RugbyRebels

Immediately Ward screws up the lineout

We're just seriously let down by half of our squad, who are just not good enough...

This is boiling up nicely.

I’d f***ing kill him.

Cat can disappear again ...

I think Gustard might.

Visser is definitely the worst player on the pitch

Billy!! What. A. Hit.

Actually, probably Ward.

Chalk and cheese with this afternoon's game.

I can’t fuc%ing stand Saracens ...

Stom wrote:Visser is definitely the worst player on the pitch

To be fair to him there, Care threw him a throat pass, on the touchline with 4 sarries coming to smash him into touch. Putting it back inside was the right move.

His pass was as bad as Care's was to him though.

Stom wrote:We're just seriously let down by half of our squad, who are just not good enough...

This. Minus Tapuai, that was our first XV which looked fairly good against a very good Saracens side.

The bench didn’t lose us the game, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that players off the bench screwed up the lineout that led to Billy Vunipola’s try and then failed to execute a move that could have won us the game. Game changers, but not in a good way.

On the plus side, I was as happy as it’s possible to be in defeat. That’s the first performance that had an obvious Paul Gustard stamp on it. If we can replicate that level of intensity and excellent defence, we will win far more than we lose. I’m happy to start with being hard to beat until he’s had more of a chance to make the squad his own. His selections suggest that he’s aware of where the weaknesses in the squad are and I’m interested to see how he addresses them moving forward.

Scrumhead wrote:

Stom wrote:We're just seriously let down by half of our squad, who are just not good enough...

This. Minus Tapuai, that was our first XV which looked fairly good against a very good Saracens side.

The bench didn’t lose us the game, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that players off the bench screwed up the lineout that led to Billy Vunipola’s try and then failed to execute a move that could have won us the game. Game changers, but not in a good way.

On the plus side, I was as happy as it’s possible to be in defeat. That’s the first performance that had an obvious Paul Gustard stamp on it. If we can replicate that level of intensity and excellent defence, we will win far more than we lose. I’m happy to start with being hard to beat until he’s had more of a chance to make the squad his own. His selections suggest that he’s aware of where the weaknesses in the squad are and I’m interested to see how he addresses them moving forward.

Does he, though? Hooker, lock and backrow depth aren't his fault in the slightest, we're missing players and previous recruitment was poor.

But the selection of Visser over Walker or Ibitoye is unfathomable. The only possible reason I can think of is that he's big.

Which is no reason to select someone, especially when their defense is so bad. We can't play with two big wingers, we need someone a bit more skillful. And we have them. Hell, even Alofa would be an upgrade and that's saying something!

That was a strong fighting effort from Quins. They lacked the quality to see the game out but you have to credit Saracens for getting on top in the final quarter. Billy V was terrific.

Agreed on basically all of this. I wonder how tall Visser would need to be in order to actually win a high ball?

Stom wrote:

Scrumhead wrote:

Stom wrote:We're just seriously let down by half of our squad, who are just not good enough...

This. Minus Tapuai, that was our first XV which looked fairly good against a very good Saracens side.

The bench didn’t lose us the game, but it’s not an exaggeration to say that players off the bench screwed up the lineout that led to Billy Vunipola’s try and then failed to execute a move that could have won us the game. Game changers, but not in a good way.

On the plus side, I was as happy as it’s possible to be in defeat. That’s the first performance that had an obvious Paul Gustard stamp on it. If we can replicate that level of intensity and excellent defence, we will win far more than we lose. I’m happy to start with being hard to beat until he’s had more of a chance to make the squad his own. His selections suggest that he’s aware of where the weaknesses in the squad are and I’m interested to see how he addresses them moving forward.

Does he, though? Hooker, lock and backrow depth aren't his fault in the slightest, we're missing players and previous recruitment was poor.

But the selection of Visser over Walker or Ibitoye is unfathomable. The only possible reason I can think of is that he's big.

Which is no reason to select someone, especially when their defense is so bad. We can't play with two big wingers, we need someone a bit more skillful. And we have them. Hell, even Alofa would be an upgrade and that's saying something!

Yep - 100% agree with this.

What I was getting at re. the selection was the choice of Crumpton over Ward and Elia and Bothma/Chisholm over Wallace as examples.

Crumpton is arguably the weakest of our hookers in the loose but his lineout throwing is decent. Wallace has been off the boil and underpowered hence Bothma and Chisholm with Robshaw moving to 7. Both of these changes suggest to me that Gustard is looking for simple solutions and focusing on the basics until he has the scope to recruit players he wants.

I'm with you on Visser. I'd far rather we gave Ibitoye a chance. I'm sure I've said so a few times elsewhere on this forum? Unless Visser is justifying his inclusion with tries, he's a waste of a shirt.

Visser was pretty hopeless.
On the other wing I thought Earle had a good game. He seems to be shaping up quite nicely. The move to Quins was a good one, I think.

The match encapsulated in two stats: