Big Ewis
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- Oct 10, 2011
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I know, but then there's how a team plays on its own, intrinsically. There are days where you click as a team, days where you really don't. Days where Fofana and say Sivivatu are on fire and the rest of the team is meh. Those aren't machines and robots, they're teams made up of human beings. They don't play at the exact same level every single day, like if there was a way to measure a team's potency out of 100, not a single team would be at the same percentage every single time; I'm just stating the obvious, but it's necessary here.
Confidence is a huge, gigantic element and "luck" is another one - a couple of good tries and the opponents are somewhat stunned and the scorers pumped up tenfold. It takes talent and skill to score, but then a bit of luck each time, not every single little aspect is studied by the try-scoring team: there's the "right place at the right time" factor, you try running towards a corner and the tackle is missed but it's not like you knew it would be missed....
Clermont clearly didn't play their game, and missed their match completely. It happens to every good team, last year a seemingly invincible, on form Toulon club got annihilated in Bordeaux.
Of course Clermont couldn't score a try because MP's defense was there. And of course MP scored a bunch of tries because they *beat* the ASM defense. But Clermont never could engage what they'd wanted from the start, and never could get in rhythm.
To run a sprint, sometimes you're 100% prepared and ready but when the whistle blows you just don't know why you haven't picked the start you wanted and that lingers in your mind and you end up with + 1 second on the clock from your standard time.
I digress from this match in particular here of course, as I mean this in general in rugby and sports. Rhythm is everything, and sometimes you just can't find it, and the opponents being on your carcass like piranhas doesn't help.
P.S: ESPECIALLY as a team. A team, no matter how extremely well prepared can miscommunicate, can be slightly out of sync, may not work "synergistically" or in harmony on a given play.
For a single player, like in tennis, of course you're just one individual. You control everything your body offers. But as a team, being 15 on the field, clearly there's great potential for many things to go wrong.
So gaston, I must totally disagree with your "You are only allowed to play as well as the opposition let you"
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