By StalyShark
#9886
Flumpty wrote:
Sat Feb 22, 2020 12:08 am
iBozz wrote:
Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:53 pm
BBC Sport report.
Did you spot this snippet in the BBC report ?
"We'll also be announcing three signings over the next two or three weeks who are internationals."
Isiekwe, Koch and Lozowski :yes:
By LJK
#9891
Pleased for the 5 points obviously, and even more so that for the half season Sale will be no lower than 3rd. Well done all at the club for this step up, and with the re-appearance of Faf and first starts for de Jaager, surely the second half of the season can only be better!?

David Flatman is a good commentator combining his obvious knowledge of the forward play with bits of his trademark deadpan humour. He was purring about Sale last night by the second half, saying we can go on and win the title. I think he was trying to get some excitement into what for the most part was dull viewing. There were maybe 5 minutes of real class in attack from us, and the defence wasn't really tested at all by Leics. Still too often we get into the 22, and have the ball turned over or we drop it. This accuracy has to be improved a long way if we are going to go on to the semis and final.

BTW what had Webber had for the pre match meal? He was everywhere doing a great impression of the energy of the Curry twins! MOM was clearly deserved despite the wonderful hat trick from Yarde.

As to Dime's statement about 3 International signings soon..... much as what he has achieved is to be admired, his predictions or statements to the press over injured players coming back, or new signings, have too often been misleading. let's see, but agree it could well be some Sarries players making the move, or maybe Jono Ross and Faf have persuaded yet more Saffers to move to the lovely rugby playing weather in Manchester !
By PappjeShark
#9896
Clutch wrote:
Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:41 pm
I’ll do no such thing. Stand by my comments.

We were poor for large patches but 5 points nonetheless. Delighted.
I didn’t have you down as the backtracking sort. Your opener of a 5pt win being out the window based on the team sheet was bizarre though. Both sides had plenty of absences - although the Guardian comment on the game glossed over our missing players - but the starting 15 was always capable of doing a job. The majority of the bench could also easily have started. So I really can’t see how a TBP could’ve been written off beforehand, particularly given the Tigers lineup had little to fear.

Perhaps we should have a little more faith in Dimes and the coaches and see the Sarries defeat as a blip. A bad one but only a blip nonetheless. Yarde certainly showed why he was there and might prompt stevene to reconsider his bother about who plays on the left wing.

It can’t be denied that large parts of the game were characterised by handling errors but the conditions really were atrocious. And they were dire for both sides, but we dominated possession and territory in both halves which suggests we did the better job considering. I think if we’d seen Phillips earlier than our maul would’ve gone much better but that’s being picky.

In recent home league games, we’ve stuffed Quins who were lucky to get the points they did, shut down a free-scoring Saints and now limited to Tigers to 3 and stopped them getting in our 22 once. That’s not bad going in my book.
chris1850, Flumpty and 1 others liked this
By Clutch
#9903
It was more the idea that only a 5 point win would be acceptable. Given the injuries I would have taken the 4-1 win. I’ll always back the coaches as much as any poster on here. Often in favour of overrating players. Saints was our biggest win i think.
Olyy liked this
By tigerburnie
#9904
Well that was embarrassing, not the score line, but our performance, after 20 minutes we seemed to cave in, losing Jaco Taute left the backs in disarray and chasing shadows. Our pack was the big disappointment for me, against Wasps some of the old dog was back, that was missing this week, individuals played well enough, but as a team we didn't turn up. Some Tigers fans thought it might have been better if we had been demoted and started again, we are lacking leadership both on and off the park, maybe Borthwick can sort out the problem. We're missing a lot of key players, but to be competitive in this league, you have to have more depth in the squad than we seem to have.
MikeGC, Flumpty and 1 others liked this
By Van Cannonball
#9905
No matter the strength of the opposition there’s a certain level of satisfaction in beating Leicester.

Goes to show the strength of the squad, in prior seasons with that many missing for us we’d struggle to beat most teams.

Really pleased for Marland as I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to really recover. The first try is a great line, second and third are more due to the assist I think but still had to be finished.

Some credit for Hammers from me as I’ve not been his biggest fan. Thought his kicking was good, and he was more decisive when opting to run.

Scrum dominated again, lineout was good considering the conditions. Maul I’m putting down to some serious infringement from Leicester...

Wilson was quite quiet although I’m sure he needs game time. Personally think he and Jono are too similar to play together, I’d like to see them rotate when others are available.

Lastly, good to see that we can compete and dominate even when the Du Preez twins don’t have great games (although Rob’s distribution and kicking were both good - 7 assists now for the season).
By AndaleManito
#9909
My thoughts on how the boys went under the Friday night lights:

Oosthuizen
- imo his best game for us, very,very good in the scrum and carried well. Got through a lot of work and took his try well.

Webber
- what a turn around from last week! The cornerstone of a near-flawless line out. 22 meters run, he really runs some great lines. Certainly seems that he could keep going for another season or two at this level

JCW
- a quieter whilst no less effective game. Scrummaged very well and a very low error count. Aside from being a strong carrier I never really rated him as much as I do now before he came to Sale, but it's clear his all-round game is at a very high level. I hope he can stay injury free whilst he's here. Don't think he got any turnovers but was very strong over the ball and kept the ball slow for tigers.

Evans
- Provided the spark we needed to get going with his charge down, and ran a near-flawless lineout. I hope we can keep him next year though I suspect he will retire. He's like a fine wine!

JLDP
- again, a quieter game from the big man, though he did get through a lot of work at the ruck. 16 meters and two defenders beaten still nothing to be sniffed at when playing at 5.

Ross
- A much better performance than last week. As always he leads from the front and as the commentators were musing, he just loves the contact. Weather conditions really suited him. Only had to make 9 tackles due to our high level of possession.Thought his ref chat was better though could still be improved.

Wilson
- started slow and two knockons really killed our momentum, but finished strongly. Like with Yarde, think he just needs more game time before he'll be back to his best, though clearly his conditioning is not an issue. Agree with the thought that him and Jono are too similar to play together, though it did work last night.

DDP
- another one with a quieter game, though still played well. 26 meters and 9 tackles, though 5 turnovers conceded. What really encouraged me, whilst not necessarily a good thing on his part, is that even though him and JLDP had quieter games, we still managed to dominate. His lineout skills cannot be understated as well.


Cliff
- great game, boxing kicking on point, nice sniping runs and a few line breaks. Impressed as he basically fixed everything that went wrong from last week, though obviously was behind a more dominant pack. 24 meters made too. Very happy.

RDP
- really showed his class as a distributor, some sublime assists. Seemed to have a lot of time on the ball and was talking a lot. I like his physicality too. One of his best games for us since his loan spell. Brought his kicking boots too in difficult conditions, both from hand and the tee. He takes the ball into contact far less than AJ and our backline is better for it.

Yarde
- the boy is back! properly back to the form he was in before his horrible injury. took his trys very well and ran some amazing lines. I know he mentioned his speed in the build up to the game but for me it's his contact skills that are what really sets him apart from other wingers - always beats a few defenders and rarely gets turned over in the tackle. I'm really happy for him and hope he stays with us. If he performs like that week in week out he should surely earn an England recall. 72 meters made.

Luke James
- I actually don't think he's a step down at all from RJVR, although rohan obviously has his qualities. Classy player and in my mind is a proper 12. Solid in the tackle, great distribution and offloading, always makes meters. Is only going to get better as well. Probably not his best game on friday but still very good. Allows others to shine around him. Cettainly makes Redpath's future interesting, though he's been pretty unlucky with injury whilst luke hasn't been injured for any long stretch (as I recall).

Sam James
- a classic SJ performance. Not much more I need to say, everything he's known for, he did it. People might mention that he's not that physical or doesn't look like a gym monkey etc, but the fact his he's stayed practically uninjured for years playing nearly 80 minutes every game and can put in performances like that. The James family sure have strong bones! A special player.

Solomona
- Didn't get the tries as Marland did but had a very good game defensively, and carried well. Still doesn't quite look 100% but needs a run of a few games, so hope he starts next week.

Hammersley.
- Like Sam James, did everything he's known for well. Solid under the high ball, some decisive, if not explosive, runs on the counter, beating 4 defenders. Kicked well from hand. The back three combo worked very well, and I think he allowed Yarde and Denny to shine, knowing that they had a rock behind them. He suits our style at the moment, though as always could be making more meters (21 isn't bad though).

Langdon played very well when he came on and I actually hope we back him next season and don't sign another hooker.

Not much needed to be said about Harrison and WGJ, solid performance and it makes me very happy that we can bring on players of their quality from the bench. Harrison also made 10 tackles, none missed.

Phillips made an impact to the maul when he came on. Don't think Poss had enough time to make much of an impact, though I do rate him.

Warr and Curtis looked impressive. Warr should definately be getting more game time now, has kicked on and taken his opportunities well. Box kicking could still be improved but his passes and tempo are strong. Curtis clearly a prospect, some lovely delayed passes and is getting better, though still raw at this level. I felt him and Warr could have come on a bit earlier in the match.

Reed
- didn't know he was back! Glad to see he's recovered from injury. Don't think he had enough time to do much but certainly didn't look out of place.

Overall
- a very much performance and we clearly learnt our lessons from last week. However, I don't want to be toooooo positive as Leicester were dire. We would not have had that scoreline against Northampton for example. Tigers really offered nothing, though our defence (as always) was very good. they didn't once get into our 22 which is an amazing stat on its own. Defence won us that match for sure. Good decision to take the 3 at put the game out of reach, rather than forcing the BP try. We showed good patience for that, and it came good in the end.

Still a few opportunities missed though, for which a better team would punish us. I agree with Dimes' comments that we beat them in the opening 30, wore them down and didn't let them have anything apart from that first 3 points. Whilst tigers looked so average, we made them look average by offering them nothing.

As mentioned early, I'm encouraged that we didn't rely on star power to win that, it was very much a team performance. Lot's of good players to come back too, so I'm excited. I should end this saying that whilst I'm very happy with the result, and our league position, we should bear in mind that we did play the worst team in the league at home whilst they were missing their best players, so don't want to get too carried away. Still, you can only play what's in front of you and we played them very well! I'm chuffed :)

Hope we target Gloucester away as a real game we can win. They haven't looked that great recently and we should be aiming to beat them well. However, performance will be important, it will be a nice change if we can back up a great home performance with a good away showing, so LBP with a strong performance would still make me happy, though I still think this is absolutely winnable.

Sad to see on the tigers board that they're complaining about the ref, though I do feel we got the rub of the green. Some tigers fans suggesting that relegation would actually be good for them, which I'm inclined to agree with. It seems like they are in a similar position to what we were in about a decade ago when Mikey Brewer was in charge. Just a mish-mash of players who don't really suit each other hastily put together. Sad really as it's their BOD director's fault, and I don't think change will happen any time soon.
By Clutch
#9916
If it was Brewer he’d slag off Ford to the extent he wants to leave!

Thought ref was good. All fans blame the ref when they lose.
Flumpty liked this
By chris1850
#9927
Clutch wrote:
Sun Feb 23, 2020 1:27 pm
If it was Brewer he’d slag off Ford to the extent he wants to leave!

Thought ref was good. All fans blame the ref when they lose.
Tigers fans blame the ref whatever the result.
Flumpty liked this
By stevene
#9947
I definitely got that wrong.

That was a complete contrast to sarries away.

Dominated upfront
Lineout solid
Played the conditions well
Tackled with enthusiasm
They, rather than us, got pinged off the park.

However how bad are tigers? That was as bad/worse from them I have seen (even compared to last season). I thought their pack on paper looked like a challenge, certainly their tight five. However they were so poor. Didnt help with their one backline heavy ball carrier went off injured after 20 mins and they didnt have a like for like replacement. Certainly a 6/2 bench split didnt help.
By stevene
#9948
one final thing. Oosthuizen shouldnt have been on the pitch (needed a HIA) when he scored and probably play should have been stopped just before Evans's charge down (with a restart of tigers scrum). He didnt have a clue where he was for about 60 seconds before the chargedown. not sure what game the doctor was watching but missed that one.

fact he didnt reappear after half time wasnt suprising.
By FarnhamShark
#9952
Absolutely agree with Stevene - Coenie couldn't even stand up for a while - just staggering about. Should have been off immediately, as a danger to himself if left on.
User avatar
By Yareet
#9954
Major Bloodnok wrote:
Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:46 pm
Yareet wrote:
Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:40 pm
Olyy wrote:
Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:04 pm
First 20 was poor, and first 10 or so after halftime, but all told a good performance
Defence on top, scrum and lineout (but not maul) very good,

Played some really nice rugby and got the 5pts in grim conditions. Can't argue with that.

Up to 2nd in the league and guaranteed top 4 by the end of the round (with a real possibility of staying top 2).


Don’t think we can be below 3rd. Bristol are 5pts behind us on one win less and with a far inferior points difference.
Woah, hold your horses: if Briz beat Wuss by 97 points with a try bonus, they'll go above us.

We currently hve the best points difference (+99) in the league.
Briz didn't quite make up the points difference :mrgreen:
By PappjeShark
#9975
Re Coonie, I didn’t think it was a head knock? I thought it was his shoulder or possibly knee. Which sounds bizarre but I think he’d rushed up for a tackle and didn’t quite there, either slipping and hurting e.g. knee or doing something to his shoulder. Either could have caused him serious pain and to be hopping around. But it was on the opposite side to me so not the best view, granted.
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By poyntonshark
#9976
We are still making large numbers of basic errors, but whereas in the past that would have seen our heads drop and games get away from us. Now we seem to have much more faith in our quality and try to stick to the game plan. League position says that for the most part that plan is working. Second in the league and we have very rarely put in anything like a complete performance yet, that should really excite us.
By FarnhamShark
#9977
From where I was he looked like he didn't know where he was - even if it turned out not to be a head injury, nobody would have argued if we'd said he was going for a HIA!
By Surbiton_Shark
#9979
After watching the Sarries game....it was really good to see both Webber and Cliff having very strong games.

Really nice to see Yarde get back scoring and brilliant to get a hat-trick!

Thought Leics defended quite well at times up front though the backs offered little in attack.

Bit concerned after at least 4 knock on's in the first 20 mins but eventually we kept hold of it and the gaps started to appear. Sam James looking really good and love Rob DP long passes which he really zips out

Would be really good to back this up with an away performance. I hope if we get a bit of gap in the table the players will play with confidence - it was interesting watching Northants under pressure last weekend continually knock the ball on - there was me thinking it's just us

With all the unpredictable results the challenge seems more who can get mentally up for each match - Gloucs have had a bad run of results so Friday will be a massive challenge
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