It's easy sometimes to get caught in the Tigers bubble/paranoia. I like to take an interest in others to gain perspective.
First up, maybe a surprising choice but Exeter Chiefs....
Interesting result at the weekend. Not just because they lost. But because they lost with any BP's to Gloucester; are now virtually out of Europe and losing a bit of form.
Some of the comments on their forum:
Nothing positive to come out of that. The missing internationals made no difference and we continued the lacklustre trend of the last few weeks. Poor tactics, badly executed and the fabled intensity of our game missing in action.
We then end up looking clueless in attack. Beginning to think Nic White has a clause in his contract that says no matter how badly he plays, the Coaches won’t drop him !!
This result has been brewing for a while with some flattering wins papering over some pretty average performances.
We didn't manage to get dominance in the scrum (credit the Glaws front row) and are still (as expected) vulnerable at the lineout, making us easy to pick off.
I don't criticise Chiefs often, but how we have ended in a situation where an injury to Johnny Hill has left us so exposed, is a worry. Remember Hill was signed as a bit of a punt, as he was long term injured, so really it should be a bonus to see him develop so well, rather than have him as the most crucial piece of our lineout.
I know it was a Euro game but the GP at present is a shocking league,easily the worse of the big 3! Sarries and Chiefs are flying and have been nowhere near their vintage. There's been some good stuff,the odd game,great tries etc but it's a poor season imo.
"Rugby isn't a contact sport,ballroom dancing is a contact sport. Rugby is a collision sport" Heyneke Meyer
Wasps getting beaten at home by a French team , at least for us it seems the problems are not to do with finanical sustainability. Wasps have awful squad depth, but if the reported exodus of players is happening we should go after the lock forward Will Rowlands.
Formerly of Burbaaage (not Inkleh), now up north at uni
JP14 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 10, 2018 3:42 pm
Wasps getting beaten at home by a French team , at least for us it seems the problems are not to do with finanical sustainability. Wasps have awful squad depth, but if the reported exodus of players is happening we should go after the lock forward Will Rowlands.
Yes, Wasps were one of my other early subjects for this thread.
A veritable wave of rumours on potential leavers, doubts about the training facilities, financial issues, questions of whether the DoR has reached his limis (reminds me a bit of Cockers situation).
They've been unfortunate with injuries and with a lot of clubs not firing they could still make a top 4 finish and if they can get everyone fit, who knows.
JP14 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:20 pm
Exeter Chiefs don’t do well in Europe because they are refereed properly or at least to a better degree.
Could be a factor. Perhaps also the cream of Europe are a bit more savvy and robuse than some of the Prem clubs. And everybody knows there are the magical backs at Chiefs that there elsewhere. They are perhaps good enough for Prem rugby but not Europe.
JP14 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 10, 2018 4:20 pm
Exeter Chiefs don’t do well in Europe because they are refereed properly or at least to a better degree.
Could be a factor. Perhaps also the cream of Europe are a bit more savvy and robuse than some of the Prem clubs. And everybody knows there are the magical backs at Chiefs that there elsewhere. They are perhaps good enough for Prem rugby but not Europe.
Agree, their organisation and fitness can overwhelm many premiership teams but the big Euro teams can match them in that resect and still have a little magic to unlock them.
Certainly both Sarries and Exeter are not at their best, but other than Gloucester, no one sees to be take advantage of this factor. Gloucester could be the surprise package in this season's Premiership.
I called Gloucester as soon as Ackermann arrived,I said RCC first season ,top 4 second then fighting for title third. What did Ellis say,9th? I followed the Lions in SR and saw him take them from being SA worse club to one of the world's best club teams. He's a top coach,and to think we turned him down for MoC!
"Rugby isn't a contact sport,ballroom dancing is a contact sport. Rugby is a collision sport" Heyneke Meyer
Chiefs major weakness has always been halfbacks. While I would agree about policing their ball sealing etc I think they have lacked an X factor for a couple of seasons. Wasps are down and almost out IMO.
The reason the GP has issues is simply the nature of the league. The other two either lack caps or are so feeble that they can have their stars play 10-12 games only. You cant afford to blink in the GP. D O'Callaghan said no Pro 14 Irish region would last past Xmas in the Prem, they are geared for Europe and not total war. Chiefs are exactly the opposite.
Leicester Tigers 1995-
Nottingham 1995-2000
Swansea (Whites) 1988-95
A game played on grass in the open air by teams of XV.
Agree with the above re the Chiefs half backs. Game management is not as good when their forwards aren't in control and there's some missing X factor. Nic White is out of contract in the summer and needs to be replaced by a scrum half who can really add some tempo to the team. They attempted to sign Hougaard previously but he chose the money at Wuss, imagine if they'd got him behind the Chiefs forwards...
Scott1 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 10, 2018 5:42 pm
I called Gloucester as soon as Ackermann arrived,I said RCC first season ,top 4 second then fighting for title third. What did Ellis say,9th? I followed the Lions in SR and saw him take them from being SA worse club to one of the world's best club teams. He's a top coach,and to think we turned him down for MoC!
Yes I did say 9th. It looks like I'll probably be wrong about them but I'm still confident my table will look similar to what the final table looks like.
It's good that you're so happy that I could be wrong. It shows that it very rarely happens.
, at least for us it seems the problems are not to do with finanical sustainability. Wasps have awful squad depth, but if the reported exodus of players is happening we should go after the lock forward Will Rowlands.
I followed the Lions in SR and saw him take them from being SA worse club to one of the world's best club teams. He's a top coach,and to think we turned him down for MoC!