Lack of players cost us tonight

[PM76]

Now that Farrell is injured I do not think England will let us have Flood back nor Youngs, only realistic chance I think is TTTE. Hope I am proved wrong as we badly need them.

I fear you're right, that said the side that played yesterday plus TTTE should be good enough to beat Sale at WR. It won't be pretty and Tigers will play well for a maximum of 40 minutes but next week is a "must-win" game.

[sapajo]

Now that Farrell is injured I do not think England will let us have Flood back nor Youngs, only realistic chance I think is TTTE. Hope I am proved wrong as we badly need them.

I fear you're right, that said the side that played yesterday plus TTTE should be good enough to beat Sale at WR. It won't be pretty and Tigers will play well for a maximum of 40 minutes but next week is a "must-win" game.

Next week end is certainly a "must win game" but so was last nights game! We lost last night and I cannot contemplate a loss against Sale

[Smurphswillgetya]

Now that Farrell is injured I do not think England will let us have Flood back nor Youngs, only realistic chance I think is TTTE. Hope I am proved wrong as we badly need them.

I fear you're right, that said the side that played yesterday plus TTTE should be good enough to beat Sale at WR. It won't be pretty and Tigers will play well for a maximum of 40 minutes but next week is a "must-win" game.

Next week end is certainly a "must win game" but so was last nights game! We lost last night and I cannot contemplate a loss against Sale

Sale will not be an easy game as they have come into some form and are fighting for their survival. We have Wasps here and Saints away, I think these games will decide our top 4 fate.

[drc_007]

Sale will not be an easy game as they have come into some form and are fighting for their survival. We have Wasps here and Saints away, I think these games will decide our top 4 fate.

I'm not sure it is that simple, Saracens have to play Quins, Wasps, and Glos, Quins have Saracens, Saints and Glos. I'm sure there will be many more twists to come.
Heineken Cup and Amlin matches will also take their toll.

[DickyP]

Agree about AA! - though thought Bowden played well last night....

I had logged in to say exactly this - we actually attacked quite well and defended adequately for most of the game but just didn't have the organization and impact in the centre we have with AA. Although he played quite well, the more I watch him the more I am disappointed with Dan Bowden - I really don't think he is a "Tiger's Player" - he's good but just doesn't fit into the team and seems to be playing his own game.

I was surprised to be 17-6 up at half-time but was also surprised to be 32-18 down at 80 minutes: the Sarries tries seemed to come from their least threatening attacks. We were, I must add, deservedly beaten in the end.

[youngtiger]

No. Tonight showed the lack of imagination. Too many excuses for too long. Richard, this is your squad and they are not up to it. Time to move on.

No you're absolutely bang on, 8 line breaks in the first half, plus an 80m try in 2 phases, several offloads, clearly these guys have got no clue! Change the record and try levelling an argument that's actually relevant.

[butler8]

No. Tonight showed the lack of imagination. Too many excuses for too long. Richard, this is your squad and they are not up to it. Time to move on.

No you're absolutely bang on, 8 line breaks in the first half, plus an 80m try in 2 phases, several offloads, clearly these guys have got no clue! Change the record and try levelling an argument that's actually relevant.

8 line breaks in the first half. a game is played over two!
several offloads. with who supporting and creating how many more tries? oh, ok.
they may have clues but they either dont put them into practice or are 'encouraged' not to carry them out.
we have potential which is totally unfulfilled. ideas which are rarely seen either in pre-planned moves or spontaneous phases that result in 80m tries!

the joy i felt after watching bowden pop over with the ball was unrivaled this season and im sure brought embarrassment upon my family as i jumped up and down saying it was like watching brazil, BUT, the deflated nature of our second half more than equally that out. we have been playing poorly for months but still winning which is the 'sign of a great team' but now we are getting to the business end of the season we are playing teams who need to win and who will and have exploited our weaknesses. im watching a team who could be great but are average which the results are gonna be if we dont have a real hard look in the mirror

[G.K]

Losing players is a problem, but only a part of it. For the life of me I can't understand why the schedule can't be arranged better. If AP games have to be played in the AI and 6N periods then how difficult can it be to ensure that the top 4 teams (i.e. last years finalists) don't have to play each other during those periods?

Recruitment is another problem. Sure we can recruit even more overseas journymen than we already have (we're quite like a Barbarians team already) but then, although we might not get tonked so much during the internationals, we're likely to get tonked anyway in the non-international periods when the opposition have their internationals back.

Having said all that, neither points above fully explains the lack of game intelligence and indeed abject capitulation of Tigers several times over recent weeks (Sarries, Quins, Scarlets) and this seems to be occurring with increasing frequency.

Honestly I can't see us getting past the semis at best in the AP or past Toulon in the HC and that will mean another barren season, however I live in hope that I'm wrong.

[DickyP]

Loosing players is a problem, but only a part of it. For the life of me I can't understand why the schedule can't be arranged better. If AP games have to be played in the AI and 6N periods then how difficult can it be to ensure that the top 4 teams (i.e. last years finalaists) don't have to play each other during those periods?

Recruitment is another problem. Sure we can recruit even more overseas journyment than we already have (we're quite like a Barbarians team already) but then, although we might not get tonked so much during the internationals, we're likely to get tonked anyway in the non-international periods when the opposition have their internationals back.

Having said all that, neither points above fully explains the lack of game intelligence and indeed abject capitualtion of Tigers several times over recent weeks (Sarries, Quins, Scarlets) and this seems to be occurring with increasing frequency.

Honestly I can't see us getting past the semis at best in the AP or past Toulon in the HC and that will mean another barren season, however I live in hope that I'm wrong.

I've often disagreed with you elsewhere, and don't agree with much of this post but I do agree that the idea of top four clashes with weakened teams is sheer stupidity. (Not that Sarries were unduly weakened last night).

Mind you having watched Scotland beat Ireland anything can happen - the only statistic that counts is points.

[G.K]

Fanks four the spill chucking - your English is better than your Analysis.

[chappie]

What a load of rubbish this thread is, now I know why I only tend to look rather than post these days.

Nothing wrong with the team that played last night, all I will say is the 9 points missed by GF cost us the game.
If he had kicked those points it would have given us a good buffer of points going into half time, I think the Fez heads would have found it harder to get back into the game!

Two blocks by the Fez heads should have been picked up by both the Linesman and the ref resulting in two of there try's.

That's it rant over, now waiting for the rubbish to start from the so called posters on here WHO THINK they know what they are talking about.

Please support your team, we don't live in a blame culture world.

[sapajo]

all I will say is the 9 points missed by GF cost us the game.
If he had kicked those points it would have given us a good buffer of points going into half time, I think the Fez heads would have found it harder to get back into the game!

If's and and's ! fact is that Hodgson missed 5 points

[SilebyTiger]

Unbelievable to see that people are moaning about last nights referee. Despite taking a long time over the first few scrums, he reffed the game exceptionally well compared to recent other refs.

[youngtiger]

8 line breaks in the first half. a game is played over two!

they may have clues but they either don't put them into practice or are 'encouraged' not to carry them out.
we have potential which is totally unfulfilled. ideas which are rarely seen either in pre-planned moves or spontaneous phases that result in 80m tries

So what you're arguing is that when the guys got in at half time, the coaches sat them all down and gave them a right good talking to about how they weren't to score any more tries, make any more line breaks and must immediately stop competing at the breakdown?

If they were capable of it in the 1st half then they should have been able to do it in the 2nd half, at that stage it was out the coaches' hands. The fact is for the first 40 minutes they came out and executed their skills and plays, and defended properly. Don't see why it's coaches fault they're capable to start a game properly, and then fail to continue to do so.

[sapajo]

8 line breaks in the first half. a game is played over two!

they may have clues but they either don't put them into practice or are 'encouraged' not to carry them out.
we have potential which is totally unfulfilled. ideas which are rarely seen either in pre-planned moves or spontaneous phases that result in 80m tries

If they were capable of it in the 1st half then they should have been able to do it in the 2nd half, at that stage it was out the coaches' hands. The fact is for the first 40 minutes they came out and executed their skills and plays, and defended properly. Don't see why it's coaches fault they're capable to start a game properly, and then fail to continue to do so.

Spot on summation of the reality of the game