[2013/14 Premiership] Round 3

[ratsapprentice]

Terrible officiating.

Glos were the better team.

 

[Tony Manx]

Decisions went Glos' way at the end, but decisions had gone Saints way earlier, in particular denying an obvious 3-pointer for Glos earlier in the match. Swings and roundabouts.

Decisions went against both teams, the better team won.

I think that's fair.

Ha.....two wongs do not make a wight..................................!!

 

[Draggs]

Decisions went Glos' way at the end, but decisions had gone Saints way earlier, in particular denying an obvious 3-pointer for Glos earlier in the match. Swings and roundabouts.

Decisions went against both teams, the better team won.

I think that's fair.

I can see what you are saying, and if it hadn't been in the 83rd minute it would be different to many. My issues was the ref first of all ignored the offside at restart, and then the handling of the scrims followed by a contentious penalty.

Nice to see North doing what he does best. He loves those touchline setups.

 

[j'nuh]

North's hand in the try was fantastic, I don't want to take that away from him. Wonderful try.

But overall, I found Saints to be very underwhelming. They destroyed us in the maul, and had most of the advantage in the scrum. They had mostly clean lineouts, where we were scrappy. Overall, they killed us in the set piece. When you have that much of an advantage in the set piece and a talented back line, you ought to be putting teams to the sword, Lions vs. Australia 3rd test-style. But despite having such an advantage, they spent most of their game defending. Very lacklustre IMHO.

Glos were two pieces of execution (Kalamafoni should have nailed the pass for a certain try, Trinder should have grounded Burns' chip through) away from being out of sight, with try bonus point sewn up. I know these are "what ifs", but I think it's just evidence that Glos deserved the win for their territory and creativity in attack. The game is longer than a minute, and it would have been bad for rugby had Saints won. (Obviously, I'm one-eyed, but I hope people who had watched it from the start as a neutral would see what I'm saying.)

But I have no idea what ND was thinking taking Burns and Cowan off. The Glos team completely lost structure after that, and were scrambling for the win when they should have had it at a canter by the end. We were dominating and had Saints pinned. Not the right time to change your half-back pairing. Doesn't matter if two players on the bench never make it on the field.

As for Cowan, that's the best I've seen him in a long while. Very encouraging. Him to start and Knoyle on the bench next game, please.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, the refereeing was awful and Fox has probably earned himself a few games in the Championship to try and prove his credentials again, but that's because of his performance over the whole game, not from missing a couple of decisions at the end.

 

[Peat]

Congrats to Glaws, great to see them going out and putting their mark on things.

I think j'nuh should be more scared of a Flood-sized hole at Leicester than Saints.

 

[Patchey]

Anyone watching the Bath/Saracens game? Just gone half time, 31-3 to Sarries. Bath are appalling, poorly organised in defense, misfiring line out and blunt in attack. Biggs on the wing is playing especially badly. Webber in the sin bin.

 

[ratsapprentice]

What a dreadful performance.

 

[Patchey]

Biggs has been especially bad, as was Perenise, not surprise he was taken off after half an hour.

 

[Wakaloo]

Good try for Bath now. A free kick for throwing early was a bit harsh, tho. Right?

 

[Patchey]

It was more that the ref had specifically told him not to throw and George tried it anyway I think.

 

[ratsapprentice]

That game showed how important Attwood is to Bath.
When he came on the scrums became dominant, the lineout started to function and he was massive in the loose.

Can't say I share JP Doyle's interpretation of players supporting their own weight at the breakdown though...

Definitely learned that Bath cannot rotate safely against in form top 4 sides.
Not news, but the fact was reinforced. Fearns needs to get himself fit.

Playing Perenise at LH was a mistake - starting him is a mistake, impact sub only please.
Would like to see Catt start when James is benched.

Ford looks very important.
Watson has all the potential in the world.
Banahan is not a centre.
Based on today's performance the rumours about Biggs going off to Hull FC seem a lot more realistic.
Henson is brass.

Although it was quite a heavy loss, I can't say I think they should've put out a first team.
We probably would have got a LBP, but we wouldn't have tested our depth.

 

[Packman]

Oops, only 3 out of 6 predictions right this week. Ah well, tongue was firmly in cheek. It could have been 4 out of 6 so easily!!! I thought it was hilarious when Saints scored at the death vs glaws. That would've got me outa jail.
Still as a tigers fan you gotta look on the bright side, Northampton lost. Shame that.

Seriously though folks: I think Austin kinda had a point as far as the game ending after the conversion was taken. He just took it too far by insisting the match should have ended when the scrum was reset. The scrum had to be completed.

This is what to you get if you let a Back commentate on a rugby match. It's a well known fact that all Backs are essentially dizzy Blondes. Guscott, Healey, Dawson... Case closed your honour. Take note kiddies.

Oh one other thing: I really don't think Gary Gold has a massive sense of humour, do you? I know you need a behave in a professional manner befitting a premiereship rugby club but I don't think he made many freinds in amongst the travelling Bath crowd by refusing to give Henson a kick at goal. He could have put the whole thing to bed with Bath's first penalty. I think I'm going to have to start referring to Gary as Oscar.