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Gloucester Rugby Vs Saints- Sunday 1 Jan - 15:00 - Kingsholm
Topic Started: Dec 28 2016, 11:59 AM (491 Views)
Wibble
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Well then, last week was a pleasant surprise. A comfortable win at home. Now OK we can all be critical and say we should have got a BP win but we crossed the whitewash 5 times so the boys did their best, it was an unlucky bounce of the ball that made the ball go forward for one and just the briefest second of loss of control for the other. Also we cant expect to fix everything over night so i am happy at this point with what went on last week.

The good parts, everyone seemed to be on the same page. Players were in support and ready to gather the ball from each move, run or kick. Nic Groom looks like our best 9 at the mo, and he adds something to the team that i hope he will be allowed to keep trying with his good ball skills and eye for a gap. His box kicks also seem to be well timed for the wingers to challenge too. the 10/12 combo of Myler and JJ seems to work well. Giving both the chance to take it on or distribute when needed and the security that worst case either of them can punt the ball down field. A kicking 12 has been a dream of many saints fans for years and Harry/JJ have shown us that its a positive when available. When given the chance our forwards can all run with the ball and keep things going forwards nicely. Courts seems to be back in form, Waller and Mikey are still good ball in hand when given a chance. The back row all looked hungry, its great to see the competition we have there with Wood, Gibson, Harrison and of course Picamoles all top choices. It was also nice to see Estelles show us what he had to offer all over the pitch and watching Foden look more confident was a big plus.

So the next game, Well Gloucester away is always a tough match. That said i think w can do it. We have to keep up the intensity because if we come out slow we always have to chase and thats not easy at the moment, but come out hard and get a small lead or even keep close behind and we can put on pressure. Try and keep the ball alive but know when to just take the ball to ground and recycle.

Sounds simple and it can be. We just need to get 2 more wins to start feeling better about the season. We could get up as high as 5th if everything goes our way. Top 2 is still a VERY long way off but if we can put a run together we can make top 6 safe and be looking at those play off places.

Lots of ifs and Buts but as we are reminded so often, its not how you start a race that counts but how you finish it. We made things hard for ourselves but IF we were to make top 4 i would rather it was because of a strong finish than the other way round.
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big mac returns
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Must must win game, that is the case for every game now but I don't think we will get top six if we lose this.

Think the talent of smyler with the running skills of jj is the difference in recent weeks, big fan of the way jj squares the defence I think if u had a kicking 15 he could be a very effective ten.

Forwards looked decent v sale, day and Lawes were superb and Waller is playing some of his best stuff at the mo

Glos are by no means a good side but have shown they can be dangerous, especially in front of the shed. Be a tough game no doubt.

If north is back it would be interesting to see him on the wing and estelles into 13. Just very worried about that defensively.

Fingers crossed COYS
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chesty
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Hope you are both right but I think one win, against an out if form side, is not the sIgnal that all is right.Smyler and jj is the difference in recent weeks, those weeks being two record defeats.
Not all doom and gloom lets see in 5 games hope we can turn the corner but we havnt yet.
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Wibble
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Cant disagree with you but its just enough to give me hope.

We should be able to win the next two matches. If we cant then nothing has changed. If we can then IMO we will show we are top6. After that its a toss up if we will be 4th 5th or 6th.
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Ossie Reborn
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Well, unless someone in the top 5 has a second half of the season like the Saints first half, none of those teams are coming back to us. So, the battle for 6th means us, Glaws and/or Quins. Newcastle, Sale, Bris and the Wussies aren't in the mix. Therefore a win this weekend is vital because taking points off our nearest and least dearest is vital. Jim, it's just your job on the line. No pressure....
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big mac returns
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My concern is that its an away game, in my opinion we are a much better side then glos, issue is we cant win away
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flanker
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Kingsholme is a difficult place to win at. Is it on BT anyone know?
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Sarge
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flanker
Dec 29 2016, 12:38 PM
Kingsholme is a difficult place to win at. Is it on BT anyone know?
No, BT are showing the Tigers v Sarries game.
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Wibble
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Guess it will be the useless text updates or radio Noddy for me then.
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ElmaFudd
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Yes can only echo what everyone else has said. However watching Quins vs Glaws I think this will be a seriously hard match for us to win on current form. At FG I'd put my money on us, at Glaws I wouldn't. Hope I'm wrong but can't see us getting much out of this one.
Edited by ElmaFudd, Dec 29 2016, 08:37 PM.
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flanker
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Wibble
Dec 29 2016, 02:34 PM
Guess it will be the useless text updates or radio Noddy for me then.
I like the Radio Northampton coverage. I'd listen to it with the BT sound off if there wasn't the time delay.
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Wibble
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flanker
Dec 29 2016, 11:24 PM
Wibble
Dec 29 2016, 02:34 PM
Guess it will be the useless text updates or radio Noddy for me then.
I like the Radio Northampton coverage. I'd listen to it with the BT sound off if there wasn't the time delay.
I was not very clear there... I like Radio Northampton coverage, its the text updates on Saints site i find useless. There are often delays and a few times they stop reporting before the end of the match.


Posted Image
Good looking team.
Edited by Wibble, Dec 30 2016, 02:06 PM.
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ElmaFudd
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Decent team delighted for North that he is fit to play.
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Bernie15
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ElmaFudd
Dec 30 2016, 02:46 PM
Decent team delighted for North that he is fit to play.
Young Harry on the bench too, and after such a short period of time out. Young bones, quick healers.

The names on that team sheet suggests we have more than a good chance of coming away with the 'W'. We just need to hope that the same form, as shown against Sale, is applied today!
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Notso Talented Local
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Well, happy new year but by the narrowest of margins! and with other results blessing the Saints we creep into 6th . A months ago I would not have thought that possible. Maybe, just maybe the recovery has gained momentum. Although a W against Brizzle is far from guaranteed, looking at the fixtures for the next round by Sunday evening things could look unexpectedly peachy! But best not to count chickens.
Anyway well done & COYS!!!!

Edited by Notso Talented Local, Jan 1 2017, 07:31 PM.
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Rushdensaint
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Well done the Saints, really dug deep and got the win, which I couldn't see coming at half time. If we get the results go our way next week we could be fifth going into the European games where we try out some of our squad players ready for a big push to consolidate a top 6 finish.
I need to take my tablets now and lie down in a dark room, happy new year everyone
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ElmaFudd
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Great result. Lots of guts but Glaws lost that one rather than us winning. Still a fabulous way to start 2017. Hopefully we can get a win next week and stop Bristols run.
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flanker
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That's a good win and they dug deep for that one in atrocious conditions. Sounds like some of the breaks went our way for a change, including the penalty try - good refereeing decision. However it worries me that we offered very little. We didn't seem to spread the ball wide when it was needed and there were a lot of errors again. We had some opportunities but didn't take them. Did any of the backs have a good game? Good to see Harry back.
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ElmaFudd
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The forwards didn't have much joy either flanker the scrum really struggled all afternoon.
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flanker
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The forwards generated some ball didn't they? Lineouts seemed ok?
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Wibble
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Its hart to know how much was down to the weather. Gloucester lived off our mistakes all afternoon.
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ElmaFudd
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Doubtless some of our errors were down to the weather Wibble but we still seem to be making too many of them regardless of conditions.

How many of our mistakes were unforced? I've only seen highlights and listened on the radio but I felt a lot were unforced or from silly plays.

As I mentioned the scrum didn't go well again so pens there were a result of good pressure from Glaws so credit to them for that.
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Wibble
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Elma, I can only go off what i heard on the radio, and from that i did hear of a few occasions where we failed to use the ball constructively. The second half was much better than the first though so we learned from our mistakes and started to apply good pressure.

I think we all need to accept that our scrum will not be pushing anyone arround any time soon. All our players are excelent and i am sure there technique is great but we have deliberately depowered the scrum as can be seen by the reduction in weights in the front two rows. Now what that should do for us is make us more mobile in the loose which can be great, we just need to train them to do that. Many of our front row players have good ball skills and a fair turn of pace when given a chance but for the past few years it has looked like the person picking the forwards and the person training them are two different people with two different ideas of what they should be doing.

Still, its an away win against a pretty good team (even though Glos always under achieve)


oh and can i just say, as for the penalty try.... It was definitely the correct decision from the officials but if i was a Gloucester supporter i would be annoyed because those are given so infrequently it must be annoying for the 1/100 to go against you.

I hope its a new trend in refereeing as i find it annoying that all teams would rather risk loosing a man to the bin than concede 7 points... and lets be honest its not that often a team scores 7 points or more when down to 14. Its a risk worth taking.
Edited by Wibble, Jan 3 2017, 10:33 AM.
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