We were all going to Twickenham until ....

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AlphaWiseOwl
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We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by AlphaWiseOwl »

We stole their line out - great. Should have been game over. Stuff the ball up the jumper time or send it 80 yards down the field and make them run it in from there. Harrison took his eye off the ball, literally, began appealing to the ref with his arms outstretched (presumably trying to milk a penalty), the ball was out and while he was not looking, Wasps picked it up and a try was inevitable. Poor decision making at that crucial moment, and not taking care of the ball cost us a Twickenham Final and spoiled a great performance from the team. We deserved to win - and as soon as we nicked their line out - we should have.
Bristol Tiger
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by Bristol Tiger »

Bit harsh, there were various moments in the last 20 minutes where if and but would have won the game for us. (E.g. If Kitchener had been 1 metre to the right, no gap for one of the many breaks that gave Wasps so much momentum).

In general, I think the Wasps bench was better than ours though. They made an impact whereas we were losing our better players. The Wasps replacement scrum-half (sorry, cant remember his name) was an absolute live wire that really injected some pace into the Wasps game. I would have said he was the biggest reason for the last quarter dominance by Wasps and inevitable try.
AlphaWiseOwl
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by AlphaWiseOwl »

I'm only talking about the time from when we stole their line out in the final few minutes of the game. That was the crucial bit when they scored a try that we should never have given them the chance to.
tigercaspian
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by tigercaspian »

Er, being marched back 10 metres a minute before half-time thus giving Gopperth a kickable penalty??
AlphaWiseOwl
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by AlphaWiseOwl »

AlphaWiseOwl wrote:I'm only talking about the time from when we stole their line out in the final few minutes of the game.
Which bit of that sentence do you not understand? If you concede points just before half time there is ample time for you to catch up. Conceding points which lose you the game, just minutes from time when you did not need to, and after having won back possession? Honestly?
tigerburnie
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by tigerburnie »

It's the old clever with hindsight scenario, if he'd been given a penalty and we kicked up field and won the lineout in their half, you'd be hailing him as a hero. We lost and no individual in a Tigers shirt was to blame.
"If you want entertainment, go to the theatre," says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. "Rugby players play the game to win.15/1/21.
Iain
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by Iain »

It's a valid criticism. You should be playing to the whistle rather than appealing for a penalty. It probably could have been a penalty, I get why he was appealing, but yeah.... fine margins isn't it. I certainly won't blame him for it as it just doesn't feel right to apportion blame to anyone after that.
tigerburnie
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by tigerburnie »

Sadly part of the game, YBY does it all the time, I'd like to see it stopped, a bit footballish for my liking.
"If you want entertainment, go to the theatre," says Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill. "Rugby players play the game to win.15/1/21.
Christophelp
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Re: We were all going to Twickenham until ....

Post by Christophelp »

AlphaWiseOwl wrote:We stole their line out - great. Should have been game over. Stuff the ball up the jumper time or send it 80 yards down the field and make them run it in from there. Harrison took his eye off the ball, literally, began appealing to the ref with his arms outstretched (presumably trying to milk a penalty), the ball was out and while he was not looking, Wasps picked it up and a try was inevitable. Poor decision making at that crucial moment, and not taking care of the ball cost us a Twickenham Final and spoiled a great performance from the team. We deserved to win - and as soon as we nicked their line out - we should have.
I think that's at best very harsh on Harrison - the forwards supporting Williams at the breakdown 'lost' the ball. Gopperth was excellent to make the tackle, get back to his feet, nick the ball and get it back on his side all very quickly.

Those supporting Williams didn't seem to recognise the threat that Gopperth posed, almost as if he wasn't going to try to win the ball - a 10/12 tackling a back row forward and securing a turnover at the breakdown? He wasn't cleared out quickly enough.

Yes, Harrison shouldn't have paused and held his hands out but he didn't do that until Gopperth had already got the ball back to Thompson. The ball was never there in a position for Harrison to pick up.

And yes, I've looked at the phase of play several times - on the day I couldn't understand how we'd lost the ball and on first viewing of the replay I thought Gopperth had infringed but it was admittedly excellent play by him and a moments naivety/hesitation by our support players.
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