Tigers v Bath

[MikeR]

I too thought Blaze lucky to survive last year and this shambles shows that he has learn't nothing . Our line out was poor defensively and even worse in attack .Tom Youngs had yet another poor game and Thacker was not much better when he came on . Mulipola and Kalamafoni were completely anonymous and the only go forawrd was when Mike Williams and Bateman came on . Perhaps the ref was poor , but nowhere near as poor as us .

[westwinds31]

If you've played rugby, you'll know that combinations take more than a couple of pre season games to nail down. Toomua and Manu haven't played a competitive game for a year, but, they are both class operators and will sort it out. The line out is just work on the training pitch...again and again....and again. It's easy to look good when the defence is tiring, the bench did make an impact. Individual errors can be worked on. I'm not worried yet. Disappointed yes, but not worried. We didn't play that well and nearly won the game.

[BigDan50]

Looking at the fly halves today I think Preistland played a far better game than Ford and controlled the game, with Freddie Burns alongside Priestland as picks for Bath I'm convinced Bath have probably the best fly half pick in the premiership, when Ford goes off for England is our back up good enough. Another poor bit of recruiting by Leicester.

[BFG]

That went well!
I thought both teams could've scored more, they had some rub as did we, swings and roundabouts really but Bath probably deserved it.
Good rally at the end but to be expected against only 13 men.
I felt for Cole, my concerns were realised, put a midget who can't compete properly at set piece with a 6ft+ prop against a top side and he will likely be under pressure and end up long in the leg!
On the plus side it's only Stains next week and a chance to put a drubbing on someone, relegation candidates after only one loss against the European Champions, apparently!
Oh and one last thing really, Freddie would've nailed those conversions last season!

[Tigerbeat]

Looking at the fly halves today I think Preistland played a far better game than Ford and controlled the game, with Freddie Burns alongside Priestland as picks for Bath I'm convinced Bath have probably the best fly half pick in the premiership, when Ford goes off for England is our back up good enough. Another poor bit of recruiting by Leicester.

One Ford to another Ford!

[BigDan50]

Exactly, one Ford international class, one Ford championship class

[Mark62]

That went well!
I thought both teams could've scored more, they had some rub as did we, swings and roundabouts really but Bath probably deserved it.
Good rally at the end but to be expected against only 13 men.
I felt for Cole, my concerns were realised, put a midget who can't compete properly at set piece with a 6ft+ prop against a top side and he will likely be under pressure and end up long in the leg!
On the plus side it's only Stains next week and a chance to put a drubbing on someone, relegation candidates after only one loss against the European Champions, apparently!
Oh and one last thing really, Freddie would've nailed those conversions last season!

Coley dropped that scrum better 3 than 5 or 7.
Agreed though we need Mcguigan back asap and oty needs to stop trying so hard

[BFG]

That went well!
I thought both teams could've scored more, they had some rub as did we, swings and roundabouts really but Bath probably deserved it.
Good rally at the end but to be expected against only 13 men.
I felt for Cole, my concerns were realised, put a midget who can't compete properly at set piece with a 6ft+ prop against a top side and he will likely be under pressure and end up long in the leg!
On the plus side it's only Stains next week and a chance to put a drubbing on someone, relegation candidates after only one loss against the European Champions, apparently!
Oh and one last thing really, Freddie would've nailed those conversions last season!

Coley dropped that scrum better 3 than 5 or 7.
Agreed though we need Mcguigan back asap and oty needs to stop trying so hard

Absolutely Mark, Cole took one for him there, it would've been 7!

[jgriffin]

Bad things
Leadership on the park - Garvey was in the ref's ear almost all the game and was a proper leader on the park, OTY not. We have not sorted this out.
No 6 - Ryan was anonymous and we have better options
Lineout - total trash, really awful, coaching at fault. Bath just chucked someone big up at 2 or 5.
Scrum - not a lot wrong that can't be fixed TBH, this is one area the ref was missing some binding issues, and the penalty against cole was actually the Bath 17 dropping his bind first.
Midfield - To'omua went walkabout
Ball speed - Shazam's uncomplicated delivery actually freed up the midfield and gave us urgency and width
Support at breakdown - often sadly lacking, tho sometimes due to taking the ball on unsupported

Good things
Malouf has a hell of a tackle on him
Jonny May is a matchwinner
Mike Williams is better than Ryan (as is Hamilton)
Cole should start from now on
Last seasons players have a gel and a spirit that should not be marginalised

While the ref made a couple of stinky decisions, he is not to blame for our garbage!!!!

[drc_007]

Bad things
Leadership on the park - Garvey was in the ref's ear almost all the game and was a proper leader on the park, OTY not. We have not sorted this out.
No 6 - Ryan was anonymous and we have better options
Lineout - total trash, really awful, coaching at fault. Bath just chucked someone big up at 2 or 5.
Scrum - not a lot wrong that can't be fixed TBH, this is one area the ref was missing some binding issues, and the penalty against cole was actually the Bath 17 dropping his bind first.
Midfield - To'omua went walkabout
Ball speed - Shazam's uncomplicated delivery actually freed up the midfield and gave us urgency and width
Support at breakdown - often sadly lacking, tho sometimes due to taking the ball on unsupported

Good things
Malouf has a hell of a tackle on him
Jonny May is a matchwinner
Mike Williams is better than Ryan (as is Hamilton)
Cole should start from now on
Last seasons players have a gel and a spirit that should not be marginalised

While the ref made a couple of stinky decisions, he is not to blame for our garbage!!!!

Agree with all of this, didn't realise Ryan was even playing.

[westwinds31]

Rugby in 2017....Gloucester win and are apparently Top 4 contenders. Saints lose and are relegation candidates. Tigers lose at home and the world ends. Let's see what happens next week.

[Mark62]

Rugby in 2017....Gloucester win and are apparently Top 4 contenders. Saints lose and are relegation candidates. Tigers lose at home and the world ends. Let's see what happens next week.

Agree totally, let's see what the league table looks like after the 1st 6 games

[LE18]

Bateman is a class player, very good ball skills, why cant we play him in his proper position, Hooker and stop messing about?

[Clowbeck]

Bad things
Midfield - To'omua went walkabout
Ball speed - Shazam's uncomplicated delivery actually freed up the midfield and gave us urgency and width
Support at breakdown - often sadly lacking, tho sometimes due to taking the ball on unsupported

Good things
Malouf has a hell of a tackle on him
Jonny May is a matchwinner
Mike Williams is better than Ryan (as is Hamilton)

Good post, I'd add:
Midfield - To'omua taking three steps forward into a stationary tackle (repeatedly) pointless and a waste of his talent.
Ball speed - What a difference when Shazam came on. YBY's clear out at times is pedestrian
Veainu - Playing for the wonder try and retaining ball far to long
Support at breakdown and solo runs forward awful. YBY broke the line twice and had no support so ended up killing the ball. For me this hinted team either blowing far to much (conditioning) or tenacity not present (heart)
Ball distribution - Back line flat and just didnt make the yards as a unit.
Malouf - Pleasantly surprised with performance today after what I saw in pre-season games. You can certainly tell he's an ex-flanker. Good tackler and in the break down
Jonny May - What a signing, predictable and dependable. Got stuck into the carries in the last 20 mins.
Refereeing - Was shocking but not cause for defeat

Much of today's performance was reminiscent of this time last year. We just didnt look like a cohesive team today; focus as per last year must be on the basics.

[Duncan B]

For balance I disagree with the majority. I know the result was a bit disappointing but let's not forget this was our first fixture under a new coach; and a lot of new combinations. There were plenty of positives to take from it. We had threats all over the pitch which hasn't been the case for a long time, and I for one can't wait for next weekend. Clarks first and Rokodogunis scores were very sloppy. We created so many good opportunites which I'm sure we will put away a higher % of in the coming weeks!