Quote: NickyKiss "If Walters does come in I could see it being a straight swap for Nsemba but we'll see. That would get him in a position where he can play in the semi if needed and Nsemba would still be match sharp, even if he doesn't play on Saturday.
We've played plenty of games this season with no second row cover on the bench, including the WCC and we didn't use Nsemba on Good Friday, so I'm not convinced Peet will go down the route of having 3 in his 17. I would want the 3 of them in the 17 for this weekend and for the semi tbh. I love what Nsemba is bringing but I don't think he's ready yet to be playing 80 minutes every week, especially in a challenge cup semi.'"
At some point in the near future Farrell will have to do less than 80 minutes in quite a few games and even be excluded from the starting 17 re his available minutes left for the season. It’s a potential issue as the season progresses. As well as missing Isa’s excellent defence we will really miss his leadership when Farrell cannot be on the pitch. I think having a second row forward on the bench going forward will be standard practice with possibly the CCF being the exception if we get there plus maybe the 2 remaining Saints fixtures.
Playing Ellis/Thompson/Mago at 13 ensures that we will always have at least 5 props in the starting 17.