Alan Dickens - Tigers lack of attack coach.

[sapajo]

Despite all of the doom and gloom on here we need to bear in mind that we had ten internationals missing for the first four games of the season and had we picked up another 5 or 6 points we would be in the top four or thereabouts .

This has nothing to do with our attacking shape which even post the return of the cavalry has been abysmal

[Rugbygramps]

Despite all of the doom and gloom on here we need to bear in mind that we had ten internationals missing for the first four games of the season and had we picked up another 5 or 6 points we would be in the top four or thereabouts .

This has nothing to do with our attacking shape which even post the return of the cavalry has been abysmal

Ah this must be the secret coach as he knows what our attacking shape is !

[Tiglon]

It wasn't until Vesty's 4th season at Saints that they actually started scoring tries. It takes time.

I appreciate that there isn't always a direct correlation between tries scored and great backs play, but Tigers are scoring tries at a faster rate this season than Saints did in any of Vesty's first 3 seasons with them.

Does it really matter how you get the ball over the line? They are all worth 5 points.

There have been clear positive signs in our attacking play this season we've just lacked the accuracy. It was mentioned that we're in the top 3 for ruck speed - this creates opportunities by not allowing defence to reset, particularly when you're also going over the gain line, but it's also far more difficult to execute because your own team also has less time to get into a good attacking position. Many of our errors have been due to not being in position and/or not being ready to receive the ball. Every pro rugby player is going to catch a decent pass 99% of the time if they're set and ready for it. That success rate is obviously going to drop when playing at a very high tempo under pressure.

It's an ambitious way to play and hats off to McKellar for that. There aren't many teams that can pull it off with accuracy and, if you do, then you're playing at a Leinster/Ireland level of quality. To expect that in season one is just unrealistic, but it's an exciting journey to be on, isn't it?

[Rugbygramps]

In my own clumsy way I do agree with Tiglon. Do South Africa have the same attacking game as the French do Fiji attack the same as Argentina

[PeteK]

In my own clumsy way I do agree with Tiglon. Do South Africa have the same attacking game as the French do Fiji attack the same as Argentina

No but when those team do get the ball you think oh no here we go, when we get the ball it's just when are we are going to give it away or go nowhere. You just don't see any sort of threat when we have the ball and get shut down very quickly.

[Rugbygramps]

In my own clumsy way I do agree with Tiglon. Do South Africa have the same attacking game as the French do Fiji attack the same as Argentina

No but when those team do get the ball you think oh no here we go, when we get the ball it's just when are we are going to give it away or go nowhere. You just don't see any sort of threat when we have the ball and get shut down very quickly.

Sometimes it’s easy to tar everything with the same brush. That certainly wasn’t the case in our previous 2 European games or against Bath. I know your aware that La Rochelle, where a lot of this comes from are 2 times European champions on the bounce who pride themselves on their defence.
All imo of course and I’m not as harsh a critic as others can be

[sam16111986]

In my own clumsy way I do agree with Tiglon. Do South Africa have the same attacking game as the French do Fiji attack the same as Argentina

No but when those team do get the ball you think oh no here we go, when we get the ball it's just when are we are going to give it away or go nowhere. You just don't see any sort of threat when we have the ball and get shut down very quickly.

Sometimes it’s easy to tar everything with the same brush. That certainly wasn’t the case in our previous 2 European games or against Bath. I know your aware that La Rochelle, where a lot of this comes from are 2 times European champions on the bounce who pride themselves on their defence.
All imo of course and I’m not as harsh a critic as others can be

Even against La Rochelle we butchered some really good chances we'd created to score.

La Rochelle also conceded two yellow cards and a number of penalties on their own line under the pressure of trying to keep us out.

The attack isn't as clinical as it should be but it isn't completely useless. We doing some good things but the interplay, particularly from the big carriers, lacks the fluency we'd like.

[SASCOkid]

I do think that we don't yet have a settled 1st 15 that has played a good number of games together. Our back line in particular has suffered from a lot of injuries. When you have a settled team and get a couple of injuries it's easier for the replacements to fit in but we're not yet in that position and I don't think that's the fault of the coaches.

[Rugbygramps]

I do think that we don't yet have a settled 1st 15 that has played a good number of games together. Our back line in particular has suffered from a lot of injuries. When you have a settled team and get a couple of injuries it's easier for the replacements to fit in but we're not yet in that position and I don't think that's the fault of the coaches.

It’s a very good point. I would suggest our strongest XV is along the lines of.

Steward
Watson
Scott
Kelly
OHC
Pollard
JVP
Cronin
Montoya
Cole
Martin
Chessum
Liebenberg
Reffell
Wiese

Bench - Dolly, Whitcombe, Heyes, Henderson, Rogerson, Youngs, Shilcock, Kata.

Without checking I don’t think we have come close to fielding that 23 this season,

[CrumblingTerrace]

Just remembered this... before Leinster I stood pitch side with my lad and watched Matt Smith running the backs through some very simple passing drills. 10, 12 and 13 moving the ball down the line, unopposed.

They dropped the ball. A lot. Or passed it behind their teammate. Or too far in front. They got whoops of encouragement from the coaches but I was taken back by just how error prone they were, even in the warm-up.

Tough to be resilient playing Ireland when that's your preparation.

[tigerburnie]

Stats for tries scored so far this season
Bath 38
Briz 35
Ex 48
Glaws 29
Quins 42
Newcastle 18
Saints 37
Sale 28
Sarries 40

and Tigers 34.
So only 3 behind the league leaders, 8 behind the 2nd placed team and 4 behind the 3rd placed team.
Tigers are 10 points behind the league leaders, 7 behind Quins, we could close that gap quite easily on Friday night.

[Tiglon]

Stats for tries scored so far this season
Bath 38
Briz 35
Ex 48
Glaws 29
Quins 42
Newcastle 18
Saints 37
Sale 28
Sarries 40

and Tigers 34.
So only 3 behind the league leaders, 8 behind the 2nd placed team and 4 behind the 3rd placed team.
Tigers are 10 points behind the league leaders, 7 behind Quins, we could close that gap quite easily on Friday night.

Hardly catastrophic, is it? And yet we all know there's still so much more potential in this team. Very exciting, if you ask me.

[sapajo]

Stats for tries scored so far this season
Bath 38
Briz 35
Ex 48
Glaws 29
Quins 42
Newcastle 18
Saints 37
Sale 28
Sarries 40

and Tigers 34.
So only 3 behind the league leaders, 8 behind the 2nd placed team and 4 behind the 3rd placed team.
Tigers are 10 points behind the league leaders, 7 behind Quins, we could close that gap quite easily on Friday night.

Hardly catastrophic, is it? And yet we all know there's still so much more potential in this team. Very exciting, if you ask me.

Its not but conversely just think how many more tries we could and should have if we had an attack that is fit for purpose

[Tiglon]

Stats for tries scored so far this season
Bath 38
Briz 35
Ex 48
Glaws 29
Quins 42
Newcastle 18
Saints 37
Sale 28
Sarries 40

and Tigers 34.
So only 3 behind the league leaders, 8 behind the 2nd placed team and 4 behind the 3rd placed team.
Tigers are 10 points behind the league leaders, 7 behind Quins, we could close that gap quite easily on Friday night.

Hardly catastrophic, is it? And yet we all know there's still so much more potential in this team. Very exciting, if you ask me.

Its not but conversely just think how many more tries we could and should have if we had an attack that is fit for purpose

I think we're saying pretty similar things.

[Jimmy Skitz]

You're both looking at the same glass but one sees it half full ...