Tigers v Exeter (A) - Premiership - Saturday 23rd December 2023 - KO 3-00pm

[Tigerbeat]

Personally not sure that the week off is good for the players in the number that we changed…..13 changes for the Stade game. I would also suggest that Montoya may not have been 100% match fit but with Vanes. Clare and Dolly injured left little options.
Missed the presence of Hanro and Tommy……defence was generally good and the tries that Exeter scored were from short range, not blasting holes and scoring from 40 metres out…..after the penalty try and yellow card, Tigers had to chase the game and made errors and gifted Slade the try before half time.

[westwinds31]

On the attack, I get it’s a work in progress and we’ve had injuries, but passes going behind players, having to pick it off their toes etc is desperation stuff. It’s the basics. If we get caught by the defence then fine, but getting it through the hands should be second nature, under pressure as well, given the experience of the back line. I wonder what Bassett and Hassell-Collins make of it all ? I’m sure they’ll say “we’re working hard to improve, we’re a tight squad etc” but after playing free flowing rugby for years with Quins/Irish…..I know they didn’t win much but even so.

[Tigerbeat]

Which is more important, defence or attack. Without a defence teams will concede and struggle unless they have an exceptional well drilled and gelled back line. Tigers have the defence but back play is still work in progress…..most of the backline did not return till after the world cup and Tigers have not had a regular pick back line….injuries to Scott, Porter, have disrupted the progress…..agree that the talent is there but they are not fully in tune with each other yet.

[westwinds31]

Which is more important, defence or attack. Without a defence teams will concede and struggle unless they have an exceptional well drilled and gelled back line. Tigers have the defence but back play is still work in progress…..most of the backline did not return till after the world cup and Tigers have not had a regular pick back line….injuries to Scott, Porter, have disrupted the progress…..agree that the talent is there but they are not fully in tune with each other yet.

But Bath seem to have managed it, in short order as well.

[Chobbsy]

I haven't seen the match but I was told we were embarrassing, is that true?

[Tiglon]

The first element of defence is what you do with the ball, and therefore the positions you put yourself in without the ball.

You can have the best defence in the world, but if you are repeatedly losing the ball through poor handling, poor communication, poor decisions and poor kicking, then you're going to ship too many points. You're not going to score many either...

It is slightly worrying that our organisation with ball in hand still looks so bad. The team regularly looks confused as to what they're supposed to be doing. Say what you will about Borthwick, but he always gave clarity.

The Bath reference is an interesting one, to me we look a bit like Bath last season.

[Tigerbeat]

Which is more important, defence or attack. Without a defence teams will concede and struggle unless they have an exceptional well drilled and gelled back line. Tigers have the defence but back play is still work in progress…..most of the backline did not return till after the world cup and Tigers have not had a regular pick back line….injuries to Scott, Porter, have disrupted the progress…..agree that the talent is there but they are not fully in tune with each other yet.

But Bath seem to have managed it, in short order as well.

Bath did not have the same level of absentees at Tigers and got off to a good start in the League, playing with confidence. The returning players fitted into a confident team and they have gained confidence in each other and had regular game time together….something that Tigers have not had.
You can only play with what you have available against what is put in front of you.

[sapajo]

I haven't seen the match but I was told we were embarrassing, is that true?

In a word "yes"

[mol2]

We were sloppy.

[sam16111986]

Are we still effectively without an attack coach?

Its about time Sam Vesty found his way home!!

Sam Vesty is the Saints head coach. We'd have to offer him a fair bit to move back home. He's probably the best attack based coach in the league so far and since Saints have hired a defence coach that is competent they look worryingly good. If they hire a scrum coach that knows how backside from his elbow the league is in trouble.

Mike Catt is currently available. Give him a contract to the end of the season as see what he can do. We can't continue as is. We are just piling pressure on the defence.

[Bptiger25]

The only game plan our new coach has employed is kick kick and then kick some more , just not good enough to beat the better sides

[sam16111986]

The only game plan our new coach has employed is kick kick and then kick some more , just not good enough to beat the better sides

I mean it isn't. We play more ball in hand than we have for the last couple of seasons. Our attack is focussed around tightening the opposition defence and then going wide fast to the winger. We've seen Pollard go to the crossfield kick a lot and Kata threw a couple of passes for tries to the wingers Vs Chiefs using that tactic.

The big problem we have is that the attack through the middle lacks invention and when we look to bring in some invention it goes wrong far more often then it works. Makes the attack very clunky.

[Bptiger25]

Come on I could count on two fingers how many times we run the ball , but I would need 50 people to count how many times we kicked . U can’t say that he’s doing something, when u only got to watch the games to see kicking is his game plan

[Tiglon]

You'd need 50 people to count to 34? Exeter kicked 32 times.

We made more passes than Exeter, and made twice as many offloads.

Exeter were forced to make a lot more tackles than we did, because we ran the ball more than they did.

The difference wasn't that we kicked too much, it's that we kicked badly and dropped the ball too many times.

[sam16111986]

You'd need 50 people to count to 34? Exeter kicked 32 times.

We made more passes than Exeter, and made twice as many offloads.

Exeter were forced to make a lot more tackles than we did, because we ran the ball more than they did.

The difference wasn't that we kicked too much, it's that we kicked badly and dropped the ball too many times.

Thanks. It's frustrating that "we kicked to much" is the defacto response to any loss where we struggled in attack. The interplay close to the breakdown has never got going and we so often make errors under a small amount of pressure. It's the area of obvious weakness for us.