Round 8

[RBB]

Also worth considering is the amount of points Wuss are shipping, is Costello moonlighting there as defence coach?

[Hymenoptera]

With regards to Tigers, there has to be a worth about what happens when Ford is stood down for his mandatory rests as part if the EPS

A worth?

[Shugs]

Farrell's no arms tackle will undoubtedly go unpunished. When will he learn. Or, if he's never penalised does he need to. Round 8 messages so far:
Quins are poor - frustrated to have lost to them.
Tigers aren't going to be involved in a relegation fight.
Worcester might.
I still can't abide Sarries and their attitude.
Bath are Bath.

[Peej]

With regards to Tigers, there has to be a worth about what happens when Ford is stood down for his mandatory rests as part if the EPS

A worth?

A worry (from a Tigers perspective). Sorry, caught out by autocorrect!

[Hymenoptera]

With regards to Tigers, there has to be a worth about what happens when Ford is stood down for his mandatory rests as part if the EPS

A worth?

A worry (from a Tigers perspective). Sorry, caught out by autocorrect!

ok, did wonder. Think he'll be euro rested which will account for some but yes Noel Reid isn't as good.

[Hymenoptera]

Farrell's no arms tackle will undoubtedly go unpunished. When will he learn. Or, if he's never penalised does he need to. Round 8 messages so far:
Quins are poor - frustrated to have lost to them.
Tigers aren't going to be involved in a relegation fight.
Worcester might.
I still can't abide Sarries and their attitude.
Bath are Bath.

Agree on all the above. Worc might, if we beat them. What they have on their side tho are wins over unexpected side, which will help latter in the season

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Also worth considering is the amount of points Wuss are shipping, is Costello moonlighting there as defence coach?

I know a lot of folk blame him for our slump, but recently our defence has actually looked more solid than it has for ages.

What is it he's supposed to be doing that he isn't?

[westwaleswasp]

6n will see a different Tigers, perhaps.

Not sure we have seen the last of the Sarries cap story. They too might struggle during the 6n, a little anyway.

Whisper it quietly, but if we beat Saints and Worcester, people might see us in a different light, and the relegation talk might centre on the usual suspects.
We have to play Irish away, remember.

[RBB]

Also worth considering is the amount of points Wuss are shipping, is Costello moonlighting there as defence coach?

I know a lot of folk blame him for our slump, but recently our defence has actually looked more solid than it has for ages.

What is it he's supposed to be doing that he isn't?

Our defence is still suspect, some of the defeats we have experienced could have been avoided with better defence - Irish and Quins for example, I agree we have been better but there is massive room for improvement. Our defence was shocking for most of last season, the start of this season has seen limited improvement, Costello is tasked with that area therefore the buck stops with him. Our attack is far blunter than it was, so we need to defend better than we are doing.

Today will be a massive test as Northampton at the moment can be almost impossible to contain when they are firing.I head to The Ricoh later, with that being my biggest concern, let's hope we get a reasonable turnout as it is a 'derby' and the weather looks to be okay, so we may see some casual support turn up and the 16th man helps.

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Our defence is still suspect, some of the defeats we have experienced could have been avoided with better defence - Irish and Quins for example, I agree we have been better but there is massive room for improvement. Our defence was shocking for most of last season, the start of this season has seen limited improvement, Costello is tasked with that area therefore the buck stops with him. Our attack is far blunter than it was, so we need to defend better than we are doing.

Our defence was indeed shocking last season, as it was the season before, and many before that. The difference was our ability to attack.

As to the losses against Irish and Quins, I remember them being more about some shocking decision making, and with Quins specifically the utter failure of our set piece when we needed it the most.

The fact is our defence is better than it has been for years, and if we were still scoring the way we did a couple of seasons ago everyone would be congratulating Dai for having found such an effective defence coach to step up at such short notice.

Whatever is going on, it is not because Costello can't coach a decent defence.