Sale game - Teams up!!

[covrich]

Harsh maybe.........but does anyone else feel a bonus point "escaped"?

After the 1st half... yes certainly. However at the start of the day I would have snapped your hand off for a 22 point win

[Big Dai]

Harsh maybe.........but does anyone else feel a bonus point "escaped"?

After the 1st half... yes certainly. However at the start of the day I would have snapped your hand off for a 22 point win

Agreed!

[cheltexile]

A bonus point would have been nice, but I'll take a solid win against a good team and some actual progression from game to game.

[MurphysLaw]

Yep, shame about the bp, but a good win that keeps us well in the mix.

Well done to Exe. Not even a losing bp for Bath. Saints will be chuffed as that's them almost there. The rest, including 2nd, is wide open.

[drc_007]

Before the game I thought any win would do against a Sale team who have recently beaten both Saints and Saracens. At half-time I thought a try bonus was possible, but lack of concentration in the second-half let them down.

[jgriffin]

Well. I'm well pleased. It's game on for the last quarter of the season.

[Hot_Charlie]

Harsh maybe.........but does anyone else feel a bonus point "escaped"?

After the 1st half... yes certainly. However at the start of the day I would have snapped your hand off for a 22 point win

I'm sure we all would have taken 4 pts first thing, but the start should have led to more.

On the plus side, at least our points difference is now (just) positive!

[longlivethecrumbie]

We played some of the most fluid rugby in a while in the first half and looked threatening without relying on the scrum as our main weapon. I'm happy with the win, even though we missed out on the bonus.

[TigerLad]

Dissappointed not to get the TBP but another win never hurts. I'm not too sure why Bai was yellow carded considering there was cover back and it was 50m out, yet when Marcos was tackled off the ball 5m out with a clear run to the line it wasn't? Some really comical decisions from the ref. The only thing worse than a ref who doesn't enforce the laws is a ref who selectively enforces them. Why did he call a not straight feed once then allow both sides to continue feeding it into the second row? Really impressed by Bai, looks to have so much time on the ball which is always a sign of a classy player. Harrison was fantastic, the speed of his passing was superb, he had some lovely pick ups and offloads aswell and he was covering Burns in defense at lineouts. I really like Mele but the speed and quality of his service is some way off Harrison's right now. Judas had a good game as did the rest of the pack. Thacker is an amazing player to bring off the bench. He's a ball of energy. I don't know where he will end up positionally but he's got the talent to play almost anywhere. Perhaps even a reverse OTY! It will be an absolute travesty if he can't fulfil his talent because of his size.

[Tigerbeat]

Bai was binned for tackling the player without the ball

[tigerburnie]

Well. I'm well pleased. It's game on for the last quarter of the season.

+1.................

[APJones]

probably one of the best games of the season so far - except for the first 30 minutes of the 2nd half when we switched from ball in hand to a kicking game then we switched back on again a bonus point would have been on if we ha gone back to keeping ball in hand sooner. But a win is a win I s'pose

[GS]

Not a clue where that first half came from, but it's been a long time coming. Did Mauger fly over for a couple of days? Around us the mood dropped at the start of the second half but the defense looked good. It occurred to me that the ref had decided before the start to penalise the team kicking towards the WR end and let the team playing towards the clubhouse off with quite a lot. At the start of the second half we couldn't put a foot right with the ref.

Sure the bonus point was missed but however this season pans out the problems that might blight it were in the past, it would be hard to put any blame on this game for any sort fall. On the contrary, I feel almost confident, but I've done that before. The big difference is that the team looks like a team and the returning injured at last give cause for optimism. Fingers crossed.

[markharbtiger]

Not a clue where that first half came from, but it's been a long time coming. Did Mauger fly over for a couple of days? Around us the mood dropped at the start of the second half but the defense looked good. It occurred to me that the ref had decided before the start to penalise the team kicking towards the WR end and let the team playing towards the clubhouse off with quite a lot. At the start of the second half we couldn't put a foot right with the ref.

Sure the bonus point was missed but however this season pans out the problems that might blight it were in the past, it would be hard to put any blame on this game for any sort fall. On the contrary, I feel almost confident, but I've done that before. The big difference is that the team looks like a team and the returning injured at last give cause for optimism. Fingers crossed.

Could not agree more with this, especially re. the penalties.
Nice to see the team playing with some confidence.
Sam H looked very sharp indeed for the majority of play, Laurence P. also looked v good, Seremaia B was continually industrious and we even saw Christian Loamanu come off the bench.
Add in the England group, plus a hopefully fit Manu returning, and I'm optimistic that we'll at least be competitive for a top four place during the remainder of the season, given how bunched the places behind Saints have become.

P.S. Interesting to see RC (as reported by BBC) saying we've been rubbish all season. If I was a player on the team I am not sure how I would react to that...

[loretta]

“It makes it really interesting, We have been rubbish all season but we are still in the mix. Let’s see who blinks first.”
Cockerill in the Guardian. Just about sums it up.