Match Thread

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Lee said internationals have to have to 2 weeks of, but it’s up the club when they get them.

[Hymenoptera]

Look at the number of attacking sets where we had momentum, created numbers or on occasions had a simple walk in and it finished with us dropping the ball.

We weren't very good there is no doubt about that but equally we weren't far off winning. It isn't binary, you can be shit and still come away with a win.

They kicked their goals, we didn't. We dropped far too much simple ball, they didn't. We had Lima playing santa and giving our Christmas presents, they didn't. But ultimately its a 10 point game where we gifted them 7 and missed 5 off the tee.

Scrum was good, defense was OK, line out was a shambles and despite playing with soap covered hands we created a fair number of good scoring chances.

That was nowhere near as bad as this time last year. That was scratch side who after 2 minutes lost their main line out option and pack leader.

As I said, the worry is losing becomes a habit.

Of the 3  games we've played, this was by far the worst performance. Last two games we've shipped 70 points. If being in touching distance of nearly scraping a losing bonus point at home to a team that got trashed by Ealing isn't as bad as it seems then i'm not understanding the game of rugby or i've woken up in a parallel universe.
I'll some of what your having

[Shugs]

Agree Hymoneptera this was the worst of the three. Incredibly frustrating. The basics were way, way off. But we did create chances that were at times farcically butchered. I also agree, Newcastle are a pretty poor side. But my gut feel is we're still pretty much OK. I can't offer hard evidence especially based on anything we saw on the pitch today but the spirit we had just a few weeks ago won't disappear and I still think on paper our squad is as good as anything in the league.

[Hymenoptera]

I'm feeling less optimistic, the drop off is shocking..but let's hope your right

[WonkyWasp]

Reading the Newcastle thread they  are less than appreciative of the referee .Thought they might have liked him, but no.

[Mellie]

I thought the ref did quite well. His assistants were no use though.

Ref would have given our disallowed try. On replay Jimmy's pass was possibly forward (ball definitely bounced forward but that is immaterial). However the pass was under pressure because Mickey Young was offside so only conclusion was penalty try, as we had scored anyway.

[matelot22]

It's the first time I've turned one of our games off before the final whistle, at 70 minutes, I just couldn't take any more.

[Heathen]

It's the first time I've turned one of our games off before the final whistle, at 70 minutes, I just couldn't take any more.

You were not alone!

[WonkyWasp]

I went away and wrote Christmas cards.

[hookender]

I must be a masochist then.

Look forward to the post Wonky!

[WonkyWasp]

It should arrive any time soon!