Post match reflection

[hopwood]

Don’t panic.

Don’t overreact. A bonus point is alright.

Perspective. We’ve won 4 out of the last 6 against quality opposition.
We’ve found ways to win from poor positions.

Today, too many combinations broke down.
We struggled with gameplan and control.

We never really got runners coming from deep, at least until the 2nd half with Jacob cutting some good lines.
A few of our key players has an off day. It happens.
Dan Robson especially.
But he’s had more great games than bad ones.

Joe Marler was absolutely exceptional. And our scrum suffered. There aren’t too many props as good as him.
Our lineout was actually very good. Just not our maul.

Porter was so much better for the game when he came on.
We play so much better when the game breaks up and is unstructured.

Nice to see Jack back.
Tom too.

We will only get better from this game.
Lessons will be learnt.
Young players will grow and become wiser.
And as fans, we need to be patient.
A few months ago, we were hanging out at the bottom of the pile.
Now, we’re fighting to be considered a top side.

We’re not far off.
We just need some consistency in selection and a cohesive gameplan.
Our best players need to find harmony in the way we play.
We need to speed things up a notch.
Keep the faith.

[Neils]

Agreed.

Your point on consistency is correct but our problem is continuing injuries.

[Steve from Cov]

The third quarter performance was awful and lost us the game but we showed a bit more energy in the last few minutes.

Tom Willis and Ryan Mills stood out for me. Jack got better the longer he was on.

Fifita didn't do enough for me. Robson was lethargic - this happened the last time he had a long absence - but he will get better with more game time.

[Wombles]

Losing bonus point deserved.

Midfield channels key to Quins win.

Lose the set piece lose the game.

Quins were full value for their win today. We left ourselves too much to do, however unlike the last 2 rounds great escapes, we could not replicate that. Robbo had a rare off day which lost us position and possession which Quins duly punished us for. The front row got a lesson on where they need to be to be pushing for the title before the Quins starting front row went off. We just tried to force things too much when control was needed. We also have to remember that injuries over such a long period of time meant our midfield has not had time to gel. You can lose games through the 12-13 channel, and today proved as such. I am however not too disheartened, to come back from 19 points down to get a LBP away from home is a pleasing element.

I still feel though that top 4 is beyond us this term, top 6 is the return we need and to be in the top level European competition net season. We have to go all out for this, and the league is so tight. Away next week to Bristol is a must win.

[Rossm]

Joe Marler was absolutely exceptional. And our scrum suffered. There aren’t too many props as good as him.

I really don't agree with you on Marler's apparent superiority. He's a poseur and is a master of kidology. He cons people particularly officials, none of whom have much of a clue about the scrum.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Lose the set piece lose the game.

Agreed, but we also lost the contest in the ruck, and what ball did get to the foot of our side, Robson either kicked away, or dallied too long before shipping it to Atkinson, who faced a really fast line speed since they had the time to get organised.

This was our main difference, plus our back row did not get across to shore up the midfield, but theirs did.

[Shugs]

A good point for me. Important we took something from it. Game time for Willis x 2 and Mills. Our first up props matched two of the best in the league and our line out was good. Lacked some fluency going forward and made some mistakes but we take a point. I don’t think we’ll miss Fifita too much. Small things that need doing such as clearing out don’t happen consistently with him. Decision to be made at FB as Umaga is OK going forward - but that’s it. Defensively it creates an issue for us and I’d just like to see him and Atkinson rotate at 10. Great to see Jack Willis charging with the ball again and that coupled with a point makes it an ok day. Hope Hislop is not as bad as it looked.

[Westy68]

Yes disappointing and it sounds like we didn’t play well. I agree we need a bit of patients but we must also take advantage of teams in poor form like Bristol. So fingers crossed we get back to winning ways next week, have a week off and just try and stay in the top 6. Not sure we can do top 4, as we will most probably run out of games

[Bloke in North Dorset]

I thought it was a better performance than last week, against a much better side.

We gave the best attack in the league an inch and they took a mile, that was very disappointing. We've either got to improve our kicking or change tactics, we give too many opportunities for teams to run back at us and look what happens.

On the plus side the Willis brothers are back and both looked good. Ryan Mills looking sharper by the week and starting to show glimpses of the top class performer he was. Paulo starting to look his old self, with some good leg drives in contact as well as pace in the open. Spink growing in stature and confidence, it won't be long before he's owning that shirt if he continues to improve at this rate.

On the down side Dan's lack of form is a worry. He's got enough minutes under his belt since returning from injury and should be making better decisions as well as better kicks and passes. Jacob still making too many sloppy mistakes, although he's looking good with ball in hand and space in front.

Given the season we've had so far I'm not disappointed with that game.
 

[Rossm]

A minor criticism of CMK. He got in the way al least a couple of times and should have stopped the game and restarted rather than let the disrupted play continue.

[Wombles]

Lose the set piece lose the game.

Agreed, but we also lost the contest in the ruck, and what ball did get to the foot of our side, Robson either kicked away, or dallied too long before shipping it to Atkinson, who faced a really fast line speed since they had the time to get organised.

This was our main difference, plus our back row did not get across to shore up the midfield, but theirs did.

Agreed with all of this. Robbo was unusually lethargic, and as you say, slow ruck ball only gives the backs less time.
Communication and relationships, this is what we need to work on now. Consistency in selection will lead to a more cohesive and effective performance, and that is so key in rugby.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

Yes disappointing and it sounds like we didn’t play well. I agree we need a bit of patients but we must also take advantage of teams in poor form like Bristol. So fingers crossed we get back to winning ways next week, have a week off and just try and stay in the top 6. Not sure we can do top 4, as we will most probably run out of games

After Chiefs win tomorrow (I expect them to), we will be 8th. Pretty much top 8 is what we can hope for I think. Top 6 will need some luck. Top 4? Unlikely.

[Rossm]

We are now 7th and need Falcons to do us a favour tomorrow to stop slipping to 8th. However, depending on what happens tomorrow (Falcons v Exe) we are still only 4 points behind Irish who are currently 5th. Come on Budgies.

[Wombles]

With 5 of our last 8 games away from home we have to get more than losing bonus points away from home to have a chance of top 6.

[Heathen]

With 5 of our last 8 games away from home we have to get more than losing bonus points away from home to have a chance of top 6.

Agreed.

I was concerned with our selection in the backs. Quins cannot be given any space. I would have started with Dobby, Jimmy, Mills and Paolo as my 9/10/12/13. Jacob is found out at 15 against a set of quality backs.