Aviva Premiership 15/16 - Round 8

[TRF_Olyy]

Bath lol

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Bath lol

Only thing that is giving me comfort.

Bath = Chelsea of football without the trophies.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Need to start getting this dominance to show on the scoreboard

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Miller is seriously poor these days. Can't tackle, can't catch...can't finish simple tries!

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

Can see another Bath victory coming, hopefully.
If you do not win at Newcastle, you won't anywhere...

Well then

Bit of a dull match really- Newcastle missed a couple of easy penalties because Willis can't kick, but not much else. Any news on Matawalu? Looked like a hamstring but he walked off the pitch. Good to get the win though.

God Bath's off form.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Not a classic up in Salford but I'll take a win all day long, especially considering the conditions.

 

[thenewgaffer]

Today's results

Interesting day of rugby imo.

Bath, much like Northampton of late, looked devoid of any ideas in attack. There's no rhythm to their backs play; the ball rarely gets beyond the first man. Admittedly the weather couldn't have helped, but you'd think last year Bath would have thrown the ball around a bit more. The lack of an in form outside half also means they're not playing in the right areas. Fair play to Newcastle though - they needed a win with Irish's resurgence and good to get one at home.

Gloucester far from convincing for me. They've rarely looked good at home this year and just don't have the pack to compete with the top teams. Irish capitulated late on but there's still encouraging signs. I think they have a better squad than Newcastle and Worcester so will be fine come the end of the season.

I'm not reading much into the Sarries v Leicester game. As others have already said on here, Leicester surrendered with their team selection. Concern is that when Cole and Ayerza came on, they were still pushed back in the scrum and driving maul. Aside from this, I actually thought Leicester played quite well. The backs looked dangerous in the first half but if you're getting dominated in the pack, you don't hold much hope. Wind played a massive part in the second half obviously.

Sale were good in the conditions imo. They ran the ball well in poor conditions and should've scored a couple of tries. Cipriani good off the tee but some really poor decisions to kick again - I'm not convinced at all. Sale's dogged and aggressive defence made the difference. Wasps seem to struggle in the mud when they can't play quick pace rugby.

Just a few thoughts from today's rugby - anyone agree?

 

[Maverick1987]

Interesting day of rugby imo.

Bath, much like Northampton of late, looked devoid of any ideas in attack. There's no rhythm to their backs play; the ball rarely gets beyond the first man. Admittedly the weather couldn't have helped, but you'd think last year Bath would have thrown the ball around a bit more. The lack of an in form outside half also means they're not playing in the right areas. Fair play to Newcastle though - they needed a win with Irish's resurgence and good to get one at home.

Gloucester far from convincing for me. They've rarely looked good at home this year and just don't have the pack to compete with the top teams. Irish capitulated late on but there's still encouraging signs. I think they have a better squad than Newcastle and Worcester so will be fine come the end of the season.

I'm not reading much into the Sarries v Leicester game. As others have already said on here, Leicester surrendered with their team selection. Concern is that when Cole and Ayerza came on, they were still pushed back in the scrum and driving maul. Aside from this, I actually thought Leicester played quite well. The backs looked dangerous in the first half but if you're getting dominated in the pack, you don't hold much hope. Wind played a massive part in the second half obviously.

Sale were good in the conditions imo. They ran the ball well in poor conditions and should've scored a couple of tries. Cipriani good off the tee but some really poor decisions to kick again - I'm not convinced at all. Sale's dogged and aggressive defence made the difference. Wasps seem to struggle in the mud when they can't play quick pace rugby.

Just a few thoughts from today's rugby - anyone agree?

Definitely agree on the Leicester game . Although Ayerza started and Mulipola came on . I haven't watched any of the other games so can't comment on those

 

[Luis Alberto]

Mike Ford should continue in Bath? The team goes downhill. Many penalties, many mistakes on offense and defense...

I am spanish, I feel my bad english.

 

[thenewgaffer]

Mike Ford should continue in Bath? The team goes downhill. Many penalties, many mistakes on offense and defense...

I am spanish, I feel my bad english.

I think Ford needs more time. He's built Bath up into a successful team over the last couple of years and should turn it around soon. A few players seem to have World Cup hangovers and their poor form has coincided. Problem for Ford is I doubt Bath's millionaire owner shares my sympathy.

 

[Bee]

Well then

Bit of a dull match really- Newcastle missed a couple of easy penalties because Willis can't kick, but not much else. Any news on Matawalu? Looked like a hamstring but he walked off the pitch. Good to get the win though.

God Bath's off form.

Congratulations to you lot for a huge and important win. First against Bath in 5-6 years ?
Sorry. I did not want to sound presumptuous, but I think we both can agree that looking at Bath' squad, they should be able to beat Newcastle.
Boy, they are so off track this season, they won't go anywhere.
I'm getting to the point of thinking that avoiding relegation might be a success, too.

 

[thenewgaffer]

The problem for Bath is in the pack imo. If you look at today's 8 compared to the 8 that beat Leicester 45-0 last season...

v Leicester - James, Webber, Wilson; Hooper (capt), Attwood; Fearns, Mercer, Houston.
v Newcastle - Auterac, Batty, Thomas, Garvey, Ewels, Houston, Mercer (capt), Denton

I think the difference in quality between these two packs sheds light on their comparative fortunes.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

Congratulations to you lot for a huge and important win. First against Bath in 5-6 years ?
Sorry. I did not want to sound presumptuous, but I think we both can agree that looking at Bath' squad, they should be able to beat Newcastle.
Boy, they are so off track this season, they won't go anywhere.
I'm getting to the point of thinking that avoiding relegation might be a success, too.

Ah don't worry, I'm joking around- was at Kingston park so was riding the buzz a little. With Newcastle you've got to really milk the wins

It's a bit of a worry about the form of Bath really in terms of England, as a lot of relatively key players earn their daily bread there.

Having been stuck up one end in the North stand I'm not in a position (literally, heh) to diagnose much.

At least individual players seemed to be doing alright- Ford only made a couple of mistakes and that lateral touch finder was a beautiful kick (with a lucky bounce to boot (literally, heh)), Joseph too looked to be playing well. Houston made some big carries, etc.

However, they just looked anonymous as a team.

Edited to add: losing their top three second rows can't have helped, certainly- though they consistently beat Newcastle at scrum time, with several against the head.

How much better are their missing players in the other roles compared to the current ones?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Well that's been the case the entire season - individuals not playing badly, actually quite well most of the time... but the team looks like a figurative amorphous blob.

No-one seems to really know what they're trying to do.

I'm not too worried about the players in terms of England... it's hardly ideal, but it isn't deeply troubling to me.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Seymour returns.
Bosses breakdown.
Manshames "good" openside flanker George Smith.
Makes the most amount of tackles for Sale (2nd, behind Launch, all told), misses zero, wins the most amount of turnovers (plus several penalties which aren't counted in the stats).
Sale Win.


All hail.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

Seymour returns.
[snip]

All hail.

Shame he's 80. Well. 31.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Bath...

 

[McTallshort]

Bath...

Nevermind lad, we were in the same position last season. Not got BT sport anymore, take it the big Bath love in has ended?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Nevermind lad, we were in the same position last season. Not got BT sport anymore, take it the big Bath love in has ended?

They weren't on the telly, but the score updates came up throughout the Tigers game.

Which I was watching with two Tigers fans.
I was insufferable.
Which only got worse when Sale won.


If anything the commentary seemed really happy for the Budgies rather than commiserating for Bath.

 

[ncurd]

Well that's been the case the entire season - individuals not playing badly, actually quite well most of the time... but the team looks like a figurative amorphous blob.

No-one seems to really know what they're trying to do.

I'm not too worried about the players in terms of England... it's hardly ideal, but it isn't deeply troubling to me.

My only assumption on this is missing players in pre season build up has effected Bath more than most. Not too sure what's going on forwards wise but the world cup almost certainly caused disruption in training at 10, 13, 15 also minor headaches elsewhere from others who also went to Denver.