But lose to Newcastle and results go against and we will be bottom!
That's like saying win v Falcons and results go our way and we could be 4th/5th.
Would you back us to win there at present?
Yes to be honest I would. CMK made that a very hard afternoon for us. No we didn’t deserve to win but we showed far more positives than last week and had the shoulder in to head incident been picked up in the first half it might have been a different afternoon.
We have Youngs, Ford, Genge, Nadolo, Muri all to come back in and all who would be first choice. Mamu will add strength in depth. Plus we are missing Potter and Van Wyk.
We have got one of the Exeter games out the way and after 3 rounds we are above Saints and Worcester and level on points with Wasps. Doubt Irish will get much tomorrow and one of Quins or Glos will drop points so we are right in the mix.
Win at Newcastle and we are in great shape after 4 rounds. Lose and it could be a long season. All to play for and we have the players to return and a few European matches to work on a few things.
Oakham lad born and bred, Tigers season ticket holder who is enjoying steady progression back towards the good old days!
Honestly more so than I would’ve done 12 months ago.
Yes there’s certainly glimpses if we can keep up our first 50/55 for the full 80.
I feel against any other team today we might have won.
Exeter are the only team confident enough to just keeping going for the try.
Any other team would've just gone for 3 most of the time today and our tackle count would've been about 30/40 tackles lower.
But that's Exeter they are arrogant and can back it up.
Have Exeter even gone for a Penalty kick this season so far?
I'm not too worried by how today went, if we had played like that against Irish we would have won and we'd be sat here saying "2 out of 3, good start". Newcastle will be a very difficult game, our away form is awful and they are on fire. However, we will have more players returning and our 23 will likely have a lot more quality than theirs.
I'm with WhitecapTiger on Bonilla, it doesn't matter what he did before, he's put in 2 disastrous performances. Luckily Ford will be back soon. My enthusiasm for Henry is diminishing with every match and I'm starting to wonder if there are very good reasons that he was playing in ProD2 at 26 years old and was happy to come to Tigers as 2nd choice. That said, he's fine as a backup to Ford, we've had a lot worse in that role. Wigglesworth doesn't appear to be his biggest fan...
My biggest concern is the amount of individual errors by players who should be better than that. I suspect there are still quite a few in the squad that Borthwick would prefer not to have to work with and we will see plenty of changes again at the end of the season.
Much improved performance, play like that again 75% of the Premiership and you're over the horizon by half time, tge question is can we play like that agaisnt others?
Henry is only half to blame for his butchered try, Wigglesworth took his eye off and started to saunter in field rather than continue a viable support line so jas to take half the responsibility there.
CMK blind to a lot of cheating by Exeterbut plus ca change.
I think Bonilla has blotted his copy book badly these last two games, with Ford coming back I think he might have difficulty getting game time until the next international window. Will be a signigicant test of his attitude I think.
I just hope the boys remember how to play like that against other teams, if they do we should be safe.
No, not that one!
Remember, whatever you do to the smallest of the backs you do to his prop, and you can't avoid the rucks and mauls forever...
I know you don't like it when I boo him but how else will he know he's wrong?
what did we all think of Brink today? Can't say I noticed him too much personally which could be taken either way but for a 7 he needs to be involved a lot more I would think
Jimmy Skitz wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:30 pm
what did we all think of Brink today? Can't say I noticed him too much personally which could be taken either way but for a 7 he needs to be involved a lot more I would think
Would rather see him as impact off the bench and start with a natural 7 like Reffell. Brink and Taufua off the bench after 50 mins would be great impact
Oakham lad born and bred, Tigers season ticket holder who is enjoying steady progression back towards the good old days!
A game of what could have been. Big moments at the start of 2nd half that would've changed things - Freddie steward intercept, Henry butchered 2on1, the trip on Exeter's goal line.All were moments Tigers should have got points. A bit like last week and the missed kicks to touch.
Our attitude & physicality is great, stopping Exeter on the goal line deserves credit. it's our workrate that is causing the bulk of our breakdown and offside pens & I firmly believe that will get better as this new squad trusts each other more in defence. Notably wiese was a pen magnet today.
I've got no issue with bonilla today, he came on with 5 to go and had to push things with the game gone, surprised devoto wasn't checked for offside.
We have issues behind the scenes, but I am buoyed by our performances and the depth of our squad.
RagingBull wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:34 pm
Brink had a good game in my eyes.
11 tackles in 46 minutes
1 or 2 big turnovers even against Exeter’s illegal clear outs.
Still not a 7 in my eyes but the big back row did it’s job today I thought
Thought he was unlucky a few times to get pinged although CMK was desperate to give Exeter penalties so not really surprised. Thought he played very well and I really like him. He will be a great addition to the squad.
Think Liebenberg Reffell Wiese or Liebenberg Taufua Wiese would be a better starting option but I guess the bulk of Brink adds a lot
Oakham lad born and bred, Tigers season ticket holder who is enjoying steady progression back towards the good old days!
RagingBull wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:34 pm
Brink had a good game in my eyes.
11 tackles in 46 minutes
1 or 2 big turnovers even against Exeter’s illegal clear outs.
Still not a 7 in my eyes but the big back row did it’s job today I thought
Agree with this he performed well. Losing the rustiness. I would prefer the scavenger 7 but the games get looser in second half so to have 2 more mobile flankers on the bench is a defendable plan by borthwick
Jimmy Skitz wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:30 pm
what did we all think of Brink today? Can't say I noticed him too much personally which could be taken either way but for a 7 he needs to be involved a lot more I would think
He played alright. Was very busy doing the hard stuff. I'd like to see him come off the bench for Liebenburg or Weise more than I like him at 7. Would prefer a more natural openside though I understand why we didn't against Chiefs.
I feel for Borthwick as his tactics were good. Sure we were on the edge with discipline but we were in the glory days and Sarries always are. Individual errors killed us, Henry not just pinning his ears back and using his footwork, Simmons idiotic yellow card, Bonilla just well I don't get it, it was never on. The forwards turned up (outside of the scrum) the backs have got to and start being clinical as well.
Scrum is looking less of a force with Stanko gone. Yes we've got some not so optimal options in but we need it as a weapon. Perhaps time to consider some part time recruitment.
Crofty wrote: ↑Sat Dec 05, 2020 5:29 pm
Much improved performance, play like that again 75% of the Premiership and you're over the horizon by half time, tge question is can we play like that agaisnt others?
Henry is only half to blame for his butchered try, Wigglesworth took his eye off and started to saunter in field rather than continue a viable support line so jas to take half the responsibility there.
CMK blind to a lot of cheating by Exeterbut plus ca change.
I think Bonilla has blotted his copy book badly these last two games, with Ford coming back I think he might have difficulty getting game time until the next international window. Will be a signigicant test of his attitude I think.
I just hope the boys remember how to play like that against other teams, if they do we should be safe.
Agree with much of this. Better strength off the bench in the front row would help and I would like to see a genuine 7.
I remember when we used to cheat like that and it seems sir will be biased towards the dominating team.
If there is an international class fly half in Bonilla he's hiding very well. May be Simmonds gets called up for England and we get to keep George?
Exile Wigstonite living in Wales.
Poet laureate of the "One Eyed Turk".
Bar stool philosopher in the "Wilted Daffodil"
Brink put in a good shift, certainly couldn't have put in any more effort and it's hard to identify anything he did wrong. I'd still have gone for a proper 7 though - one of the ways to avoid spending so much time defending against Chiefs is to compete at the breakdown and either win possession or slow them down.
Porter was very good, you can see why so much faith has been put in him despite never playing at this level before joining Tigers. The try saving tackle was ridiculously good.
I thought Henry was good throughout, but there was numerous occasions where he picked the forward running a flat line as opposed to the backs who were on the outside (similar to how most teams play), who would have had space to work given the tacklers drawn in. I don’t think I can recall him ever passing to these back runners. Henry needs time to adjust.
Simmons was a good kick chaser, didn’t offer much else. He seems to have been bulked up a bit, so don’t expect him to be at 9 anytime soon.
Extremely unlucky with the ref, numerous offences being overlooked by the refs with regards to Exeter going off their feet and Hamish on the line, being very trigger happy against tigers, but not calling any offsides or off feets. If you’re being seen (incorrectly or not) as the Manchester United of teams, more things will fall your way, unfortunately we have to wait for our big guns to get back and hope they fire immediately.
