Sale game moved - Teams up

[Traveller]

It's barely a year since we frequently imploded after five minutes, looked exhausted after fifteen minutes, couldn't win a line out, players didn't care, defence was non existent, coaching chaotic and comical. A bus load of ad hoc journeyman wearing the shirt. For me this is a two / three year project to make us competitive again - Borthwick has had 10+/- covid games - starting from scratch. Was there improvement tonight from this time last year? Definitely. Humility and patience.

[TA30]

Last season (SEP 20) we lost this fixture 40-31 btw, it was away at sale we got hammered by 30 odd points.

There were 2 teams who kicked the leather off the ball today not one, so criticism has to be tempered a bit. We were in a right tussle which was pretty even. I have no problem with the kick to compete we are seeing out of our half into their territory.

Banging it high into the air on their 22 though is not acceptable for a team that has the talent we have. Prepared to take the medicine on this result as sale are a belligerent team, especially as we gifted them the 10 points we lost by from positions we should've scored from. The next 2 matches v Worcester and quins are must wins though to keep a general feeling of progression out of the mire we've been in.

[Grimlish]

Two teams struggling for identity And demonstrating there’s not much between us & the top tier that an injection of confidence and coherence wouldn’t address.

Take away one intercept try against us that looked offside to me (& was never checked), a second intercept hoofed downfield and converted to points. Add, we convert one of many opportunities and that’s a win to us. The margins are small, we had some less than ideal performances from the half backs, but even then could easily have gained a LBP at the end there.

[westwinds31]

It's barely a year since we frequently imploded after five minutes, looked exhausted after fifteen minutes, couldn't win a line out, players didn't care, defence was non existent, coaching chaotic and comical. A bus load of ad hoc journeyman wearing the shirt. For me this is a two / three year project to make us competitive again - Borthwick has had 10+/- covid games - starting from scratch. Was there improvement tonight from this time last year? Definitely. Humility and patience.

Indeed. Playing the long game. I suspect they’ll be more moving on as Borthwick shapes his future. I can think of a few to offload sat here in my armchair. Some players are just there as a stop gap, others are the future.

[fortysix]

To be totally blunt, apart from Steward and possibly Nadolo, cannot see any of last nights backs lasting the course. If we had had a speedster--or two--we would have walked that match. Scott, head start, overhauled, James, head start, even further in front. Says it all.

[Tiglon]

The last time we played Sale at home in the Premiership with Murphy as Head Coach.... we WON 19-15.

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

One thing you notice about Steward is his first thought is to run not kick, when he gets the ball, not sure how that fits with the apparent "gameplan" at present.
You can't judge Moroni as he never got the ball & VanWyk didn't exactly have much to do last night, we do look a bit light on raw pace in our backs, Potter looks quicker than most, but you do wonder if he was signed by the wrong people to progress with us.
If Montoya is McGinity's last bit of business for us I think we should be truly grateful.

[TheTigerKing]

I'm a huge fan of Henry but he looks shot of confidence.

He's an instinctual player being drilled to a very rigid game plan.

Looks like he's having to overthink everything.

[mol2]

Aside from Steward and Nadolo our backs were way below Premiership standard.

Utter lack of pace. OK Nadolo is a big wing but until you get to full back they are pedestrian as the break away try showed.

Van Portfeld came on and showed why he is highly rated.

There can be no more excuses for Henry - he looks like someone in the crowd who has been dragged onto the pitch to play at a moment's notice because the team bus broke down. At 26 he is not a work in progress. Those cross field kicks resembled those of kids messing around during their lunch break.

Wigglesworth may offer control but in the context of the lack of pace and spark in the back surely playing him was a mistake. Looked all of his 37 years and no threat around the breakdown.

The forwards huffed and puffed but were up against a team who could do that too.

For me the second yellow illustrates what is wrong with the current laws. The hands were at or even below waist level, a player bends double and then dips. For me that was a perfectly legitimate attempt to tackle that is exactly as per the coaching manual - wrap at the waist and drop to legs to bring the player down. A player who has his head that low, intentionally or falling is just unfortunate to be struck. This is not the same as smashing a player on his knees in a ruck.

Why no mention of the Sale player striking Steward on the head? He overran the ball jumped ahead of it to impede Steward. Only gets penalised for obstruction. He jumped up into the oncoming Steward with no hope and probably no intention of competing for the ball and his arm clearly clearly made contact with the head of Steward. Far worse than the LadyGaga yellow. One was accidental the other was never a legitimate attempt.

[wellstiger]

Fine margins.
Confidence.
No attack coach.
Unsettled team sheets.

[kk20gb30]

A reality check as to where we are right now.Unfortunately , we lost a very winnable game.
Forget the ref,forget tactics ; the wrong options at the wrong times (by arguably the wrong people on the night ?) cost us dearly.
We should learn, take note, adapt where required and move on to (hopefully) better things.

[teds]

To be totally blunt, apart from Steward and possibly Nadolo, cannot see any of last nights backs lasting the course. If we had had a speedster--or two--we would have walked that match. Scott, head start, overhauled, James, head start, even further in front. Says it all.

Disagree. I think both centres played well. In fact overall, I think if we consider Sale are probably a top four side, and how few games our centres have played together I think it’s to their credit that Sale never really looked like creating any of their own tries.

As for overhauling, I’d rather be positive and celebrate international speedster Marland Yarde being overhauled by Steward.

[JP14]

I expected a lot better from Henry I must say.

I really rated Henry but am starting to wonder whether I spoke too soon. Half backs made all the difference tonight

I don't think you spoke too soon, at premiership level you have to be able to do both the fancy stuff he did in the ProD2 as well as other things like kicking. Give him time, I think he will learn a lot from tonight.

[OakhamTiger32]

I expected a lot better from Henry I must say.

I really rated Henry but am starting to wonder whether I spoke too soon. Half backs made all the difference tonight

I don't think you spoke too soon, at premiership level you have to be able to do both the fancy stuff he did in the ProD2 as well as other things like kicking. Give him time, I think he will learn a lot from tonight.

I really hope you’re right JP. Lots of potential and has shown glimpses

[JP14]

The law needs changing, a deliberate slap down of the ball is cynical play and should be penalised. If van Wyk slaps it out on the full it’s a yellow card, but you slap it down in open play it’s fine? Doesn’t make sense to me.

Scott played some of his best rugby in a Tigers shirt thus far, whilst Montoya provided an exciting 35 minute stint.

No different to a slap back in a lineout, if it's back towards your line it's fine, deliberately slapping it off the field isn't.
As for the deliberate knock on by Sale, it saved another shocking pass from our "esteemed experienced 9" If White is available next week he has to start.

As for Nemani, his mate is leaving, & Mrs N is back in Oz.. played well.

In my view, the slap back in the lineout is just competition in the air, same as if two fullbacks go for the ball in open play for example. But in my view deliberately slapping the ball of the field and slapping on the ground to cynically prevent a certain try should be treated the same.

The pass from Wigglesworth was always affected by the deliberate knock on, so how can you deem it shocking apart from your frankly silly dislike of the guy?