Exeter v Wasps: Post match thoughts.

[Horusthewasp]

Bath and a depleted Quins up next.

I thought Atkinson was very good yesterday.

Just noticed that Bath will be our last home game for 6 weeks (Newcastle 26th March is next)

I think Quins may have their England internationals back for our game (coincides with the first 6N rest week).

Having said that next 3 fixtures before our bye week could see an interesting reshuffle in 4th, 5th & 6th:

• Harlequins (43): Saracens (A), Wasps (H), Worcester (A)
• Northampton (40): Leicester (A), Sale (H), Exeter (H)
• Wasps (37): Bath (H), Harlequins (A), Bristol (A)

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Just been watching the highlights and I thought this at the time. I'll bet the place kickers have had a go at Paulo for not making any effort to get closer to the sticks with his first try.

[DGP Wasp]

I think Quins may have their England internationals back for our game (coincides with the first 6N rest week).

Doubt it.  Assuming Marler, Smith, Dombrandt and Marchant continue to be retained then they are unlikely to be released to Quins until after the 6N.  Marchant may be Eddie's scapegoat for Saturday, so could be released, but I'd expect the others still to be firmly involved.

[Rossm]

I think Quins may have their England internationals back for our game (coincides with the first 6N rest week).

Doubt it.  Assuming Marler, Smith, Dombrandt and Marchant continue to be retained then they are unlikely to be released to Quins until after the 6N.  Marchant may be Eddie's scapegoat for Saturday, so could be released, but I'd expect the others still to be firmly involved.

Hope you're right. Don't want to be faced with a bevy of unhappy Quins with a point to prove.

[Mellie]

Well Northmore played this week after returning from England camp and was terrible. Didn't look like he had a clue what was going on during the game.

So was his head messed up by Eddie or was he off script due to not training with Quins? Same can be said for Alfie for a lot of our game. Mind you I thought Raffi Quirke was excellent for Sale.

[HDAWG]

Well Northmore played this week after returning from England camp and was terrible. Didn't look like he had a clue what was going on during the game.

So was his head messed up by Eddie or was he off script due to not training with Quins? Same can be said for Alfie for a lot of our game. Mind you I thought Raffi Quirke was excellent for Sale.

Maybe overtraining took place.

[Rossm]

Well Northmore played this week after returning from England camp and was terrible. Didn't look like he had a clue what was going on during the game.

So was his head messed up by Eddie or was he off script due to not training with Quins? Same can be said for Alfie for a lot of our game. Mind you I thought Raffi Quirke was excellent for Sale.

Maybe overtraining took place.

Not really. Mental Eddie just told them what they have to work on

[Raggs]

Having watched the game now, I thought Barbeary looked a little off the pace in defence (as did a couple of others), but his attack was as strong as always. It's just that exeter made sure they had 3 men on him every time, which is great because it makes more room for us elsewhere.

Think we should be thanking Barnes for not wanting to call it a little earlier, saw plenty of rucks that could have easily gone against us in the final 10 minutes (75-85). I wouldn't say he wanted us in the game, but he could have easily, and legitimately, killed us off as such. Another ref would have changed the landscape a lot.

[Andywasp50]

I'm really chuffed with that result. Having finally got round to watching the game I wondered if it was very difficult to factor in the effect of the wind unless you were there. It looked like it was gusting hard and most of the tries came at the same end (wind behind the attacking team).

The most noticeable thing I thought was the way Gopperth and Atkinson interchanged as 10 and 12. I don't think I've seen that work so well since Cips left as it enabled Charlie to pop up in space and offload some cute passes, especially with the tries. I think it's a huge mistake letting Gopps go because another season of working together like this would really bring Atkinson through. I don't think he's a good enough 10 by himself yet. it also begs the question - has our excellent run coincided with not having Umaga at 10 for a reasons or is it a fluke?

Hats off to David Rose too. I've been a harsh critic of him since Pizzagate and he's the last TMO who I would have expected to save us by flagging the last Exeter try shouldn't be awarded.

[Marlow Nick]

Think we should be thanking Barnes for not wanting to call it a little earlier, saw plenty of rucks that could have easily gone against us in the final 10 minutes (75-85). I wouldn't say he wanted us in the game, but he could have easily, and legitimately, killed us off as such. Another ref would have changed the landscape a lot.

I thought Exeter were allowed too many penalties in their 22 without a warning so the referee decisions even out

[Neils]

Think we should be thanking Barnes for not wanting to call it a little earlier, saw plenty of rucks that could have easily gone against us in the final 10 minutes (75-85). I wouldn't say he wanted us in the game, but he could have easily, and legitimately, killed us off as such. Another ref would have changed the landscape a lot.

I thought Exeter were allowed too many penalties in their 22 without a warning so the referee decisions even out

Completely far too many.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

I needed cheering up so I just watched the last 15 minutes or so while on my X-Trainer. Some points that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere so apologies if they have been brought up:

The game was going nowhere at 72 minutes when Gaby knocked on after yet another communication breakdown. As the ball came out of the scrum Porter got in their 9's face and the pass was a poor one. This led to some juggling by them and we came up with the ball, at which point it was like someone threw a switch and the attack just gelled. This had everyone moving around with a sense purpose and their heads a bit higher.

Then Jimmy took his time with the conversion despite time being of the essence and as he's been doing all these years made the kick under immense pressure. I think that was crucial for taking a bit of pressure off scoring the next try, they knew any old try would win. It can't be stated enough how much we'll miss him.

The restart was well taken and after a couple of phases  Jimmy got the ball and took it in to contact, taking 2 defenders out. It looks deliberate because he's already looking round for the off load and Miller is there at full tilt on a lovely line, its almost as if they'd discussed the play beforehand.

The rest, as they say, is history.

[Rossm]

BiND: Have a look at the stats at the end of BB's article. Amazing.

[Raggs]

Think we should be thanking Barnes for not wanting to call it a little earlier, saw plenty of rucks that could have easily gone against us in the final 10 minutes (75-85). I wouldn't say he wanted us in the game, but he could have easily, and legitimately, killed us off as such. Another ref would have changed the landscape a lot.

I thought Exeter were allowed too many penalties in their 22 without a warning so the referee decisions even out

Completely far too many.

Well it only sort of evens out if you don't say that one or two of them should have been penalties to Exeter . Felt like the next pen would have been the warning, it didn't feel like the card was coming to me. Especially given how close those penalties were to being against us. Still feel we were very fortunate that every one of those decisions went our way.

[13thWarrior]

Just been watching the highlights and I thought this at the time. I'll bet the place kickers have had a go at Paulo for not making any effort to get closer to the sticks with his first try.

I wondered this...

Also, not seen it mentioned but I would bet good money Grondona got the ball down for their first disallowed try. Yeah the officials can't see it so I understand why they didn't give it but you look at everyone's body language and its a try. Well down Alo and Launch for going for it anyway though.