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Champions Cup - Pool 1, Round 5 (Clermont, Munster, Sale, Saracens)

Vunipola is by far the best player on the pitch. Once the ball goes to Farrell nothing happens.
 
Yep - Farrell is too slow on the ball at the highest level.
And, his pass is terrible. Really.

Also, O'Mahony is a bit of a tw@t.
 
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POM just dummied a switch with the referee and the Sarries defence bought it :lol:
 
With a good fly half and a decent centre Saracens would have over 40 points.
 
News for you Saffycen - you're guys are ****ing morons. Kept taking kicks at goal when massively far ahead. Including a kick at goal when Munster were ona final warning for a card. Then decided to go for a lineout rather than a scrum where you have complete and utter dominance and a probable penalty try.

In fact you've somehow, SOMEHOW, given Munster a glimmer of hope.
 
Goode looks like the only one capable of passing in the backs.
 
4G claims another victim, and it's the referee this time :p

The Saviour of English Rugby™ on for Sarries in the 2nd row.
 
I think sarries were pretty poor not to get a bonus point whilst being so far on top.
 
Was hoping he would get more than 6min Olyy, he just needs the platform to show what he can do.
 
News for you Saffycen - you're guys are ****ing morons. Kept taking kicks at goal when massively far ahead. Including a kick at goal when Munster were ona final warning for a card. Then decided to go for a lineout rather than a scrum where you have complete and utter dominance and a probable penalty try.

In fact you've somehow, SOMEHOW, given Munster a glimmer of hope.

Meh a win is a win. Maybe i would be more annoyed if I had watched the whole game.

We have a serious problem in the backs, Bosch is average, Farrell is limited and Hodgson is getting on. Goode is very talented, but again not very quick. We need to use Wyles at 13 and Ransom as a roaming 11.
 
A win is a win except in the European cup. Clermont already stole a march on you by winning away to Munster. You need all the points you can get - no room for short-termism in this cup!
 
Yeah I know. But McCall loves playing him when Wyles has pace, power and vision. Oh well...
 
Just back in Shannon now and dejected is understatement. Heard a lot of Ashton should've been binned/sent off but people saying that are wrong. It's was a penalty and no more. I'm no fan of Ashton either. Also if he went it wouldn't have changed score/performance. I've been with these boys a long time and well seen the good times and bad times. But in all my time I don't think I've seen a team look as poorly coached as today. We lacked fight and heart on day. Sarries were better team and while I don't think they will go much further as they are hunted men next week they deserved the win. The BP was there for them but they hadn't the killer instinct and that may cost them.
 
Anyway it's going to get a tough 1/8 final at Marcel Michelin next week ! Clermont will have to be much more efficient in the last 22m than what they've done at Sale on sat. They dominated the whole 1st half and couldn't score ...
 
Yep - Farrell is too slow on the ball at the highest level.
And, his pass is terrible. Really.

Did we watch the same game?

Farrell was excellent against Munster - he tailed off towards the end but he was involved in a lot of good stuff for Sarries and some of his tactical kicking was incredible. His passing was simple and precise - it made Wyles try and as usual he put in some excellent hits.

he and Barritt interchanged a lot and it worked really well.

He looks very relaxed on the ball and i think people mistake that for slowness.

Yeah I know. But McCall loves playing him when Wyles has pace, power and vision. Oh well...

It's about how Sarries play, three distributors and using the wingers as the strike runners. Goode, Farrell and Barritt interchange through out the game and Ashton and Wyles drop into the 15 position. Watch the approach work for the Wyles try and you'll see this in all it's glory - it's a perfect example of a teams structure breaking down defences.

You wont' see many better worked team tries that's for sure.
 
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^
This isn't about his game at the weekend, and don't get me wrong he had a good game - he was integral to some excellently executed back moves.

But remember being relaxed on the ball isn't a good thing in and of itself - unless you can appear relaxed and yet still 'look liek you have time on the ball' (an oft quoted cliche but rings true for some players like Nick Evans) I have always believed that Owen Farrell at his best is a very, very good player but one of his limitations is not attacking with a sense of urgency. Whether this is due to his physical limitations such as a lack of pace or his mindset, it doesn't really matter. Fact remains, bigger holes in defensives are made to look a lot smaller when Owen is distributing from 10.

What I do note, though, is that he's become a very skilled 10 and that's good to see. He was v. slick in some of the training-ground moves Sarries pulled off at the weekend, just as he was quite slick on occasions against Samoa. That's encouraging - he hasn't stayed still as a player.

However, I personally think its inarguable that his pass, for an international fly-half, is poor. Momentum-killing passes, which make the runner check, have become too commonplace with him. He's definitely not got a zipper of a pass, that's for sure.
 

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