Tigers vs Brive

[MCC1964]

It's strange how we can take completely different conclusions from the same game.

Until Ben scored on 65mins I was thinking to myself that this might be the most insipid, uninspired game I could remember. There was next to nothing to get excited about.

Then, a late flurry of points and hey, it's progress!

It’s called softening up the opposition for 60 minutes then taking advantage in the last 10/20. Classic tactics, if you believe you are a fitter and stronger side.

[MCC1964]

It’s a strange thing to type, but as others have said, I thought the ref was really good. He was constantly chatting to the players and giving advice on what he wants. Impressed by him.
Win was great, so need to kick on and not have the usual one win and 2 loses.
Solid centres and some backs moves. Can’t complain about Tigers tries and a good win.

I agree, but I wonder how much more we heard because of the absence of a crowd (us, yelling our heads off) and the yakkety yak of the commentators. I assume the commentators mikes are turned up and the effects mikes down because I often hear them apologise for bad language that I haven't heard. I also find it hard to make out what the ref is saying and I thought it was because I was a bit deaf. Not last night,

Love how much extra we heard. Ellis Genge for the comment of the night!!!

???

[MCC1964]

It’s a strange thing to type, but as others have said, I thought the ref was really good. He was constantly chatting to the players and giving advice on what he wants. Impressed by him.
Win was great, so need to kick on and not have the usual one win and 2 loses.
Solid centres and some backs moves. Can’t complain about Tigers tries and a good win.

I agree, but I wonder how much more we heard because of the absence of a crowd (us, yelling our heads off) and the yakkety yak of the commentators. I assume the commentators mikes are turned up and the effects mikes down because I often hear them apologise for bad language that I haven't heard. I also find it hard to make out what the ref is saying and I thought it was because I was a bit deaf. Not last night,

Love how much extra we heard. Ellis Genge for the comment of the night!!!

???

[TigerFeetSteve]

I agree, but I wonder how much more we heard because of the absence of a crowd (us, yelling our heads off) and the yakkety yak of the commentators. I assume the commentators mikes are turned up and the effects mikes down because I often hear them apologise for bad language that I haven't heard. I also find it hard to make out what the ref is saying and I thought it was because I was a bit deaf. Not last night,

Love how much extra we heard. Ellis Genge for the comment of the night!!!

???

Think it was after the first scrum after he came on they got a penalty.

Ref says 17 no backchat

Ellis's responded saying. "Sir I know I look a lot like them, think you must have me confused with one of them"

[Redstripeman]

there will be games where young Steward needs to drop out simply to manage his levels, despite his size he is still a young man and we need to be careful with him

...he stood out in the game and was very positive under the high ball and in possession!!!
One thing that threw me was we did not compete on the kick chase and stood off the receiver before making a tackle. Surely if you went up to contest the kick with the receiver it would illicit possible turnovers in advantageous positions. It must be something we could look at as someone like Steward looks quite adept in his handling.

[Old Hob]

there will be games where young Steward needs to drop out simply to manage his levels, despite his size he is still a young man and we need to be careful with him

...he stood out in the game and was very positive under the high ball and in possession!!!
One thing that threw me was we did not compete on the kick chase and stood off the receiver before making a tackle. Surely if you went up to contest the kick with the receiver it would illicit possible turnovers in advantageous positions. It must be something we could look at as someone like Steward looks quite adept in his handling.

This was something that had me shouting at the TV. On quieter reflection, perhaps caution was being exercised about early tackles/engaging in the air. Eliciting turnovers is one thing - yellow or even red cards another

[Redstripeman]

there will be games where young Steward needs to drop out simply to manage his levels, despite his size he is still a young man and we need to be careful with him

...he stood out in the game and was very positive under the high ball and in possession!!!
One thing that threw me was we did not compete on the kick chase and stood off the receiver before making a tackle. Surely if you went up to contest the kick with the receiver it would illicit possible turnovers in advantageous positions. It must be something we could look at as someone like Steward looks quite adept in his handling.

This was something that had me shouting at the TV. On quieter reflection, perhaps caution was being exercised about early tackles/engaging in the air. Eliciting turnovers is one thing - yellow or even red cards another

...I see what you mean and you can, to a point, see the potential danger in referees, unable to distinguish between a tackle and an earnest attempt to catch the ball!!
Perhaps we need to amend the rules or get better referees as this is a part of the game which demands exceptional courage and skill and brings an obvious excitement to the game, which is now being mired in technicality.

[loretta]

...he stood out in the game and was very positive under the high ball and in possession!!!
One thing that threw me was we did not compete on the kick chase and stood off the receiver before making a tackle. Surely if you went up to contest the kick with the receiver it would illicit possible turnovers in advantageous positions. It must be something we could look at as someone like Steward looks quite adept in his handling.

This was something that had me shouting at the TV. On quieter reflection, perhaps caution was being exercised about early tackles/engaging in the air. Eliciting turnovers is one thing - yellow or even red cards another

...I see what you mean and you can, to a point, see the potential danger in referees, unable to distinguish between a tackle and an earnest attempt to catch the ball!!
Perhaps we need to amend the rules or get better referees as this is a part of the game which demands exceptional courage and skill and brings an obvious excitement to the game, which is now being mired in technicality.

Against Exeter and LI I noticed that, while excellent at taking the high ball coming on to it, there were a lot of chases of our own kicks that we got to but failed to take. A couple had try written all over them had we been able to take them cleanly. It is harder when the balls coming over your shoulder and it might now be a judgement call to stand off a little, rather than knock on or run past the ball, effectively taking yourself out of defensive position. This could well change with more experience.

[Old Hob]

Perhaps worth having some input from a coach with NFL experience as high balls over the shoulder are their bread and butter.

[DeadlyDunc]

Anyone know if there are highlights available as I missed the game itself

[ay2oh]

Anyone know if there are highlights available as I missed the game itself

I’ve looked and can’t find it on by sports app or anywhere else

[JP14]

Highlights should be on the European Challenge Cup website soon, Tigers may have permission to upload them on their own Youtube channel but we'll see.

[TigerBoy1880]

Was like watching a Saracens defensive training session. We always looked in control without getting out of 2nd gear. It was great with no Comms as you could hear the excitement the team had in defence. some of the hits were great - Joe heyes put some big shots in.

Steward is 100% the future, he is not yet the finished article.

Wish we would stop taking 3points, would much rather we always go to the corner - it's what Exeter do for the reason that the more you do it the better you get. So much more to come from our backline and frustrating we only looked to go wide in last 20.

3 points every single time for me. If you can take 5 (for example) free shots at the posts, that gives you 15 points. You’ve got to get 2 tries and conversions to get that score from those 5 chances. The chances of that are slim.

3 points at every opportunity for me is what I’d always expect from my team if I were the coach.

1. Depends on the quality of your goal kicker and location of the penalties. May only be 9 or 12 points.

2. Exeter go for the theory, ok they may only score 2 in 5 times early on, but red zone defending saps energy, risks cards and this means later in the game it is likely to mean more opportunities to score in open play and higher returns than 2 in 5 later.

I think we would have gone for the corner sooner we just wanted to ensure we were 8 or more points ahead before we did. Imagine a intercept try and suddenly we're chasing a game we should be controlling.

Their try yesterday came out of a dominant scrum by us which the just (dubiously) got the ball out of before giving away a penalty, our team was therefore not 100% set and one mistake on the ensuing kick and an awkward bobble got them back close. I certainly wasn't expecting a try for them but in rugby scores against the run off play happen. We managed the gap until we had chance to put our foot down.

It was our indiscipline that meant we delayed that till a bit later in the game.

We should concentrate on scoring points to win games. Taking penalties to tire teams out may work but if you can get the 3 points, get the ball back and then tire the opposition out by just playing the game, then that will be more successful in my opinion. Take the points when they’re there to take!

[Chobbsy]

Come on!!!!

I didnt see the match, was it as convincing as the score suggests?

[Wayne Richardson Fan Club]

Come on!!!!

I didnt see the match, was it as convincing as the score suggests?

Not really.