I assumed Leeming was a bit of a dead leg (thigh) but I was at the game and not rewatched as yet.

It was definitely an ankle. He grimaced in pain but then seemed to run it off. He must've played around 10 minutes on it and despite whatever pain he may have been in he seemed to move freely on it for his try and in the minutes before.

I'm not an expert but could the protective boot and crutches be purely a precautionary measure to give him the best chance of making it to the WCC? Or at least until they get a proper diagnosis for it.

I may be being a bit optimistic with that but its the fact prior to being subbed he was running on it etc.

I really hope these injuries don’t spoil the season. We look on to a good one and I know it part and parcel of the game but I’m counting 6 players out (including Harvard and Juniour) in two games is just a joke.

We’ll be ok. None of the injuries are overly long term and the depth we have means there isn’t a major drop off. The one injury that could be a longer term worry is Thompson getting another head knock. He was having major issues with that but then obviously didn’t play much due to other injury problems. To get one in his first competitive game for the club is far from ideal.

I hope the club have some clauses baked into his contract around the issue. Like you said he's got previous with it and whilst I don't think this stuff is as serious as people make out, the rules say he can't play. If he's getting these regularly (which he is) then I hope the right conversations will be had.

I hope this is just a coincidence. It was a heavy knock he took from Byrne when you look at the injuries he copped - cut to the mouth, black eye, cut to the head. There is no doubt that he staggered slightly following the impact but it took a significant period for the medical team to remove him which I found bizarre. I think Luke would be better advised using some kind of head guard.

If it had been an innocuous challenge and Thompson had gone off with a concussion then it would be time to worry but that was a fair old crack he took there so give him a week or even two off and I reckon he'll be fine

Mago had one of his best games for the club last night. Put some minutes in too, probably about fifty overall. It's like having a new player, he'll definitely be up for it on Saturday.

He throws himself into every challenge on attack and defence. Something that made him stick out in his early days and last night he was class and i like to see it from a forward a Paleaaesina style run but it can cause these sorts of injuries. It’s a catch 22 really need them barnstorming runs that skittle players but 1 in 10 of those runs your going to come off second best. I’m sure the club will take care of Luke. Hopefully more is learned about head knocks and there are things we can do to combat them.

I would expect Leeming to be the backup half if Smith is banned (assuming Leeming is even fit) with Farrimond second choice and possibly on the bench.

If Keighran didn’t get banned for his tip tackle in the Hull preseason game, I don’t expect Smith to get banned.

I watched the Keighran one on KPP in the GF earlier and that is worse than last nights and he got a game for that. I thought there looked nothing in the Smith one from the first angle, which was behind him but then they show the other angle and it looks a bit worse but Hooley ducks his head in toward the ground himself. I don’t know why players are doing that. Kev Brown was saying no player would do that to try and win a penalty but it just doesn’t seem natural.

I think he probably will get a 1-2 game ban but if anything saves him it will be the fact that Hooley ducks his head plus a pretty clean previous record (maybe even a spotless record - can't recall any previous charges).

Either way though domestic bans should not count for internationals (club or country). Its just shooting ourselves in the foot ala George Williams prior to last year's test series.

I like Kev Brown and he's an excellent pundit for the most part. He does have a tendency to say something ridiculous and then feel duty bound to back it up. It stupid to say no player would do that when it happens all the time! Welsby was always looking to do it in his early days. Possibly he judges other players by what he would do himself. Who knows? You only need to look at the angle of Hooley's head makes it clear he was looking for a penalty.

I just watched the game back and the Watts one could be seen both ways. Watts clearly has no intentions to wrap his arms Westerman lazily attempted to put an arm round. Dupree did appear to be a little stooped. Be interesting to read the match panels verdict on it. I think he’ll be seeing a couple of games for a shoulder charge. For me Smith should have seen red was no need for that tackle. He should get banned for a few games off the back of that. Cas then went on to play for every pen going.