Transfers

[Peej]

Originally Posted by bp.

Don't make me laugh, i have seen toddlers run with balls better than he has, yeh he is fairly quick but every time i have seen him run into contact he has been hit and driven back or dumped, i haven't actually ever seen him palm anyone off or run through them.

No offense mate, but you clearly know jack-**** about it. How regularly do you watch Wasps? Not often by the sounds of things. His first international try was scored by slicing through a defensive line and then racing towards the line - a bit faster than "fairly quick."

Do you ever think the fact that he carries the ball up in midfield, rather than merely being a show pony waiting for it to come to him, is a good thing? Yeah, he might get driven back, but how often does he lose the ball in contact? Very rarely.

[Greiffel]

Sale have completed the signing of Samoa wing Mikaele Pesamino from New Zealand province Auckland.

The 26-year-old was the International Rugby Board sevens player of the year in 2009/10 and the leading try-scorer in this year's World Series with 56.

"This is a massive signing," said Sale head coach Mike Brewer.

"He had the choice of joining other clubs in the UK but has chosen Sale. He's incredibly quick and I'm sure our supporters will be very impressed."

Pesamino scored three tries in the Samoan XV-a-side team's 73-12 victory over Papua New Guinea last year, a win which saw them qualify for the 2011 World Cup.

The 6ft 2in winger, who was born on the Samoan island of Upolu, has played for Auckland in the Air NZ Cup since 2007.

Sale have been busy in the transfer market this summer following a disappointing season in which they narrowly avoided relegation.

Utility back Matty James, full-back Paul Williams, props Aston Croall and Karena Wihongi and lock Wame Lewaravu are among the new faces at Edgeley Park for the new season.

The 2006 Premiership winners take on Newcastle in their opening game of the new season in September.

This was announced yesterday. Interesting move. You'd think a player like that would want to push for a Super 15 contract rather. All the best to him though. He's a helluva exciting runner.

[4Lc4TR4Z]

Originally Posted by Sarcain

We'll miss him at Wasps, but I totally understand why he's going.

(Crap... One of them came from my pocket )

[Sarcain]

Originally Posted by 4Lc4TR4Z

(Crap... One of them came from my pocket )

Ah - so that explains where Toulon are getting their money from! At least your investment looks to be working well 4Lc4TR4Z ;->.

[Sarcain]

So...Mr Powell has decided to move, not into League, but instead into a famously coached by a League-man Union club.

Our website is pretty positive (as you'd expect it to be):
http://www.wasps.co.uk/news/wasps31657.ink

but the BBC swings more in the other direction:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugb...sh/8811293.stm

He's spent time in France and with the Tigers briefly, and I'm not sure how I feel about this move. There's no doubt he's a great player, but I've seen his attacking threat nullified too often by international defences to be convinced by this. He sometimes seems just to run into isolation trouble, which was a bit of a problem for us last year. We weren't sharp enough with some of our basic handling skills, made too many simple errors and lacked defensive cohesion.

Does anyone have any insight into his defensive game as an 8? If he can pull the centres into line and link well with Simpson, it could turn out to be an excellent move.

Either way - I'm happy for an International player to move into the team and to give Ward Smith something to think about at 8 (although I know we've been moving him to lock of late).