7th May - Sale Away

[BFG]

A few positives:

- Scrum was dominant once again despite a few big names missing
- Kelly and Moroni linked up well and looked like a good centre pairing
- Steward looked sharp as did JvP
- Muri had a great game and made some cracking breaks and looked strong in defense. Will be tough picking between Nadolo, Potter and Muri for the final
- Liebenberg has got a kicking game to add to his plethora of other skills!
- we kept 15 players on the field for the full 80
- after conceding 4 penalties in the first 10 minutes we only conceded 3 penalties in the rest of the match ending up with 7 conceded by us and 12 by Sale.
- we hit 20/21 lineouts
- we were still fighting come the end of the match
- Sale are a very good well established top 4 side, they were at home and at nearly full strength. We put out a very changed side and were missing some key players yet they only scored 2 tries and didn’t get the TBP

It was a disappointing result and a disappointing performance to be honest with lots of errors but there are a few positives to cling on to

I think both sides were missing a few to be fair.
I did not see any of Langdon, Cooper-Wooley, Lood de Jager, Ross, Ben Curry, van Rensburg, Manu, Hammersley or Solomona for Sale.

Half of those are not first choice.

How would you know that, are you Alex Sanderson?

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

The first half was full of woefully shocking kicking from us, we seem incapable of learning that lesson, the period against 13 men was embarrassing.

Another example of 3rd rate officiating.

Didn't expect anything from the game & we got & deserved nothing.

[Scott1]

Based on today, I think we should prioritise Henderson getting game time amongst the first 23 with Lavanini only really used with rotation - he outshone his second row partner today imo.

For all the height and grunt Lavanini brings there’s not too much used positively in contact for my view.

I thought Henderson was very good too,could be first choice next season at this rate

[OakhamTiger32]

Based on today, I think we should prioritise Henderson getting game time amongst the first 23 with Lavanini only really used with rotation - he outshone his second row partner today imo.

For all the height and grunt Lavanini brings there’s not too much used positively in contact for my view.

I thought Henderson was very good too,could be first choice next season at this rate

Henderson and Snyman... interesting

[tigercub21]

Based on today, I think we should prioritise Henderson getting game time amongst the first 23 with Lavanini only really used with rotation - he outshone his second row partner today imo.

For all the height and grunt Lavanini brings there’s not too much used positively in contact for my view.

I thought Henderson was very good too,could be first choice next season at this rate

Henderson and Snyman... interesting

I've said this many times, very rarely does Lavanini make a positive collision and more often than not just gets knocked back. He hasn’t been the player we all thought we would be getting and i’m not too disappointed that he’s off at the end of then season. As for Henderson he looks confident and makes good carries. Young second row options are looking good for the future.

[Big Dai]

A dry night.... No Remy.

There is promise, there is fight, there is pride, there is talented youth, there is hope.

It need polishing, practice, communication and understanding. Things that don't happen overnight.

Keep the Faith. (Cheers Bill)

[No6_Flanker]

My mistake,must’ve been all Kelly then! Even better

It was Kelly, I thought he was our MOM. Good drift defence, some nice breaks and an offload. He has also got a half decent pass on him too, although a couple were a bit loopy so the defence had time to scramble. I think he’s got the attributes to go all the way, just hope that Eddie Jones caps him promptly. Is it too early for him this summer?

[ourla]

I think the biggest negative on the night was the after match comments in this thread.

[Goshengareth]

Fully agree Ourla. Just come to look this morning to see the views, and whilst a fair few decent level heads, some voices unrealistic and frankly more inaccurate and loose than our game in the red zone!

Changed 12 players, away to an established top 4 team at full strength off the back of a rest week. Thought we did well overall. Great game of rugby. Both sides gave it everything. Clearly a poor first 30 mins. So many positives. All about building and developing for next season and the focus is on the final.

[Pellsey]

I think the biggest negative on the night was the after match comments in this thread.

Agree. The improvement over the last 12 months is incredible. Then I believed we would lose pretty much every game. Now there is hope (at least) that we will win any game, and belief that we will win most. Last night we did not play as well as the last 40 against Ulster, we had a lost of influential players missing, and the officiating, well.. but imagine that game being with last year's mentality and ability...

I think at this level of improvement, we will easily be pushing top 6 next year if not more. Some creases to be ironed, sure, but onwards and upwards, keep the faith etc

[Pellsey]

I think the biggest negative on the night was the after match comments in this thread.

Agree. The improvement over the last 12 months is incredible. Then I believed we would lose pretty much every game. Now there is hope (at least) that we will win any game, and belief that we will win most. SB has given me, at least this hope and belief. Last night we did not play as well as the last 40 against Ulster, we had a lost of influential players missing, and the officiating, well.. but imagine that game being with last year's mentality and ability...

I think at this level of improvement, we will easily be pushing top 6 next year if not more. Some creases to be ironed, sure, but onwards and upwards, keep the faith etc

[KiwiTig]

Agreed

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Believe there was a graphic showing we are the lowest scorers in the opening quarter of games, it really isn't difficult to see why, there were some good individual performances last night, team wise less so.

On reflection it probably was a penalty try if the decision was deliberately knocking the ball into touch rather than deliberate knock on, still can't fathom why Kini's try wasn't given..

[Dokie]

Not great but some good glimpses, if that was less than 12 months ago we would have lost by 2-3x as much IMO

Very true

[Dokie]

A for effort,Z for everything else. Miles away from a top four team

I'm not sure we are, by your own admission our red zone accuracy is dreadful, convert even half those chances and we probably win the majority of our games

I only do A and Z but seriously it’s so frustrating.

Keep working hard and you might learn a bit more of the alphabet 🥴