[Surbiton_Shark]

Wilkinson costing us this garden and had been for a bit.

I think that's a little harsh - yes the missed kicks could've cost us but he had a fine game away from that and was key in a lot of what we did well

Watch the replay and Wilkinson in defence. We have to get other players around him to protect him and anytime he’s isolated attackers run over him. I noticed it at Irish, it happened last week and it happened this week

When Curtis was on at the end the first they ran it down his line he stopped the tackler on the gain line.

I wish it wasn’t the case….but just watch him in defence. He just needs time to bulk up. In the interim whilst AJ or RDP are injured either try Curtis or put Sam at 10. It ain’t going to do Wilkinson much good setting him up for failure

[Streatham Shark]

Great win. Tom the biggest change for me, but raffi is an exceptional talent. I think domination of the pack was the difference in the end.

[poyntonshark]

I remember another Sale no 10 getting similar criticism, for most of his career. He managed to do alright for himself in the end.

[Elgar]

I like a lot about Wilkinson but I think he might have the same problem as Gus Warr.

[Olyy]

Wilkinson costing us this garden and had been for a bit.

I think that's a little harsh - yes the missed kicks could've cost us but he had a fine game away from that and was key in a lot of what we did well

Watch the replay and Wilkinson in defence. We have to get other players around him to protect him and anytime he’s isolated attackers run over him. I noticed it at Irish, it happened last week and it happened this week

When Curtis was on at the end the first they ran it down his line he stopped the tackler on the gain line.

I wish it wasn’t the case….but just watch him in defence. He just needs time to bulk up. In the interim whilst AJ or RDP are injured either try Curtis or put Sam at 10. It ain’t going to do Wilkinson much good setting him up for failure

I guess so, but he doesn't shirk contact like some 10s, and made 9 tackles missed 1 tonight (more tackles than Smith made)

I don't think his defence is a liability or anything close - and it'll only get stronger. He's a young 10 who was targeted by big runners - happens a lot, I've seen George Ford have worse defensive displays than Wilko tonight

Would I start him ahead of AJ? Of course not
But I think he's definitely played well enough to be in the 22-shirt-rotation once everyone is fit

Curtis has looked very assured in his two cameos the last two weeks - very excited to see how he progresses

[Streatham Shark]

Is Curtis younger than Wilkinson? I didn't think Wilkinson looked poor in defence at all, and if he is having assistance it's no different from Smith or ford. The kicking is slightly concerning, but I don't understand why we've dropped Sam James (who had a really good game) as an option. What I did like about Wilkinson is they he kept putting himself forward. No lack of self belief there.

[StalyShark]

Well we pretty much shit down

Please tell me that one was autocorrect.

I didn’t mean to say we dominated them like a Cleveland steamer…

[Olyy]

Is Curtis younger than Wilkinson? I didn't think Wilkinson looked poor in defence at all, and if he is having assistance it's no different from Smith or ford. The kicking is slightly concerning, but I don't understand why we've dropped Sam James (who had a really good game) as an option. What I did like about Wilkinson is they he kept putting himself forward. No lack of self belief there.

Curtis is 2 years younger (he's 20 and Wilkinson turned 22 last week)

SJ was only ever really an emergency option at flyhalf (though he did have some fine games there, if my memory serves me well), if one of Wilkinson or Curtis went down injured then he'd be next cab off the rank but really he's a centre out and out

[Surbiton_Shark]

I think that's a little harsh - yes the missed kicks could've cost us but he had a fine game away from that and was key in a lot of what we did well

Watch the replay and Wilkinson in defence. We have to get other players around him to protect him and anytime he’s isolated attackers run over him. I noticed it at Irish, it happened last week and it happened this week

When Curtis was on at the end the first they ran it down his line he stopped the tackler on the gain line.

I wish it wasn’t the case….but just watch him in defence. He just needs time to bulk up. In the interim whilst AJ or RDP are injured either try Curtis or put Sam at 10. It ain’t going to do Wilkinson much good setting him up for failure

I guess so, but he doesn't shirk contact like some 10s, and made 9 tackles missed 1 tonight (more tackles than Smith made)

I don't think his defence is a liability or anything close - and it'll only get stronger. He's a young 10 who was targeted by big runners - happens a lot, I've seen George Ford have worse defensive displays than Wilko tonight

Would I start him ahead of AJ? Of course not
But I think he's definitely played well enough to be in the 22-shirt-rotation once everyone is fit

Curtis has looked very assured in his two cameos the last two weeks - very excited to see how he progresses

Don’t disagree at all. I made an earlier post before the match started. He takes no backwards steps in defence nor shirks any tackles. He just however is a slight build and gives away yards and means we have to cover him in defence in a manner we don’t do for others. The result is more space created for the opposition. Missing 3 kicks also isn’t a classic,
Nor were his kicks for the corner.

. If he created a heap of chances in attack or offered sheer pace - great - but he doesn’t. He does have a lovely pass, an eye for attack and in a few years he’ll likely bulk up but for now I think we have other options.

[Streatham Shark]

Ta. I meant why did we drop Sam James as a place kicker? As I recall he's good enough at it.

[StalyShark]

Ta. I meant why did we drop Sam James as a place kicker? As I recall he's good enough at it.

We had Addison doing it over him in the crisis days of winter 16/17…

[PappjeShark]

Not long back home from the game. What an atmosphere. What a win.

Other than that, don’t think I’ve anything to add to my pre-match Devil’s avocaderie! Clinical dissection can wait for another day.

[Clutch]

When was Sam James ever a place kicker ? Wilkinson still a work in progress but massively talented. Better to focus on his plus points surely. He created first try. Loads of nice touches, really good first half. He’s got pace as well so his running game will develop. Don’t get the defence comments. AJ brilliant in that area but most 10s aren’t and need protection. A failure in coaching and or others as much as anything. He missed 1 tackle apparently.

[Basilbullneck]

Cracking match, cracking atmosphere, cracking result. Still room for improvement. Curry red hot; Raffi on form. As a new boy to the England set up, he looked stronger than some of his fellow squad members. Quinn’s 7 was outclassed by Tom. Dombrant completely anonymous ( which doesn’t bode well for the internationals which will be nowhere as open as the match vs Bristol); Smith was OK; Marchand isn’t a winger; and Rodd isn’t yet a strong enough scrummager for internationals.
Whilst I understand the benefit of rotation, I thought we missed JPdP for 60 mins today, although Wiese made some unusual unforced errors tonight. His break for the first try was a cracker, though.

[Olyy]

I was quietly impressed with Rodd in the scrum - Kerrod is no mug and I think him and Rodd ended up with a penalty each
Not saying he should be starting for England or anything but it's good to see him still improving there because the rest of his game is top notch, and I hope he at least trains with England over the autumn (so Scotland keep their mitts off of him!)

[StalyShark]

Attendance looked good on TV. Anyone know “official” number?

[Olyy]

Prem site says 7k but that seems low/is a round number so I imagine a placeholder until we release our official figure when the match report goes up

[stevene]

some of the comments on here about Wilkinson make me laugh. I do remember a certain Charlie Hodgson being hidden at fullback or on the wing. Kieran has had limited first team rugby and also had a bad knee injury which means he isnt as far on in his development physically and mentally as he should be. however he has always been a talent and to me (pre injury) reminded me of a young Charlie Hodgson in terms of handling and game management. When Redpath was here you could see why Redpath was the place kicker though. That doesnt mean he isnt a good kicker but he isnt a 80-85% place kicker. He is probably a 70-75% kicker at the moment. Plus two of the missed kicks were not gimmes last night, it was the last one which was a bit of a shocker. He was 4 for 4 prior to that including one from out wide.

[Van Cannonball]

I think Wilkinson looks great. First 4 kicks were good, 2nd try conversion was not easy. As above only the last kick was a poor attempt really so right decision to switch to Curtis at that point. Future looks very bright.

On the defensive comment, I said the same thing about Marcus Smith for a few years - he’s turned out ok.

[Elgar]

Each of the three misses last night looked very poor. None of them a clean strike so hopefullynot a true reflection. He slotted the winner against Bath pretty nicely though.

[poyntonshark]

70-75% isn't good enough for a Prem front line kicker, but the point is Wilkinson isn't our front line kicker, he is currently starting due to injury. With whole squad fit he is third choice at 10, who should throughout this season be transitioning to 2nd choice and would be great if he improves enough to become first by next season. Goal kicking is very much a developed skill, the right coach, either technique or mental can make huge improvements very quickly. I think it was @Surbiton_Shark who pointed out the defensive frailties, Surbiton isn't daft, I'm sure what he saw is real. My, slightly flippant, point about Sir Charles was meant to highlight that 10's shouldn't necessarily be expected to be defensive monsters, before Johnny Wilkinson 10's were positively discouraged from getting overly involved. Nowadays more is expected, but I'm not yet worried. He will learn a defensive style that works for him.

[H's D]

Just as a point of info.
Sam James was usually the primary kicker at both Wilmslow High School and Manchester Rugby Club in his youth and was pretty reliable. His dad Nelly was also an excellent 10 and kicker. Both abilities are in his genes. However he didn't keep up with his practicing after turning pro as there were manifestly several better kickers in the squad and Jon Callard didn't really rate his technique! Better to focus on developing solid foundations in his gameplay. Whether he would want that degree of pressure even now I doubt. Missing a conversion to win e.g. a knock-out cup match can easily damage any ambition to be the primary kicker for any team. In a year when many expected WHS to go all the way in the DMC that may well have hurt his psyche and appetite to place kick generally. WHS ended up being knocked out in the quarter final by way of the home draw rule I recall (was it to Oakham?).

I found it interesting how often he is currently being used as first receiver in second phase play for Sharks. You don't have to wear the 10 shirt to play as a distributor. Making some excellent attempts to put Manu/Hammersley into a gap or chipping over the top for them. Also a couple of flat miss passes straight out to our wingers. They never really got round to playing several other moves that he features in at first receiver. None of the ones he did do really came off in this match, but the creativity, silky passing skills and rugby brain were there to see. I would personally like to see more of his long diagonal kicks in open play. We seem to prefer hanging balls from 9, rather than going for taking advantage of the new 50/22 rule. We missed a couple of opportunites to try for those in this match I reckon.
That penalty kick to the corner to set up field position for the winning try however was pure perfection. To go for touch 5 metres out took real guts and precision kicking.

[DavenportSharky]

Good to get a win but frustrating that errors so costly. We were the dominant team and should have won by some margin. I don’t think there was much that could have been done for the Care try as he was little over 10 metres out, he did not have to wait for the ball and if we had tackled him it would have been a penalty try and a yellow. The only chance was holding him up.
The errors from Langdon, Wiese and Wilkinson are all obvious but there were as usual a lot of spilled passes in good playing conditions.
I was surprised at the decision to go for goal for all 3 of the Wilkinson kicks near the end. We were out mauling them and a kick for the corner seemed the most fruitful option. Knocking young kickers confidence is not a good move. I was delighted for Curtis after last week’s pressure kick.
The turnaround in our lineout is noteworthy (wonder why that is???) and our scrum held up well. I know Raffi scored late but I was surprised Alex had kept him on as he looked knackered.
There were as usual a number of non playing irritations. The queues for the turnstiles outside the West stand are unacceptable. Far worse with better technology. At kick off it didn’t look an exceptional crowd but by half time it did. Spent the first 20 minutes up and down like a yo yo. Not sure whether the latecomers were in traffic or in the queues but it’s extremely irritating. I missed 2 tries last night because of people moving into seats. Having stood in aisles trying to work out where their seats are they then decide to go to the bar, come back to their seats, leave to recycle their beer and return again. There are enough stewards to make people wait until there is one of the umpteen interruptions in play as used to happen at cricket where people only moved at the end of the over.
3 of the latecomers looked familiar but they went straight to the back of the stand where they climbed the concrete wall into the hospitality section. Take a bow, Akker, RHVR and RDP. The Jaws noise was incredibly irritating. Extreme base speakers are unpleasant. Just give up on fireworks, very loud music and in play noise. The rugby speaks for itself and attempts to tart it up don’t improve the experience.
I thought Hammersley had another good game last night. Rock solid under the high ball and made quite a few yards. Only 9 penalties given away compared to 21 for Quins. Not sure they had any warning from Foley. When the Sale kick was heading towards Green he kept yelling that the ball had been touched to help avoid the player kicking it out on the full. I’m not sure that the referee should be doing that but suppose it’s no worse than “leave it” at breakdowns.

[Flumpty]

I was really surprised last night that Alex Dombrandt wasn't playing. I was looking forward to the matchup between him and Dan DuP, but instead it was some unfortunate so and so who just got repeatedly runover all night by Dan.

[Flumpty]

There were as usual a number of non playing irritations. The queues for the turnstiles outside the West stand are unacceptable. Far worse with better technology.
When the Sale kick was heading towards Green he kept yelling that the ball had been touched to help avoid the player kicking it out on the full. I’m not sure that the referee should be doing that but suppose it’s no worse than “leave it” at breakdowns.

South Stand queues were even worse, with only 2 out of the 4 turnstiles in operation.
I suspect the ref was being fair with Green - he was a long way from where the kick was taken and its reasonable to let the receiver know that it had been touched in flight.

[Clutch]

The queues to get in aren’t down to the technology but ineptitude of the fans. Which i guess is a consequence of using technology in the first place. It was quicker today at least.

Sam James had another v decent game but he’s also our biggest problem as I keep on saying. He needs runners along side him which we lack. Think we need to get away from picking AJ, Hammer and James together as each are the slowest in the league in their respective positions. And we don’t exactly have pace in the wings often. They are so much quicker than us in the backs. Not that it mattered so much but when James and Hammer have the ball you don’t have to worry about them making a break. Obviously James has other skills in his arsenal but still think it’s pretty easy for defenders.

Hammers v good again last night by the way. His two best games for us comfortably. Still think as per above we need to start transitioning away from him though hard when he’s been so solid of late.

[Clutch]

It was Care fielding the kick. If ref hasn’t shouted Care would have called for the mark and looked confused and them be smashed by some large SA beast.

[Olyy]

Nothing wrong with the ref letting players know about a touched-in-flight kick, no different to them shouting at offside players to retreat when it's marginal/they might not have realised

[LJK]

Could have been a 15 /20 point win if we hadn't conceded that crazy give away try seconds into the 2nd half, and more of Wilkinsons kicks had gone over. Against the form team and champs, I was happy with the result we got, which didn't look likely after 15 mins. of pressure at their end had resulted in nothing for Sale, and then they scored with first entry to our 22.
The more worrying aspect of the kicking last night was the lack of length of the kicks to touch, when there was more than half the pitch to kick into. Didn't help the forwards.
At least this week posters on here are referring to Quirke, Wilkinson etc as 'youngsters'. After last week's loss people were calling them 'kids' which seemed disrespectful to say the least. Alex is rightly pleased with the skills of any of them, and more of them to come apparently. Hope we can regain some confidence with another tough fixture next week.

As to off field matters...this was our first visit since March'19 and seeing the comments on here about long queues at the gates we arrived early. The Makro car park and shuttle op. has been so improved and is a slick operation. We arrived at the ground about 7.10 and seeing the large crowd outside, went direct to the South stand turnstile with only 2 people ahead of us. Even at 5 mins before kick off there were large areas of empty seats and standing, which only filled up after k.o. People moaning about slow access, but as an old f..t I have no sympathy if they miss the game because they prefer drinking. As said above what is worse is people having got in early then get disturbed by the latecomers, which fortunately standing on the end of the 'row' in South saves any worries on this.
The queues for the bars under the South are just crazy, with perhaps 3 staff trying to cope, but again so many people seem to prefer to miss watching the game, because a pint is more important. Probably showing my age, but in paying not insignifcant amounts for tickets, car parks, petrol etc, I am amazed that actually watching the game seems a secondary activity to many, compared to drinking or reading their phones.

[H's D]

Part of the reason for a slow moving queue for drinks in the South Stand was just that!

There were two pairs serving for most of the interval but only one queue at right angles to the bar. On numerous occasions it was apparent that those at the front of the queue didn't realize the left hand pair were calling for sustomers to move forward to the bar but they remained unaware for 10-15 seconds. That delay is cumulative! It was evident that on a couple of occasionsa few supporters just went straight up to those waiting to serve and effectively jump the long single queue to the right , who remained completely oblivious....
One wonders why 2 queues didn't form.
However most of the delay is lack of organisation. Why on earth they don't have a dedicated pre-pourer of pints in each pair and speed everything up is beyond me ; it's standard good practice elsewhere. It only needs one person to hand them over when it's only contactless payment. Why do they work in pairs so inefficiently, with one pretty redundant most of the time....

[PappjeShark]

Well, half a day later and still basking in the result. That will be one of the best nights of the season IMHO, when you take everything into account: result, atmosphere, action, tension. It was by no means flawless, but it was one heck of a performance right from the off.

Quins are very dangerous, as shown again by their opportunistic scores from a quick tap close in and then exploiting the extra man and a missed tackle. However, we left a lot off the scoreboard. 11pts from the boot and given our maul strength, we can only speculate if going to the corner in the second half might have brought rewards. We smothered them, and a 15pt or more winning margin wouldn’t have flattered us. Handling let us down in particular when dominating the opening 20 minutes yet the pattern of season past where that might’ve been followed by falling behind with sucker punches was averted.

The defence was beastly in parts; fair yet hard. Tom Curry was magnificent and oh how we’ve missed an expert at the breakdown. Raffi deserves all the superlatives. Wilkinson played with freedom and showed some great awareness, particularly in the first half. One no-look pass had me purring while intelligent chipping over the line also gave us a threat. What a huge difference from the younger version that Faf dominated out the game in Europe a few seasons back. Denny is back. Three times in the second half his opposite number tried to tackle, three times Denny rode it and shoved him backwards with brute force. I wonder if he might even have got Green into touch if Green hadn’t been shoved forward at the last moment by Marley. Perm any two from him, Byron & Marland in any game and I’ll be happy.

It’s almost unfair though to single out 3 or 4 names, when the work got through by everyone was top drawer. Quins really had little answer and that they didn’t much like it was evidenced by Marler running directly for Tom as the players went in at half-time, giving him sustained verbals which Tom just ignored and ran past. I’m sure there’s plenty more elements we could be self-critical of, however the reigning champions have been summarily dispatched in a rocking atmosphere and that’ll do for me.

(Ps Not to mention it was achieved without:
Akker; Lood; Beaumont; Ben Curry; Faf; AJ; Rohan; Marland; RdP and more besides)

[chris1850]

The catering within the stadium has been absolutely useless ever since we moved there. I don't blame the youngsters serving as it is quite clear they have little or no experience of catering and have received zero training.

On field, and I was very happy at our general performance, bar the handling errors and 2 silly tries we gifted them. Our defence was immense again, against the most dangerous attacking side in the league. Mike Forshaw, take another bow! Quins thrive on quick ball and our forwards largely prevented that which, apart from a couple of occasions, meant their dangerous backs never had a chance to run. When they did, I admit to being in total admiration of the way they create and exploit space.

The twins and TC make such a difference. TC showed why he is without doubt the best 7 in the NH and the twins workrate is phenomenal. Jono had another excellent game both tackling and carrying. Thought his yellow was a bit harsh - penalty only for me. Quins were not penalised for at least 2 seatbelt tackles that looked just as bad. Yellow for his reputation I think. Also a shout out to Bevan Rodd and Schonert who held their own in the scrum - no mean feat against Marler and Kerrod, and Bevan is like another flanker in defence. Great hands too. He really is a tremendous prospect. A year ago, he was but a twinkle in Dimes' eye. He is now twinkling in Eddie's!

Among the backs, others have said it all about Raffi. The lad has so much talent and only 20yo. I hope he is allowed to simply develop at his own pace over the next couple of years and isn't rushed. The Curry's were eased in gradually and it didn't do them any harm! Agree with others about Wilkinson too. His kicking will come. Importantly though, he has an eye for a pass and the skill to execute it. Defensively, he is not the biggest but then most FHs rely on a teammate to complete a tackle on a big runner. Just watch George Ford. If he has the ball in hand skills, then you can excuse some defensive frailties.

I know Hammersley is slow and offers little in attack but somehow I always feel reassured in seeing him on the teamsheet. I don't remember when he last dropped a high ball and these days, it is so important to be able to secure the ball from opposition kicks. SJ had his best game for a while and seeing Denny and Manu playing with such obvious enjoyment was a real treat also. From the Bench, TT was again rock solid and credit to Tom Curtis for nailing that (difficult) kick.

It was also great to see the obvious team spirit at the end. We really do have a rich vein of 'All for one, one for all' running through the club. Long may it last.

Finally, it was great to see the stadium fuller than its been for a while and the atmosphere was just fantastic. If we can replicate that each week and improve the catering, then I am all for buying the ground!

Our season has started!

[Van Cannonball]

Agree with lots said above so won’t repeat it, except to say I agree Hammers had a good game. Worth me saying that as I’ve been very critical before.

As well as being defensively solid, which he usually is, I felt he was more decisive when carrying the ball back and his kicking was good also.

[DaveAitch]

I haven't had time to read most of the above, but I agree with most of it anyway.

[stevene]

70-75% isn't good enough for a Prem front line kicker, but the point is Wilkinson isn't our front line kicker, he is currently starting due to injury. With whole squad fit he is third choice at 10, who should throughout this season be transitioning to 2nd choice and would be great if he improves enough to become first by next season. Goal kicking is very much a developed skill, the right coach, either technique or mental can make huge improvements very quickly. I think it was @Surbiton_Shark who pointed out the defensive frailties, Surbiton isn't daft, I'm sure what he saw is real. My, slightly flippant, point about Sir Charles was meant to highlight that 10's shouldn't necessarily be expected to be defensive monsters, before Johnny Wilkinson 10's were positively discouraged from getting overly involved. Nowadays more is expected, but I'm not yet worried. He will learn a defensive style that works for him.

He's 3rd choice for a reason. he had a pretty serious knee injury which has stunted his career development since he made his debut in 17/18. He has played a total of 19 games for Sale since making his debut in 2017. He was rated a better prospect than Cam Redpath back then He has played a grand total of 8 premiership games for us. I actually thought he had a damn good 55-60 minutes last night, ball in hand he was excellent (as Healey pointed out on comms). Perhaps he is suffering from 'he isnt AJ' like Charlie H used to suffer from 'he isnt Jonny'??? Credit to Axe for putting him in 10 and giving him some decent game time. I dare say Dimes would have press ganged Sam James into emergency service at 10 if RDP and AJ werent available.

[Elgar]

Think we need to get away from picking AJ, Hammer and James together

Couldn't agree more with this.

Hammersley had one of his best games for us. Particularly in the first half he was the main playmaker outside 10. And nailed his tackles when chasing his own kicks.

Second half Sam James was more influential than I can remember seeing him for over a year.

But they're essentially doing the same job when we have the ball and you don't need two 'second five-eight's. We need to play with one or other of them and replace the other with a proper running threat.

[Flumpty]

The queues to get in aren’t down to the technology but ineptitude of the fans.

How does that work then ? Large crowd expected - tick.
A large number will arrive later than usual, because its a Fri night fixture, so make arrangements accordingly - tick.
Balls it all up by only operating half of the turnstiles - double tick.

Or
get people to the ground as effiiciently as possible (presumably arranged by the Club who have a vested interest in match day attendence) - 10/10
get people into the ground as efficiently as possible (presumably arranged by the owners of the ground who will get paid the same, regardless of how poorly they perform and who have little/no interest in customer satisfaction) - 4/10
get people away from the ground as effiiciently as possible (presumably arranged by the Club who have a vested interest in match day satisfaction) - 10/10

[Van Cannonball]

Sounds like turnstiles contributed in south stand but not the case for west.

W1-3 was operating as it always has. Plenty of Friday night games with similar crowd sizes before.

The only variable to prior seasons was the ticket type and the queue was ridiculous compared to anything I’ve seen at the AJB before.

I got there about 20 mins before kick off and made it in with 5 to spare. The queue looked double the length of when I joined well before I got to the front.

Perhaps instead of the bag check the stewards could ensure people have their tickets ready?

[Olyy]

Agree on the above about Hammersley - and think he was one of the few that had a solid 80 last week, rather than just a good final 20

He's starting to remind me a bit of Mike Brown - not the most athletically gifted player, but always in the right place/doing the right thing.
He's really established himself as a solid rock under the high ball, as well - I know he was never bad under it or anything, but now anything that goes his way you know he's handling, and he seems to win more than his fair share of the 50/50 contests as well. I think I'd only put him behind Freddie Steward in the high-ball stakes, for a 15. It's interesting reading other teams forums after games, he's always one of the players they mention as a standout - solidity at the back can't be overstated

The issue with him at 15 was always that McGuigan and Yarde aren't that quick (anymore, in Yarde's case) so as a back 3 they were pretty sluggish - with Denny back, and back in form, I feel Hammo's position is less in question now (though that's not to say I'm not interested in seeing what Carpenter and Gourlay can do)

[Clutch]

Pretty simple. When we get to the turnstiles it’s the same or slightly quicker. The turnstiles are the same. Therefore it has to be down to human error bumbling around not having their tickets ready.

Hammersley isn’t really a 2nd 5/8. He’s not a play making full back like a Goode. He’s just when at his best very solid. His distribution out wide is pretty poor. Lots of passes flung into touch over his career. He also shipped ball on to Denny too early without attracting defenders.

Sounds harsh when he had a very good game but we want to win the league so need to be looking at the balance of the team and what it takes to win the league. Take Cordero’s try today. Not great defence but no chance we score a try like that.

[Flumpty]

Pretty simple. When we get to the turnstiles it’s the same or slightly quicker. The turnstiles are the same. Therefore it has to be down to human error bumbling around not having their tickets ready.

& when only one of the turnstiles is operating, rather than the usual 2, how is that down to the customer. Even with the regular "fannying around" by the supporter and turnstile operator, throughput has been cut in half.

[Clutch]

No. That’s annoying but the queues are big in the west stand with same no of turnstiles.

Reducing them is crazy!! Sooner we own the ground the better.

[stevene]

thoughts on Hammersley is he is probably never going to let anyone down but equally hes not a difference maker. Not sure I agree with the mike brown comparison. what stood brown apart was his aggression and commitment, that quality which means people like to hate him also made him a decent international full back.

just reflecting on Friday night a couple of things stand to me:

a) that was the most complete pack performance of the season. Having Curry back cured the issue we had challenging for ball at the breakdown while the Du Preez twins add more physicality. the ability to bring on Ross, Tommy, Coenie and JPDP in the second half also helped. next week versus tigers will be tough. wondering when LDJ will be back as that will give us some decent combinations across the second row and back row, esp when Ben Curry is also available.
b) there were signs that the backline was getting better. having a more dominant pack for 80 helps. however wilkinson's options were pretty good and some decent touches from Sam J. Denny looks almost there, great to see him even at 80-85% of the level in his first season and a half.

tigers next week is a massive test the way they are playing. like with exeter not sure we can play our standard gameplan A as they, like exeter, can front up to us physically.

[dinogyro]

Fantastic atmosphere on Friday. The A J Bell seemed quite full and the crowd were in good voice.

I don't know what the turnstile problem is (reading of smartphones?), but with our paper tickets, it took seconds to get through. Some people in front were taking 10-20 seconds. That soon adds up to a delay.

We got to the queue for the West stand about 20 minutes before kick-off. We missed the fireworks, but just about got to see the start of the match. Whilst in the queue, I did see a tall guy in a tan coloured coat attempt to 'merge' with the queue. I wasn't sure whether to challenge him, but as he was over 6' and I'm 5'5", I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt! Anyway, he figured the other queue was quicker, so he went to push in there.

As a result of the queueing, many people were late to their seats, which caused a lot of getting up and down to get to seats for the first 20 minutes or so. At one point the guy in seat T196 (approximately) decided he wouldn't let anyone through his aisle as he wanted to watch the game. Well, great for you, but you caused a backlog on the aisle steps, which meant a lot of us could not see what was going on. Yes, it's annoying, but just let them through quickly and let us all see the match. Try not to be so selfish. If you are on the end of an aisle, you really have to expect it.