I’ve said before that I don’t enjoy watching one-sided matches. Thankfully, this should be the last weekend of them, both domestically and in that competition going on over in France.
This week alone has seen scores of 64–0, 98–14, 68–10 and 82–12.
Does either team get anything out of this sort of mismatch, other than game time? Is it really the case that being on the wrong end of a drubbing is a “good experience”? It’s one thing to lose but feel that you gave a good account of yourself (q.v. Caldy last week); it’s something else to be totally outclassed: that has to be demoralising.
And what about dishing it out? Do you really learn anything about your own capabilities? What does beating up a part-time scrum tell you about how you’re going to get on when Northampton come calling?
These sort of drubbings against what should be closely matched teams concerns me at times. It suggests that there is a superficiality to the game, both nationally and internationally. All looks great at the top, but one level down is too far away in ability for it to be healthy.
I don’t have any answers, it’s just that the sorts of mismatches that have happened over the last few weeks (not to mention the collapse of three Premiership clubs in one season) expose, I feel, a systemic problem in the world game. And that makes me less than sanguine about the future.
Rant over, back to business.
First off, let’s hear it for Ampthill. Outclassed, maybe, but they never gave up and even had some genuine opportunities right at the end. They could have put points on the board with a couple of penalty awards late on but chose instead to go for the big prize. After all, what’s the difference between 64–0 and 64–3? But to pull a try back: that would have been something to take home. That they didn’t manage it is – almost – irrelevant: the heart was there.
For Sale, Cobus marching out in the second half was the highlight for me – he can make (and made) a big difference. It leaves us a Curry or two short of our ideal back-five selection pool but we’re in a good place. Tommy Taylor’s return eases a few worries about the pack: Ethan Caine is a real prospect but we do need an old, wise head around and with LCD a doubt and Creevy still in France, TT gives us a stable base in the front row.
Raffi’s looking sharp again. It’s going to be a major battle between him and Gus for the starting spot, especially given Gus’s obvious ability from the tee now making him a viable back-up kicker.
On the downside, though, I counted some six butchered chances at the start of the second half. All of them – if I remember correctly – dropped balls just metres from the line. This is a bit concerning because we won’t get away with that when the proper games start up next week. Basic skills, guys, basic skills.
Looking back at the last five weeks, we’ve seen some younger and fringe players given the chance to show what they can do and, almost unanimously, putting their hands up to say “I’m here, and I’m good enough”. We have some good talent coming through; I’m looking forward to watching them make their marks in the Premiership in the coming seasons.
We’ve also given the established guys a chance to blow off the cobwebs and, apart from a – by the sounds of it – sub-par performance against Newcastle and the butchering of chances here, things seem to be ramping up nicely ready for the real tests to come.
And on that note: Northampton come calling next up. We beat them here last year but, if memory serves, it was not entirely comfortable. I’ve got a bit lost over the summer concerning who has picked up whom; who has made major improvements to the squad; and who we should be watching out for this year (usual suspects aside).
Given that we have Leicester away and Exeter away in rounds two and three, we could really do with getting off to a good start in this game, and the Super Accurate Magic Predictor™ gives us some hope:
| SAMP–5 | Sale 26 – 15 Saints |
| SAMP–10 | Sale 22 – 15 Saints |
Can’t wait…
an old grey dog 