Okay, I did this for Newcastle-Bath. I've finally gotten around to Glos-Sale, and wanted to put up some thoughts, mainly concentrated at Glos this time:
Gloucester:
The front row was fupping terrible:
1. Wood's yellow was harsh, as his collapse came from Thomas binding on the arm, and then changing to an underarm bind. But Thomas had been doing this all game and if the ref wasn't going to help in this regard, Wood had to wise up. Failing to match a 21 year old tighthead with a reputation for being weak in the scrum isn't good enough for a team aiming for top 4.
2. Dawidiuk's throwing into the lineout was terrible. Britton (didn't play) also has weak darts, whereas George may not be the standard required for top 4. I'm a fan of Edmonds in relation to the other hookers we have. Best in the loose and the set piece.
3. Harden spent a lot of time going backwards in the scrum. If he can't handle a loosehead that normally plays tighthead, and a 20 year old loosehead, then he's in for a bad time against Gill and Vunipola next week. Yann Thomas is still transitioning and needs time/patience. Knight, please come back soon.
Some stats: Wood and Harden had a combined 0 tackles, 3 missed tackles, 8 meters made on 7 carries, a yellow card and 2 penalties conceded. No
Second row:
4. Savage is probably the best tight carrier in the team, and I'd like to see him take on more of this. Okay, but nothing special, this game.
5. Not convinced by Lokotui at all. He made one tackle (not nearly enough for a lock) and wasn't very effective with his carrying
The back row was unbalanced:
6/8. Let this game be a good example of why Kalamafoni and Morgan don't necessarily work well together. Both players, while quite different athletically, thrive on being the go-to ball carrier. Morgan had his worst game in a Glos shirt so far imo, mostly because Kalamafoni was doing all the work Morgan should have been. It's like having two chefs: one in the comfort zone of making lovely food, the other entirely wasted on waiting on tables, something they're not used to. In the mean time, not starting Qera is mental. The guy brings an entirely different skill set and is imo within the top 5 flankers in the league (for what it's worth, Salvi, Flouw, Qera, Robshaw and Wood), and he made a big impact once he'd come on.
7. Kvesic was the only player in the starting pack who I thought stood out. Made at least one good steal, but was very disruptive otherwise, and made a few good carries.
Overall pack performance, 3/10
Backline
9. Robson was dire. I hope it's such overconfidence reaching too far and not second season syndrome, but Knoyle with Cowan on the bench next game please.
10. Burns was also dire. It became clear early on that kicking to the corners wasn't going to work without a pack to challenge the lineout. And the majority of in-field kicking was aimless, just one or two kicks being contested. Most of these kicks were also in the middle of the field. He should have gone wide and have Sharples or JSD contest the ball. He miss-passed Twelvetrees on nearly every move, and that killed the numbers wide. And why would you miss-pass one of the best distributing centres in the country? Another problem is that he seemed to try and force the game on first phase play. There were times when he just had to hit Twelvetrees and loop around for the next play, but instead tried a kick that didn't work.
This performance shouldn't mean too much in isolation. But having watched half of the Sarries game (about to watch the rest), and the performance Farrell put in, Burns is going to have to step it up fast if he wants to play anything more than a bit part role in the autumn.
11. JSD had a quiet game. Criminally underused.
12. Twelvetrees had a mixed game. On the one hand, his physicality was imposing. On the other, a yellow card
13. Trinder was the best Glos player on the field. His running lines are seriously good, and follows on from reports that he's really stepped up this season in pre-season. The unpredictability with which he runs his lines, his acceleration (which led to the only try), and he beat 6 defenders. Hopefully he'll keep it up.
14. Sharples had a decent game. Made some good ground on his carries, but needs to support breaks better.
15. Just behind Trinder in the player ratings for Glos, and the other positive of the night, is Cook. Disappointing charge down, but other than that his kicking and positioning was spotless, 133 meters made with his runs, and made some good lines. It's up to JSD and Sharples to read his and Trinder's lines better.
On the replacement front, Knoyle was game-changingly good.
Backs 4/10
Comments:
I feel that Gloucester are looking at what is needed to be a top team, and are playing away from their strengths to try and match the big teams. They've tried the "professional approach" of pinging corners, up-and-unders, mix of tight and loose carrying, keeping the faith in the scrum, and quite simply, the pack isn't up to it. There have been a few games where Glos have found themselves behind with this approach, gotten desperate, and reverted back to their "attack from anywhere type", finding much better results. Glos may not win anything with this style, but nor should they play as bad as they did vs. Sale.
In terms of the set piece, everything is wonky. The scrum is worse, the lineout is worse, the maul is worse, the ruck zone is worse (too many turn overs), and the only area of comfort is that Kvesic is contesting, which is nice to see.
It's also time for a clear out in the squad this season. There are some clear areas of weakness in the squad, and a few positions where too much money is being spent. 2/3 of the players are up for contract renewal, I won't say who I think should leave, but I think people can read between the lines.
