Tigers v Scarlets

[TomWeston]

... Poloata - nau was a big improvement on Tom Youngs - only one line out cocked up and Kerr did well when he came on ....

I know TPN was on for a long time but he was clearly knackered even long before he let Scarlets in for an easy try. I think that if Tommy had been on he would still have been able to put in a better attempt.

[TomWeston]

And throwing all sorts of accusations at Coley.

Which means he played a blinder.

Well they must have had a better view/telly coverage than I had. DC was, as nearly always, immense in the scrum. Geordie was right in the post-match briefing - the best scrummaging TH in the world.

Pity that Gengey is unlikely to be back and fit in time for the Racing double header.

[Big Dai]

After reviewing the game one more time I'm still convinced Thompson should have been MoM with the front row as a unit a close second. It was good to see Manu back to his barnstorming best BUT the forwards did the graft to give him the chance. (Says an old prop!)
Posh Richard and I are orft to the olde "One eyed Turk" to watch Gloucester v Munster and take in the odd Saucepan of ale. (Bawr rather than bach)

[voice of the crumbie]

One question. Gigena was on the bench (nothing wrong with that). Is Faeo injured?

[mightymouse]

there were many great performances from Cole and Thompson to Holmes and Manu and even Tomooa for the few minutes he was on but for me the man of the match was Harry Wells. He was outstanding with his tackle count his carries his lineout work and his tireless work over the ball helping out Thompson. sadly much of that was not rewarded by the referee who I thought was even more shocking than normal. Not only was his officiating of the breakdown at best inconsistent but his refereeing of the scrum was awful. we could have been given a penalty in almost 90% of the scrums and Cole in particular was magnificent.

the thing that really has annoyed me for th last 2 weeks is that you do not get your just rewards from the scrum in particular in your own 22. Times we have a defensive scrum our put in, win the ball start moving forward and it collapses. Now that should be a penalty and clear your lines and a put into the lineout up the field. instead the ref waves play on and the no. 8 is forced into a carry in his 22 caught and at best the recycle leads to a put in to the lineout to the opposition who have just cheated.

to be clear had they not cheated their scrum would be going backwards or in disarray their back row tied in and their backs retreating. now our 8 and 9 have many more exit options. It is a deplorable form of cheating encouraged but weak refereeing and Bourne out of a general modern malaise in the rugby community that seems to fail recognise not only the importance of the scrum but a willingnessto allow it's potency to wither on the vine!

well played Cole Bateman Polota Nau Spencer and Wells ... you were all superb and deserve high plaudits for doing a Damn difficult job largely Un rewarded.

[ellis9]

I'd love to know what EJ's reasons are for leaving him out of the England squad. No doubt it's another motivational master class from Mr Jones. He's just shorn himself of the best scrummager in the country. Nice one Eddie!

On a side note, well done to Geordie. I really feel he's slowly going back to the principles that have served us well in the past. We are still making some seriously daft errors but we're clearly heading in the right direction and the players clearly want to do well for him which makes him a better bet than MO'C already.

IMHO it's pleasing to see the academy guys given opportunities- they tend to be the guys who are willing to turn their blood to water for the club. I'd much rather see the likes of Heyes given a chance than (for example) Kyle Traynor rumbling on to absolutely no effect. I'd much rather see a young gun given a chance than some journeyman on a six month contract who isn't adding any value.

I think IF (and it's a very big if) we can keep BO'C or Evans fit and can field a genuine openside in the majority of games then we've got a chance of doing something. So frustrating with BO'C, such a good player for us but never seems to manage more than a 2 or 3 games in a row for us. I think that 7 spot is key for us.

I'd say it's a message to say "make sure you keep yourself at the top of your game" and also to keep him fresher for the Six Nations and the World Cup.

I'm sure you're right Ellis but does EJ have the luxury of dropping his best tighthead when the other options are hardly banging down the door? You may be right about keeping him fresh but Dan looks in pretty good nick to me.

Still seems a very strange decision to leave him out of the squad altogether. Leave him out of the starting XV, I can just about understand that (seeing what others can do etc) but to not have someone of Dan's calibre as an option....risky.

Exactly. He looks fresh, so leave him out so he isn't over used by the World Cup.

Who are the other options? Good question. We need to find out. Now is that time to find out.

[JP14]

Jones is developing his other options, Sinckler needs to develop into a test starter but if I was Jones I would start Williams. Schonert isn’t really an option he gets injured a fair amount, a better option would be Cooper-Woolley if he was fit. Such an underrated prop.

[brooksey845]

Massive shout out to Harry Wells developing really nicely into a very strong signing gives us 10/10 effort whenever he plays. Kerr good when he came on along with Refell

[loretta]

there were many great performances from Cole and Thompson to Holmes and Manu and even Tomooa for the few minutes he was on but for me the man of the match was Harry Wells. He was outstanding with his tackle count his carries his lineout work and his tireless work over the ball helping out Thompson. sadly much of that was not rewarded by the referee who I thought was even more shocking than normal. Not only was his officiating of the breakdown at best inconsistent but his refereeing of the scrum was awful. we could have been given a penalty in almost 90% of the scrums and Cole in particular was magnificent.

the thing that really has annoyed me for th last 2 weeks is that you do not get your just rewards from the scrum in particular in your own 22. Times we have a defensive scrum our put in, win the ball start moving forward and it collapses. Now that should be a penalty and clear your lines and a put into the lineout up the field. instead the ref waves play on and the no. 8 is forced into a carry in his 22 caught and at best the recycle leads to a put in to the lineout to the opposition who have just cheated.

to be clear had they not cheated their scrum would be going backwards or in disarray their back row tied in and their backs retreating. now our 8 and 9 have many more exit options. It is a deplorable form of cheating encouraged but weak refereeing and Bourne out of a general modern malaise in the rugby community that seems to fail recognise not only the importance of the scrum but a willingnessto allow it's potency to wither on the vine!

well played Cole Bateman Polota Nau Spencer and Wells ... you were all superb and deserve high plaudits for doing a Damn difficult job largely Un rewarded.

If I recall correctly, and frankly there’s no guarantee, instructions went out last year to refs to allow scrums to continue with collapsed front rows if the ball had already become available to the 8 or 9. Can’t be more accurate than that, even with the help of uncle Google. Seems daft to me too, by the way.

[MikeR]

Re- Attendance at the Game . A steward told a friend of mine that the actual attendance was 12,042 - not good .

[Mark62]

Re- Attendance at the Game . A steward told a friend of mine that the actual attendance was 12,042 - not good .

That would mean the ground was less than half full, don’t know the official figure but I’d say it was around 18000

[voice of the crumbie]

Re- Attendance at the Game . A steward told a friend of mine that the actual attendance was 12,042 - not good .

The result of 3 things:

1. Performance on the pitch. Hopefully some who stayed away will be encouraged to attend after the way we played on Friday.

2. The game was televised. With television companies dictating kick off times I fear attendances will continue to suffer except for the really big games like Saints, Bath, post group stage European games.

3. Friday night. It's difficult for supporters who travel from further afield or rely on public transport or have young families. Why bother making the effort when you can watch the game on the telly?

[G.K]

Well certainly better than last week, Thompson & Spencer are good signings and about time Manu got more involved. Still some defensive lapses and still too much kicking away of posession at the wrong time by the half backs, one of which led to the Scarlets try. Hopefully Tigers can go forward from here and not lapse back into white flag mode next week against Saffas. Hate those plastic pitches - should be banned.

[MikeR]

All valid reasons 'Voice' - good job weather was good and that a lot came up from Wales .
I think GK that 2 of their tries came from loose kicks from our half backs - GF 1st half , YBY 2nd half .

[AngusMcCoatup]

Massive shout out to Harry Wells developing really nicely into a very strong signing gives us 10/10 effort whenever he plays. Kerr good when he came on along with Refell

Just before Harry's try he had his head protection ripped off by an eager Scarlet player but he continued to play on and scored. His head protection was however broken and could have caused him injury or even HIA but he then played the rest of the game without it !! He had a great game and outshone is past Tiger academy player Scarlet 4 Tom Price.
Kerr was spot on with his lineout throws, TPN's banana throw in nearly went to the Scarlet 9 and they scored from that error.
I just wonder how many of these young players - Holmes, Olowofela. Wells, Kerr, Hayes & Reffell
Matt O'Connor would have picked for this game? Well done Geordan & the team a great match.