Racing Metro Paris at Nottingham

[G.K]

Apparently Cockers went into the changing room after the game and sat down and in despair put his head in his hands - and dropped it.

I think that that is all that needs to be said.

To make matters worse Nigel then awarded the resulting scrum penalty to Racing 92.

[TigerCam]

While Racing did enough in defence to squeeze out any Tigers attack they did so from being offside more often than not, Clancy needs an urgent Specsavers appointment. Not that that is an excuse. I will count the knock-ons when I watch the game again this afternoon but I believe it was around 13, many of which were not forced errors? Missed B O'C as the breakdown was poor, accentuated by slowing down the ball in possession. I thought the scrum was good given that the Racing LH was totally destroyed (by DC) and how he stayed on the pitch after numerous warning is beyond belief? Disappointed yes. Hopeful, yes as the guts and determination are there and there was no question to be asked about effort. I hope that they will take their vengeance out on the Wuss on Saturday. After the first season under Mauger the Tigers ARE going in the right direction tho' I would make sure that Mauger goes back to his initial task,. when arriving at WR,of getting the guys to learn to pass and hold the ball under pressure. Despite the result my glass is still half full - the top half!!

[Iain]

Why is that Clancy's issue...?

[tigercaspian]

Well, it's for both touch judges in fairness isn't it ? And if they both get it right in the Final, then it will be a whistle-stop-go game as Sarries are also keen on pushing the limits.

Presumably JPD to ref the Final then ??

You would have thought that Paris or Twickenham would be a much better venue for the Final. I am sure both Racing and Sarries would be happy to play in Paris for the same reason - many more of their supporters will turn up. However, as Racing only managed a gate of circa 9000 for the home game against Stade Francais, that's still not saying much.

This article from the Grauniad doesn't exactly inspire confidence :-
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/a ... emi-finals

[The Boy Dave]

RagingBull
Thacker weight is always going to be an issue at the breakdown it isn't so bad if you have a proper 6/7 combo who you can rely on in the tight to slow up ball and then you can afford to move Thacker out wide to defend

This is where things can be picked apart by good teams RB.
Tight five indicates exactly that, as does loose forward, start messing around and good teams spot weakness and expose them.
If 6/7 are being given the responsibility of the tight role then organisational mistakes will be made.
Tight five will find themselves exposed occasionally in the channels and loose forwards free roles will be restricted leading to opposition turnovers, exactly what happened yesterday.
The effort was clearly there yesterday from most but unfortunately it was coming at some point.
I wouldn't play Fonua again, I don't know the stats from yesterday but compared to the workrate of Racing's Masoe he was a liability.
Thacker's tight game isn't strong enough for me and he misses tackles, they have no idea from week to week how the scrum or maul will play out and are at the mercy of the opposition.
You control what you can IMO and go from there!

[LE18]

Our day out,
I will save my disappointment from the match point of view, except for mentioning the vast number of knock ons, and moan about other things.

Very disappointed with our tickets, £45 to sit at the very end of Brian Clough stand, told we were on 22 when buying, ended up almost in the corner. What does one have to do to get decent tickets, it certainly did me no favours to turn up very early and queue at the WR on the first day, only 30 in front of me, then get into Final Whistle, only 4 computers open and be sold the worst possible £45 quid tickets, low down, game so far away, could hardly see the screen, no clock, in the most appallingly dilapidated stadium.

Some of you are applauding the drummers, but its terrible to be sold tickets and to have to sit almost in their lap and listen to that dreadful drumming noise, no more please, at one point it was incessant, inspiring for a bit, but after a while it got into your brain, also a second drumming lot somewhere along the Brian Clough.

Best part of the day was the Stratford Haven pub, great place to eat and drink, the Fanzone at the Notts rugby ground was also entertaining, the game was exciting but one I want to forget, really spoilt by the dreadful Stadium and seating.

[Iain]

I'd have to say the problem seems to be that on the whole the £35 and £45 tickets were the wrong way round. I paid £35 and was in T2 of the Upper Trent towards the front, which really was an excellent view. For an upper tier it was surprising how close to the pitch you were. As I was never going to be prepared to pay for a £60 ticket, where I ended up was where I would have chosen.

I'm yet to hear of anyone who paid £45 who was happy with the seat they had.

The facilities in the stadium were abysmal. £4.20 for a can of Guinness. A CAN!!!
Toilets were rubbish and exiting the stand very slow. But I suppose inside the ground, aged Main Stand aside, the stands were pretty good.

Had a lovely pint in Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, a nice burger and pint in the sun at The Riverside and time for another in the Fan Park before the game.

[strawclearer]

After the concerns expressed by some at the time of booking I elected to register on the NF website which then allowed me to select our seats. For £35, the seats on the aisle in the Upper Trent End were ok.

However - there were no lifts to the upper deck (I did ask one of the stewards) which, for someone with a heart condition who struggles with stairs, was a bit unfortunate. The toilets were a disgrace and the whole stadium was depressingly grubby.

Positives? Taxi from the station was quick and cheap and the Larwood & Voce rarely disappoints!

[LE18]

I was born in South Notts, first went to support Forest in approx 1950 as a child, before coming to Leicester, It does not look like anything has been done to spruce up the ground since then.

[Noddy555]

Must agree about the city ground as a stadium and the toilet facilities at the back of the Brian Clough stand were atrocious for the men and as a friend informed me virtually useless for the ladies. She said that there were no toilet rolls just a member of the stadium's female staff handing out tissues. Unbelievable for a 5th tier football club never mind one that's in the championship.

[Cagey Tiger]

I don't think I have ever seen as bad of a game as that

Stop showing how few games you have watched. You could probably pick any one of at least a dozen last season for a worse performance. Or how about against Sale at home this season, or Sarries away? To name a few. Yes, our inability to hold onto the ball for more than a couple of phases killed us so many times, but not everything was bad. I had thought our scrum would struggle and was pleasantly surprised when we were shoving them backwards at times.

Tigers won 1 penalty at the scrum...?
That 1 penalty was the only positive to the game. Who wants to watch a game with constant knock-on's, scrum after scrum and a team that can't even put a set move together or break the defence line. So in my view it was the worst game I have even seen. They are meant to be professional players who get paid to play the game full time and they could not even catch or string together more than 2 passes

I didn't say it wasn't the worst game you have ever seen, just said that there have been far worse in the last two seasons, so you must not be watching many. Yes, there were far too many errors in the ball handling/retention department, which had a knock on effect in all areas of the game. And what's wrong with scrums, apart from the amount of time it takes to get them set up these days?

If you only saw us get 1 scrum penalty and never break the defensive line (despite getting a try) then either your eyesight or memory seem to be awry. Any rugby fan can recommend where to get eyes tested. They do it every week for the referees

[Grumpy of Crumbie]

As I posted at the time the tickets became available my worst fears were realized with my £45 tickets being in the corner of the lower Brian Clough stand. As has been said the ticket pricing appears to have been the wrong way round presumably based on preferred locations for football not rugby where most people prefer an elevated position.

I think there is a big lesson to be learned here for the Tigers ticket office. If they want to encourage online sales, which I assume they do, then more information has to be provided. I don't expect to pick individual seats for away games but I do expect to be shown a seating plan and the prices for individual blocks. After the complaints on here they did start to say where the tickets were situated but still no option to select a particular block online.

It's interesting to note the comments on declining attendances. Personally I think the whole tournament has taken a turn for the worse since it was the Heineken Cup. The quarters and semi's are too close together, the equation for home semi advantage too complicated and the final in a city with inadequate transport links and accommodation. Had we been successful yesterday I think you'd have been looking at a four day weekend and getting on for £1000 to see a game of rugby. If you could have got there at all, after the Sarries v Wasps game the few flights available were extortionately priced and there was next to no accommodation available in Lyon or even close. I know you can book in advance and cut the cost but personally I have no interest in travelling half way across Europe to watch a game without Tigers in it. As it used to be the final was rotated between London, Paris, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Dublin all cities that are used to dealing with large numbers of visitors and a variety of transport options.

Don't get me started on East Midlands Trains who were nothing short of disgraceful yesterday. Are they not capable of looking at a calendar and anticipating the impact from major events. Policy is clearly to keep selling tickets regardless of the available capacity. Incompetent and dangerous.

[Cagey Tiger]

Regarding the timing of the semis and final, I'm sure I read somewhere that EPCR had given into the French (LNR) who wanted their final, (and possibly play offs?) to be the final match(es) of their season. Hence the short gaps in the EPCR competitions.

[Ze Stade Fan]

In the range of the positives you must have met Racigne fans ! I mean, all of them plus those rallied by the press gang! I heard of wondrous figures: 400 total, two planes! Freebies! As the great Elvis Costello used to write : happy days are here again and all the drinks half price!

Now, eating my humble pie, I must provide this tour guide to Lyon to Sarries' fans. Has someone here got his mailing address?

[Robespierre]

. I must provide this tour guide to Lyon to Sarries' fans. Has someone here got his mailing address?

There are only 3 or 4, and occasionally a dog!