What needs to change?

[CurtisJHunter]

7 wins in 24 premiership games. What needs to change?

[NellyWellyWaspy]

I have no idea, but something needs to.

[BG]

I'm not looking forward to perusing the league table come Sunday evening.

Mentally I'm going to have to deduct Sarries' the 35 pts to make me feel better

[Rossm]

Mentally I'm going to have to deduct Sarries' the estate agents the 35 pts to make me feel better

I already have, mate. Come on Glaws. Give them a good and proper Kingsholm stuffing.

[Neils]

I don't think deducting 35 points will make you feel better. Unless there is some uplift we are bouncing near the bottom.  Personally I don't know what it is but that was a disjointed set of players being beaten where they shouldn't have.  The Irish match I put down to the " just promoted" syndrome, the Gloucester to weather and slip ups and last week we looked to be turning a corner slowly. Yesterday was mostly beyond inept. 
I posted on another thread asking why our 10s - both of them - kick the ball flat and deep every kick off with no hope of anyone getting there. Lima down under was a master at the hanging ball so who is telling them to do it.
A long pre-season and now 8 games in my view is change (what?) is urgently required. I am off to Bordeaux this week with literally no hope of any points and just looking forward to a red wine headache.

[Old Geezer]

I have been a really loyal supporter of Dai and his team but I am now seriously questioning whther they have the ability to turn things around for our team.  It has gone on for too long without ills being remedied.  I feel we need a really dominant DoR and coaching team and I am not sure we have it.  Also, I have never subscribed to a recruitment policy which gets players in who only stay for one contract and then move on.  I feel we need to establish a core to the squad before we start bolting on galacticos.  Build slowly but build!!!

[RBB]

Discipline is something that needs immediate attention, we concede far too many penalties, many of them completely avoidable and careless. The buck stops with the DoR on that aspect as far as I am concerned.

In addition we seem to have lost the team sport mentality, teams play to their strengths, not suggesting these players are perfect far from it but both are potent weapons - Vailanu and Kibirige. We need to look at how we formulate plays around the 'weapons' in the side and work to a plan, other teams seem to do this with aplomb, Gloucester build plays around our former number 10, why wouldn't they? This doesn't seem to be in our psyche. I think we have good players but below average game plans and tactics. That can be fixed, less than talented players cannot, when you look at most of the matchday 23s they should be competing but aren't, so if we develop smarter plays and tactics and fix discipline then we should improve. Or am I in la-la land?

Coaching age grade rugby we major on basic skills, good discipline and playing to the strengths of the team we have available, Wasps should perhaps get back to basics and fix what appear to onlookers as glaringly obvious.

[Rossm]

For all his excellent qualities, I think Thibeau is a bit lightweight for the prem. Needs to bulk up a bit.

[BG]

Considering Tibo has stepped up from Loughborough 4ths (was that where he was playing?) he's doing really well and it seems to me he is slightly more aware of the bigger picture, but that might be due to him once being a fly-half. He's being regularly picked  either way, ahead of senior squad members.

It might also be due to the fact he'd probably written off rugby as a career and all of a sudden has been given the golden ticket by Willy Wonka.

If he needs to bulk up then I'm damn sure he's going try his hardest to do so but I quite like his mobility. We have ball carriers in the backrow

Regarding your point about re-starts Neils.. I 100% agree. Either the ball lands on the 10 yard line or just on the 22 yard line. In between or deeper into the 22 gives the defending team and easier exit.

Its a skill/technique that can be practised by the flyhalf on his own.

Enjoy the claret in Bordeaux!

[Rossm]

If he needs to bulk up then I'm damn sure he's going try his hardest to do so but I quite like his mobility.

I also like his mobility and wouldn't want him to lose it. I don't want him to become a gym monkey but up to a ½ stone shouldn't be too much.

[Gaz]

I'd say it's fine to say we are in transition and blooding a few youngsters this year. But I worry about the culture and what these players are being coached.

You know a top coach like Gats, Edwards, Baxter etc would at least make this lot look like a coherent team that is building towards something. All I see from Dai's teams are the same old failings never being addressed. Sorry if that bothers people.

[mike909]

I'd say it's fine to say we are in transition and blooding a few youngsters this year. But I worry about the culture and what these players are being coached.

You know a top coach like Gats, Edwards, Baxter etc would at least make this lot look like a coherent team that is building towards something. All I see from Dai's teams are the same old failings never being addressed. Sorry if that bothers people.

All fair Gaz, I hate to see teams managing to be less than the sum of their parts. I think many people, myself included, thought the Bath game might have been a corner that we'd turned, but it doesn't look that way now, not for me anyway.

[Shugs]

Let's not forget, we should have won that game last night. We were in it for 78 mins. We really should have beaten Irish and although I admit we were well beaten at Glaws we did flicker into life just into the second half. I do think we are just fine margins away from cracking it. Our attacking play has probably already thrown up as many quality moments as last season combined. I really don't think we're far away. We need to improve discipline and somehow acquire some confidence. The upcoming Euro games may have come at just the right time - keep the faith!

[SilverShire]

Let's not forget, we should have won that game last night. We were in it for 78 mins. We really should have beaten Irish and although I admit we were well beaten at Glaws we did flicker into life just into the second half. I do think we are just fine margins away from cracking it. Our attacking play has probably already thrown up as many quality moments as last season combined. I really don't think we're far away. We need to improve discipline and somehow acquire some confidence. The upcoming Euro games may have come at just the right time - keep the faith!

I completely agree. Discipline is killing us, sort that out and confidence will start to flow

[Old Geezer]

Isn't this what posters have been saying for 2/3 years now?  Our defence has been consistently awful for 2/3 years.  I would just like to feel that some of the issues are getting better but I am afraid I hardly see it.  In fairness to Dai, I could see his anger and frustration during the game at the discipline yesterday.  Once they are on the pitch he has little influence but surely it then becomes the responsibility of the onn field leaders to read the riot act.  Where was our captain?  Where were our leaders?

Just my thoughts.