OK Someone has to say this.

[GS]

Saturday's performance was the last in a series of slightly dodgy ones' We could have done better against Stade, but it was a dead rubber for us. The Glaws game was disappointing, we shouldn't be relying on last minute wins against that level of opposition. I don't think it's as bad as some on here, Sale are a useful team. It will be a real test of the coaches and how well the players can cope and get back on track.

We are still a team in development and we are suffering from missing players. The fact that the whole league appeared to be having an off day in awful conditions has helped but we must kick on. He might not be with us any more but remember -

KEEP THE FAITH

[Roly]

Utter dross today, sorry but point blank there's no hiding place.

Sale weren't good, they were competent, at best, in my opinion. We were just far worse.

Matt Tait in the centres absolutely killed much of the (sparse) momentum today, the constant hanging on to ball when passes were on is getting more and more frustrating. I love him to bits and am glad he stayed but he was a bit of a black hole today.

Betham was wasted on the wing compared with his impact in the centres, he made himself be involved and made yards, but quite often he and Camacho were unused. I thought Camacho looked OK today, nothing flash but took the high balls, made some yards and made his tackles from what I remember.

Players getting in each others way, passing to players standing still and expecting them to break the line, never going to happen.

Wigglesworth wasn't to blame for our complete lack of achievement, but he still came up with some weird decisions IMO, yep, it's a blinkered opinion of an awful ref, seemed to do his best to whistle Sale into the game early doors with little consistency.

Plenty of times I've seen players going for the ball one handed and knocking on being sent for a 10 minute sit down, no such consideration for Cipriani from Wiggly.

We looked completely bereft of ideas. Clueless. Rudderless. Leaderless. It was like turning the clock back 12 or 24 months.

Cockers said Ayerza was concussed from last week, Veainu wasn't quite right, didn't pick up on why OTY pulled out during warm up but saw him wander off pitch not looking happy. Ed Slater cut his hand badly (shades of Ant Allen....) making his kids' breakfast this morning. Can't remember why he said Goneva was unavailable but all should be ready for next week - we'll need them.

Lineout was awful, worked our way into good areas only for either poor calls or poor throws to undo us.

Scrum wasn't too bad, but not great, the absence of a 'hook' was evident as both packs held steady and the ball was pretty slow.

Matt Smith led the way IMO, as much as he could.

Sale weren't great, probably value for a win in the big scheme of things, we were lucky Celebriani didn't bring his kicking boots or the scoreline could have been embarrassing and we'd have missed LBP that we didn't really deserve anyway.

Can't win them all, and maybe it's a timely kick in the backside. Onwards to Newcastle I guess, although we need those missing players back if today is anything to go buy.

I guess when the match is available to watch online some things will seem clearer, but not sure I actually want to sit through that again.

But....but.... this was an easy game wasn't it? Just like Gloucester was... and Falcons will be....? 5 pointer in the bag wasn't it?

Cipriani missed 5 penalties, it could have been a drubbing.

Seriously, I said before the game that Sale would come up and go for it. They're the dark horses this year. Complacency has started to creep into the mind-set of some Tigers' supporters - and it would seem, the players and coaching staff too.

The chasing pack are much closer now, a few more shambolic performances like that, and suddenly a top four finish looks doubtful - and bare in mind that even if it were achieved, only a really good run now will prevent an away play-off semi final to either Exeter or Saracens.

[thebearisstilldeano]

Before I say this can I just clarify this is a mere observation and not meant as a criticism of anyone else here, but we do tend to review games as though the performance of the Tigers were the only factor in them.

I think Sale (and Steve Diamond in particular) deserve credit for the result. Their win was not solely down to us playing badly as some of the reactions so far might imply.

They had a clear game plan. They didn't come to win, they came with a game designed primarily to stop us winning, and if, in the process they could get a result, all the better.

They came determined to stop Tigers playing by majoring on defence and the breakdown. In this they had a little help from the ref (the breakdowns were all messy, arms and legs flailing everywhere, bodies on the wrong side etc) and from the conditions which they judged perfectly.

I say this not in a pejorative way, but for me they looked like a side who set out to play the game like a league one (or lower) contest. Yes one can say we did not adjust or adapt, but Rugby is an interesting game because the talent does not always overcome the grit and desire.

So well done Sale and lets not simply assume Tigers are solely responsible for everything that happens. Sometimes the opposition have a say!

[Jose]

Has everybody forgotten the conditions? We were effectively minus 6 of our first choice pack and our first choice half backs. It was a classic wet weather game in truly foul conditions. The pitch (understandably given the recent weather) was not the best. Sale were basically full strength with their starting half backs. We've adapted our game this year to be more open and less forward dominated. We were minus some of our best carriers (Youngs, Slater, Williams, Fonua, Pearce), plus our outstanding player this season for creating opportunities (Veainu). We still made occasional inroads, but there was not a lot of chance for off loads and its hard to accelerate through half gaps on mud. Also Sale defended extremely well throughout the entire game, with good line speed and zero mistakes. And Wigglesworth was his typical fussy self. I'm not saying we weren't rubbish, but even before the game started I thought the withdrawals of Veainu and Youngs probably tipped the game from 50/50 to one I thought we'd have to do very well to win. There were also a couple of odd calls (sticks not corner at 3-3) and taking Crane off. But overall, although clearly not a good afternoon I'm sure they're aware of that and will work on it this week, so some perspective and realism is always helpful.

[Iain]

Like I said in the other thread - something evident so far this season for all the good is that we are lacking the nouse to adapt properly to poor weather conditions.

[Roly]

Like I said in the other thread - something evident so far this season for all the good is that we are lacking the nouse to adapt properly to poor weather conditions.

And, lest we forget, Tigers were utter rubbish..

[ourla]

A number of things I think worthy of note IMO:

1) A few posters have questioned if we are in a sticky spell. Well we scored try of the week last week and took Saints apart in the first 20 minutes. All the promise is still there, even if we've been poor at other times.

2) We play Chiefs and Sarries at home in March. Those matches will have a big bearing on where we end up. Predicting anything before that is almost impossible IMO. Let's see what side we have out and how we perform in those games.

3) People still seem to forget that the Prem is, thankfully, much more competitive, in general, than it was a decade ago. And certainly this season probably for the first time in a while there isn't a true patsy. Teams like Saints and Bath have been found out and have had a far harder time than we have.

4) The Euro QF is April 10th. The Prem runs through into May. That's what you build towards.

That all said, Saturday needs to be the low point of the season. I'm hopeful it will be. Let's see.

[Iain]

Like I said in the other thread - something evident so far this season for all the good is that we are lacking the nouse to adapt properly to poor weather conditions.

And, lest we forget, Tigers were utter rubbish.

Yes they were. Completely.

But I do think a large part of that is we struggle in poor weather at the minute. There's a pattern and it appears to be something we need to work on.

[Roly]

Like I said in the other thread - something evident so far this season for all the good is that we are lacking the nouse to adapt properly to poor weather conditions.

And, lest we forget, Tigers were utter rubbish.

Yes they were. Completely.

But I do think a large part of that is we struggle in poor weather at the minute. There's a pattern and it appears to be something we need to work on.

Dude....! Rugby is a winter sport!

[Maximus66]

Is it my imagination, or have we all but stopped competing at opposition line-outs?
As I recall on Saturday, we didn't compete for one till Crofty came on.
I have noticed this in other matches this season.
Feel free to correct me and/or offer an analysis as to why.

[G.K]

Is it my imagination, or have we all but stopped competing at opposition line-outs?
As I recall on Saturday, we didn't compete for one till Crofty came on.
I have noticed this in other matches this season.
Feel free to correct me and/or offer an analysis as to why.

We are standing off a lot more and not competing, which is odd when Kitch was one of the top line out stealers

[jgriffin]

A number of things I think worthy of note IMO:

1) A few posters have questioned if we are in a sticky spell. Well we scored try of the week last week and took Saints apart in the first 20 minutes. All the promise is still there, even if we've been poor at other times.

2) We play Chiefs and Sarries at home in March. Those matches will have a big bearing on where we end up. Predicting anything before that is almost impossible IMO. Let's see what side we have out and how we perform in those games.

3) People still seem to forget that the Prem is, thankfully, much more competitive, in general, than it was a decade ago. And certainly this season probably for the first time in a while there isn't a true patsy. Teams like Saints and Bath have been found out and have had a far harder time than we have.

4) The Euro QF is April 10th. The Prem runs through into May. That's what you build towards.

That all said, Saturday needs to be the low point of the season. I'm hopeful it will be. Let's see.

Would agree with all this comment. Just a feeling that Tigers have targeted staying in the EC as a bottom line and either playoff as a target - one that has already been hit. Resources being carefully cherished and marshalled towards playing red-hot rugby with a full side in March onwards, and if that brings an AP playoff, all targets hit.

[Latecomer]

When Ed Slater came to take his seat near us on Saturday I asked him about the injury and he reckoned he'd only be out for a couple of weeks. With thirteen stitches in his hand?? Surely that's optimistic.

[The Boy Dave]

And, lest we forget, Tigers were utter :censored:.

I suppose the trick is to be consistently :censored: and get consistent results, a bit more like your Sorries loverboys Roly!
You may as well come out!

[Roly]

And, lest we forget, Tigers were utter :censored:.

I suppose the trick is to be consistently rubbish and get consistent results, a bit more like your Sorries loverboys Roly!
You may as well come out!

I suppose anyone would be completely stupid to want their team to have the consistency that Saracens have this year, rubbish or not ('not' actually in any case).... you can bet Saracens wouldn't have lost at home to Sale by ambling round the field of play whilst playing with their pish flaps for all the good it did them.

Oh yeah, I love Sarries.