Tigers vs Bristol - 04th January 2020

[JP14]

Wells was my man of the match today, dominant tackler, two charge-downs and did his bit around the rucks.

[OakhamTiger32]

Wells was my man of the match today, dominant tackler, two charge-downs and did his bit around the rucks.

and there were people slating his selection at 6 before the game.... (myself included)... fair play to the coaches for the team selection today. Got it spot on it seems

[OakhamTiger32]

So Quins got nothing yesterday, Bath just left Glos empty handed, and Worcester got thumped at Sarries. Hoping for the same fate for Wasps and Irish tomorrow and all of a sudden the table is looking a lot more palatable!

[WhitecapTiger]

So Wasps got nothing yesterday,

Unsurprising as they're playing tomorrow

Think you mean Quins.

[G.K]

Well better than many games I've seen. So far so good, now can they play well for two halves on the same day?

I do wonder what happens at half time...

I noticed Bristol were cheating right through the second half, they had 15 men on the pitch the whole time but despite that Tigers managed to sneak a win near the end. However apart from that Tigers were woeful, they need to change the supplier for the half time drinks otherwise there won't be very many wins at WR this season.

[OakhamTiger32]

So Wasps got nothing yesterday,

Unsurprising as they're playing tomorrow

Think you mean Quins.

Yep.. just changed that but you beat me to it! Although, here's hoping hey!

[BFG]

I hope that Murphy takes a risk and starts Costelow v Pau.
Cardiff go full guns blazing nailed down 1st place potentially at home.
Pau try some players to replace the England players.

and for me Costelow is the most similar to Ford we have currently, and should be looked at.

Agree here.
I'm also hoping that the naturally gifted 9's are backed to develop over the more robotic.

[RagingBull]

So we are 7 points behind 5th.
And IMO none of those clubs have shown much in terms of stable form.
Trouble is neither have we when you look at it.

But IF (It's a big IF) we can build on this I think all those clubs are very much targets.

[fentiger]

I hope that Murphy takes a risk and starts Costelow v Pau.
Cardiff go full guns blazing nailed down 1st place potentially at home.
Pau try some players to replace the England players.

and for me Costelow is the most similar to Ford we have currently, and should be looked at.

Agree here.
I'm also hoping that the naturally gifted 9's are backed to develop over the more robotic.

Fingers crossed

[mol2]

Wells was my man of the match today, dominant tackler, two charge-downs and did his bit around the rucks.

Played well but played like a lock. Pick him ahead of Green as a lock.
Why we play a lock at 6 with a 6 at 8 and a 6/8 at 7 with 2 7s on the bench makes no sense.

Genge my man of the match with Wells, Ford and May disputing it.

Clearly May is unnecessary. Not sure too many would have scored those tries ore made the tackles he did.

[kpj tiger]

A much improved performance especially on scramble defence, for those who missed it here are my observations

15 Telusa Veainu - Looking back on form, made a couple of good breaks and gave the final pass for both of May's tries
14 Jordan Olowofela - Looked more solid in defence, I think he is starting to come good on his U20's form
13 Jaco Taute - Solid in defence and was like having an extra flanker at times
12 Kyle Eastmond - One of his best games in a tigers shirt, stood up to Bristols big runners and made a great turnover
11 Jonny May - Lethal finishing and chased kicks all day, arguably suffered a bit of white line fever a couple times though
10 George Ford - Another solid GF performance, took his try well and made his tackles, kicks to touch very good
9 Ben Youngs - Maybe the best performance this season, stressed the fringe defences at the ruck and box kicks better
1 Ellis Genge - Looked for work and was batting defenders aside easily, discipline a slight issue again but bossed the scrum
2 Tom Youngs - Lineouts went well, tackled and carried well, needs to stop annoying the refs with backchat though
3 Dan Cole - Dominant in the scrums and i'm pretty sure he made a offload!
4 Tomas Lavanini - Workmanlike performance, made a couple big hits and carried hard, conceded a harsh penalty
5 Calum Green - Not a bad performance but did nothing flashy
6 Harry Wells - Looked fine at 6 and even packed down at 8 on defensive scrums, seemed to be involved everywhere
7 Jordan Taufua - Quieter in attack but defended well and made a couple crucial turnovers
8 Sione Kalamafoni - Work rate top draw again, did spill the ball 5m out and missed a tackle or 2

16 Tatafu Polota-Nau - One lineout missed, scrum seemed even better when he came on
17 Greg Bateman - Great to see him back, didn't loose any power in the scrum but no 50m tries this week
18 Nephi Leatigaga - Good in the scrum and made a crucial turnover 5m out near the end of the game
19 Guy Thompson - Wasn't on for long but made his tackles and competed at the breakdown, no howlers
20 Tommy Reffell - Ditto
21 Sam Harrison - Only got 5 mins but showed the same commitment as ever
22 Noel Reid - Only got 10 mins
23 George Worth - Only got 5 mins

[Tiglon]

So we are 7 points behind 5th.
And IMO none of those clubs have shown much in terms of stable form.
Trouble is neither have we when you look at it.

But IF (It's a big IF) we can build on this I think all those clubs are very much targets.

I like your optimism, but after 1 win you're pointing at other clubs and saying that they haven't had stable form.

It's another very close season, other than a couple of teams. There will be plenty more ups and downs for most clubs over the next five months. No one other than Chiefs or Sarries are in danger of going on a 5/6 match winning streak, but every club apart from Chiefs and Sarries are in danger of losing 3/4 on the bounce at some point in the season.

I'd say that any of the clubs placed 5th-11th could go down, and pretty much any of those same 7 clubs could sneak 4th place.

I wouldn't be shocked if Tigers got 4th place after today, but I also wouldn't be shocked if they finished bottom. It's that close.

[OakhamTiger32]

So we are 7 points behind 5th.
And IMO none of those clubs have shown much in terms of stable form.
Trouble is neither have we when you look at it.

But IF (It's a big IF) we can build on this I think all those clubs are very much targets.

I like your optimism, but after 1 win you're pointing at other clubs and saying that they haven't had stable form.

It's another very close season, other than a couple of teams. There will be plenty more ups and downs for most clubs over the next five months. No one other than Chiefs or Sarries are in danger of going on a 5/6 match winning streak, but every club apart from Chiefs and Sarries are in danger of losing 3/4 on the bounce at some point in the season.

I'd say that any of the clubs placed 5th-11th could go down, and pretty much any of those same 7 clubs could sneak 4th place.

I wouldn't be shocked if Tigers got 4th place after today, but I also wouldn't be shocked if they finished bottom. It's that close.

Without the interruption of the 6N I would be inclined to agree with the optimistic view but I think it will all come down to how the squad performs while the England contingent are away these next few months. Not sure we've got the same strength in depth as most top teams; however, a scrum of Bateman Youngs Leatigaga Lavanini Green Kalamafoni Taufua Liebenberg is a pretty decent platform to build on!

[Soggypitch]

Didn't make the game but was following it whilst out, on the Tigers app. Got very concerned in the second half, I was at the Exeter game and it was deja vous for a time.....but a great result and confidence is massive so I hope/expect us to build on this over the next few weeks.

[RagingBull]

So we are 7 points behind 5th.
And IMO none of those clubs have shown much in terms of stable form.
Trouble is neither have we when you look at it.

But IF (It's a big IF) we can build on this I think all those clubs are very much targets.

I like your optimism, but after 1 win you're pointing at other clubs and saying that they haven't had stable form.

It's another very close season, other than a couple of teams. There will be plenty more ups and downs for most clubs over the next five months. No one other than Chiefs or Sarries are in danger of going on a 5/6 match winning streak, but every club apart from Chiefs and Sarries are in danger of losing 3/4 on the bounce at some point in the season.

I'd say that any of the clubs placed 5th-11th could go down, and pretty much any of those same 7 clubs could sneak 4th place.

I wouldn't be shocked if Tigers got 4th place after today, but I also wouldn't be shocked if they finished bottom. It's that close.

?
What does our win have to do about others form?
I even said Neither do we.

merely pointing out if we can find some stability in performances those clubs don't exactly look comfortable either currently.