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Hi Darth,
Yes, Gary K played 10 in both games. He was replaced in the second half against Redruth by Lewis Webb (who was unavailable the previous week). We have injuries to our other 10s (Toby East and Sam Brown). I reckon Lewis Webb will play mostly at 10 this season, as I said James Tait has been impressive so far. Gary's replacement 15 is playing well also. Pete
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Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
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The Hawks
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Posted: 16 Sep 2019 at 13:52 |
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I see my old friend from Worthing forgot to mention that The Hawks are still top of the league and we play Bournemouth next, so another high scoring game on the cards? After that we play Taunton at their place, we have won for the past two years and gutted I can’t be there!, then on the 19rh Oct we are at TJ’s, a place we haven’t won yet!! Let’s see the table after that game to give us an indication how we are progressing??
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'Go The Hawks!'
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Darth Raider
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Posted: 16 Sep 2019 at 15:16 |
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hmmm......fair point i suppose Nick. i know it is really early to be making dumb predictions, but dumb predictions are my speciality
 it is highly likely that Titans, Esher and maybe one or two others may turn out to be very good sides this year, but I can't see past a TJ's/Hawks battle for the title. Scoring 50pts AND putting a nil on Old Reds was worryingly good. I shall of course, pray for disaster to befall you at some point but suspect it will do no good
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Raider999
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Posted: 16 Sep 2019 at 18:24 |
Of course the flip side to the long trips south for LL are that southern sides have the same trip up north (albeit only once a season). This and an obviously strong pack offers LL a good chance of picking enough points at home to stay up. I agree with Darth, it is difficult to see beyond TJs and Henley at this stage. |
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RAID ON
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Clueless like most
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Joined: 29 Jun 2016 Location: london Status: Offline Points: 594 |
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Posted: 17 Sep 2019 at 08:57 |
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Looking at the results, Taunton have had the tougher fixture list so far. I think there are a number of teams in the mix but there will be a big split in the league again this year. Taunton, TJs, Henley, Redruth all in the mix come the end of the year.
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Clueless like most
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Posted: 17 Sep 2019 at 12:40 |
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Along with Esher
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honestinjun
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Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 01:05 |
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Esher were far too strong and quick for Barnes on Saturday, 2 yellow cards in the first 20 mins gave Esther a 28-0 advantage and we were always going to struggle. We tackled poorly too but irrespective of that Esther were electric.
Edited by honestinjun - 20 Sep 2019 at 22:19 |
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HonestInjun
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JJC
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Joined: 10 Jan 2019 Location: Swindon Status: Offline Points: 50 |
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Posted: 18 Sep 2019 at 11:35 |
Darth, I believe Saul Nelson has had Kieron Hill follow him to Cross Keys, he is a very good player who lacked confidence at moving up whilst playing under his dad at Clevedon, he moved to Taunton and Dings I believe also Hornets before Old Reds. He has a great boot on him.
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Darth Raider
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Posted: 22 Sep 2019 at 23:11 |
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I was at the Rugby Park for the Titans game yesterday........very entertaining as the score might suggest. i have been watching Taunton home and away for a very long time now and although they have beaten us a number of times of late......i would say that this team have more quality than any i have seen before, by a clear margin. i would not be surprised if they lose their bridesmaids tag this year and challenge Hawks and TJ's strongly for the promotion places. they have a lot of good players and the fly half Tait is a real talent IMO. on the day, the blindside Williams was also exceptional. i would be interested (as ever) to hear Titans views.....particularly if you were at the match. we were none too shoddy either
well done to Lions again.....they seem to be establishing themselves well in this league. i was gutted that i did not go against the grain and predict a Barnes win, which i really fancied......although 2-5 to be fair. but i followed the herd. bum otherwise.....results pretty much followed expectations. it seemed that we had some good new posters from our new sides to the league......i know results have not gone well so far but was hoping for some thoughts or input regardless ?
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The Hawks
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Posted: 23 Sep 2019 at 13:01 |
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Darth,
This weeks game against Taunton is going to be a cracker, I will crossing all my toes and fingers, hoping for a Hawks win. It would be nice to hear your views about us the following weekend, that’s if you are coming up?? Early days yet, but it looks like a four team race, Hawks, TJ, Taunton & Esher at the moment, early days yet!! |
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'Go The Hawks!'
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RedPete
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Posted: 23 Sep 2019 at 13:52 |
VERY early days Hawks - Taunton have been here many times!
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Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
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Clueless like most
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Posted: 23 Sep 2019 at 14:46 |
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Taunton shipped a lot of points against Worthing. Were both teams just fantastic with ball in hand or is this to be an achilles heel? Worthing are good with ball in hand and hard to beat at home.
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Darth Raider wrote: