The old Harry Thacker debate

[Hinckley Bob]

As long as he keeps putting it in for the club and performs well as a club player - good on 'im!! You cant dispute his guts and drive for the shirt. Good to watch, last night as Mercer said he was the proverbial pain in the ass!!

What Mercer said on interview and unprompted, was "Harry Thacker, what a player he is!" and I agree. We must not lose him through lack of game time.

[Noddy555]

Once again a superb display by Young Harry yesterday, mind you the Dragons were not much opposition and I can see why they are the weakest of the 4 Welsh provincial sides, nevertheless you can only play the opposition that's put in front of you. I don't know the state of Tom Youngs fitness so maybe Harry might get a chance next week against the Quins even if only from the bench.

[ourla]

Did Thacker get on the pitch on Sunday and how did he play?

[Iain]

Did Thacker get on the pitch on Sunday and how did he play?

Yes and not bad at all. Did a very competent job without being stand out. Not wishing to damn with faint praise, he just did his job well.

Oh, and a more than competent clearing kick under pressure too!

[BFG]

Did Thacker get on the pitch on Sunday and how did he play?

Yes he got on eventually.
I recall one throw in not straight and a few penalties against at the scrum, Quins Dickson seemed to see something about the angle of our scrum and kept on at the ref as 9's tend to do, but more noticeably and annoying to watch Thacker kept standing static at first receiver in direct line between the breakdown and the fly half which a bunch of schoolboys could read.
Not a great performance but then few did!

[sam16111986]

Did Thacker get on the pitch on Sunday and how did he play?

Yes he got on eventually.
I recall one throw in not straight and a few penalties against at the scrum, Quins Dickson seemed to see something about the angle of our scrum and kept on at the ref as 9's tend to do, but more noticeably and annoying to watch Thacker kept standing static at first receiver in direct line between the breakdown and the fly half which a bunch of schoolboys could read.
Not a great performance but then few did!

Well neither the lineout nor scrum went well all game, Thacker had no real impact nor did the set piece go any worse.

The position in attack is scripted. If the ten calls for it then the forward runs on and the ball goes behind him. Otherwise Thacker did a decent job taking the ball and either popping to another player on the shoulder or making yards.

It was a decent performance and as Iain says he did his job in a game where our defence was more important than our attack.

[LE18]

Sorry but I counted 4 scrums and 4 infringements, 2 were penalties and 2 free kicks! He is good around the field and Kitto demonstrated why Thacker should retrain as a 9, he is not a 2.

[sam16111986]

Sorry but I counted 4 scrums and 4 infringements, 2 were penalties and 2 free kicks! He is good around the field and Kitto demonstrated why Thacker should retrain as a 9, he is not a 2.

Well we won at least one scrum on our own line after Cilliers came on and got one free kick and then one penalty from Quins early engaging so it clearly wasn't that bad. Especially when you consider we were something like 3-1 down on terms of scrum penalties either just before half time or just after (I can't remember exactly when I saw the graphic).

The scrum has been a problem all season irrespective of who's been in there. We just aren't as dominant as we used to be in that department.

[BFG]

Did Thacker get on the pitch on Sunday and how did he play?

Yes he got on eventually.
I recall one throw in not straight and a few penalties against at the scrum, Quins Dickson seemed to see something about the angle of our scrum and kept on at the ref as 9's tend to do, but more noticeably and annoying to watch Thacker kept standing static at first receiver in direct line between the breakdown and the fly half which a bunch of schoolboys could read.
Not a great performance but then few did!

Well neither the lineout nor scrum went well all game, Thacker had no real impact nor did the set piece go any worse.

The position in attack is scripted. If the ten calls for it then the forward runs on and the ball goes behind him. Otherwise Thacker did a decent job taking the ball and either popping to another player on the shoulder or making yards.

It was a decent performance and as Iain says he did his job in a game where our defence was more important than our attack.

Pretty much what I put if you calm down and read between the lines!

[fortysix]

At the top level he is a total liability at 2, but would make a superb 9

[ourla]

Watched the game last night and he seemed to do fine to me.

I think he should be given the No 2 hooker berth behind Youngs. It's now or never IMO. If I was him I would be off at the end of the season if it that wasn't the case.

GO

[BengalTiger]

I suppose it is the nature of internet forums but some here take an opinion about something or someone and take any opportunity to air that opinion, Harry Thacker by virtue of his size must make the scrum weaker, just like big hookers make it stronger, of course technique comes into it as well but a good big un will always beat a good little un as the saying goes.
However, his contribution around the park and accurate throwing add something else to the mix, so stop being binary it is the coaches job to balance the plusses from the minuses. remember opinions are like :censored: everyone's got one but some are firmer than others but it is still an .....

[LE18]

Sorry Bengal but the job of the forwards is to win the ball, especially at the scrum and has been shown many times our scrum has been going backwards, if you are not doing your job, then it's not going to help being good around the field, backwards slow ball etc is no good to anyone, it's a pity that a tigers aren't able to play Bateman at hooker, that gives a match up to big hookers like George.
On another tack, I thought that when Kitchener came on he improved our scrum, maybe his extra weight over Crofts made the difference, reenforcing my theories about Thacker!

[sebco]

so didn't anyone here hear the stat from BT sport during the Dragons game, apparently at that point we had just had our 36th scrum of the season and only lost 3 of them, not a stat that says your pack are going backwards.

[BFG]

BengalTiger
I suppose it is the nature of internet forums but some here take an opinion about something or someone and take any opportunity to air that opinion, Harry Thacker by virtue of his size must make the scrum weaker, just like big hookers make it stronger, of course technique comes into it as well but a good big un will always beat a good little un as the saying goes.
However, his contribution around the park and accurate throwing add something else to the mix, so stop being binary it is the coaches job to balance the plusses from the minuses. remember opinions are like everyone's got one but some are firmer than others but it is still an .....

Opinions are given just like any other topic but just maybe some believe this area is having a particularly big impact.
The scrum is not going backwards (apart from against the best teams) but it isn't going forwards either.
Rugby is a simple game.
Leicester aren't being dominated by everyone up front but also they aren't dominating anyone.
I think credit must go to the current props for coping to the extent that they have.
I don't see scrummagers of the level Ayerza at his peak being easily acquired in the future given the competition for signings now in the Premiership and elsewhere but that doesn't mean we should accept a weaker scrum just because there is an idea that we might not be able to dominate as we once did, that's a dangerous tactic to play because scrummaging in rugby has and will continue to have a very big part to play in many matches.
There is no doubt that Thacker has something to offer but you have got to be in a position to add that as a positive without any negatives!
I think Thacker needs to do more at scrum time to contribute positively to creating a high quality unit otherwise Leicester need to acquire props of the level that can excel in his presence and common sense tells me that is not physically possible in elite rugby union.
If Leicester don't acquire more scrummagers like Ayerza at his peak in the future then even better scrummaging hookers will be required to redress some of the balance otherwise the entire thing could end very badly.