Team for Exeter

[Crofty]

Better performance than expected, made Exeter look good rather than brilliant but we still lack the ability to catch the :censored: ball! The backs lacked something today, we never looked all that threatening to their tryline. Our best chance at a win in the run in is Not Nots but with that being the mid-week fixture I fear it'll fall through the cracks. The amount of joy others are getting from our current predicament is going to be my excuse for being insufferable when we return to winning ways though...

[Big Dai]

The defence was better than it has been but that obstinacy used to be taken for granted. It was the team's lifeblood.

We did not look like scoring a try through the hands. Too slow and too cumbersome.

[sapajo]

That was a good result with an improved performance in MOST areas.

Must have been watching a different game to me !

[fentiger]

I only saw second half, pity that Tom Youngs doesn't have the capacity to think what to do to slow things down! Ref spoke to him at start of second half if he had asked for time to speak to players they might not have scored!
We held up throughout in fitness and didn't let our heads drop!

[kpj tiger]

I'm not too unhappy about that performance, Defence was much improved with us only conceding 1 try from open play, the maul defence wasn't amazing but we've seen Exeter maul better teams to death.

The back 3 is a slight concern without our new additions, Worth has always seemed a little shaky at 15 for me, it wasn't the kind of game for Olowofela to thrive in either, Williams looked pretty handy with ball in hand though. Zack Henry looked lively when he came on. As for the centres I thought Scott was great and Taute grafted but he doesn't have the acceleration to play 13 for me, perhaps an opportunity for Porter or Potter before Moroni arrives?

The most disappointing thing for me was the stupid penalties from senior players, it has killed us in close games before and it did again, cut that out and getting those close wins will come.

On the whole a 13 point loss to the league leaders in poor conditions isn't a disaster considering where we are.

[westwinds31]

As they said on commentary, green shoots showing. Patience is the key. It’s not going to happen overnight but you can see the improvement. Baxter mentioned the warm up and our energy, which was noticeable. Penalty count not great but something to work on. Onwards and upwards. Loved the lady gaga turnover..he came on in a blaze of glory.

[RagingBull]

When was the last time we beat a team in terms of lineout wins?
With the same locks and Hookers as well.

So that's promising.
I would be tempted next week to play Nadolo, Porter, Steward and Potter in the 23.

I guess this period can be viewed as a tiny preseason or the longest preseason.
Leatigaga has certainly benefited from Walters looking very athletic today.

[daktari]

Foley finally gives a pen for blocking....61 mins in.

How do Exeter continually get away with blocking and going off their feet

And in at the side

[teds]

Tigers really managed to rattle Exeter, but the ref still gave them the benefit of the doubt on too many occasions.

Again we saw OTY put in a hell of a shift in attack and defence but please make Ford the man the ref has to talk to. Five metres out and the ref warns you, you HAVE to ask the ref to see if you can talk to your team.

[Crofty]

One other thing I noticed that was a positive, more than a few times we had players ready to tackle the ball carrier before the ball got to him, ignoring the blockers/dummy runners and putting him on the deck well behind the gain line. It seems somewhere we've got someone analysing tape on the opposition and coaching the players to counter patterns observed.

[kpj tiger]

Was I the only one that was reminded of Anthony Allen in the way Scott played?

[sapajo]

Was I the only one that was reminded of Anthony Allen in the way Scott played?

He can certainly tackle

[RunTigerRun]

Was I the only one that was reminded of Anthony Allen in the way Scott played?

He can certainly tackle

The stats showed he made 11 tackles, missed 0 (second highest tackle count only behind OTY)

He looked like a good addition today and I look forwards to seeing him, and the rest of the team play again. Encouraging signs.

[Dr H Flashman MBE]

I thought Scott looked good too as the previous poster has said. He has a good defensive head about him. We have missed that. Hoping for a Smith Nonu combination in midfield.
Green looked good and as I said before the new rules are right down Tommy R and Taf alley so that will put other teams constantly on edge.
Good recruitment in keeping them and adding Wallace too who is a scavenger.
Maybe some of the management looked at the rule changes and thought about these 3?
Wells looked good and thought that the ref unfairly penalised him as he had the chiefs number at the line out.
No one on this forum or any tiger fan thought we would win, but last season we would have taken an utter hiding...onwards and upwards with good positivity. Like where we are heading. Good start against the best team in the league.
Good work by all the coaches.

[Jimmy Skitz]

Was I the only one that was reminded of Anthony Allen in the way Scott played?

he did seem to be leading the defensive line well

by the way was the new Georgian hooker not picked or unavailable?