That loud noise you heard was the sound of us all coming precipitately back to earth.
That was… disappointing, especially after the performance of the week before. There was no lack of effort, but the cohesion wasn’t there: we couldn’t stifle them like we did against Bristol. A gap fractionally too wide, a tackle that didn’t hold… All these things and more contributed to a less-than-satisfactory performance.
What was most galling was that we had two bonus points in our grasp. Three tries on the board, five minutes to go, an attacking five-metre line-out and we go and bugger it up, after having had a pretty flawless set-piece all game. To add salt to the wound, we buggered up another one that could have given us hope a couple of minutes later.
Disappointing. Frustrating. Infuriating. I’m sure the players and coaches all feel these emotions as much as we the fans do. It doesn’t help, though. Just one point would have kept us above Gloucester (and out of reach of Northampton for another round).
I think of this round as a sort of secondary half-way point, in that we have now played equal numbers of home and away games and have equal numbers left. By contrast, at the actual halfway point, you’ve played one more either home or away, so taking stock there favours half the teams (the ones who’ve played five at home).
This round, we get to take stock on a more even basis and the problem facing Sale is obvious. We have taken nothing from the games we’ve lost. Played four, lost four, points: none. Four of the top six have a six-four win/loss record. Bath have won eight and are up in the stratosphere. Gloucester, on the other hand, have only won five games, yet they’re a point above us because, crucially, they’ve taken a losing bonus from three of their defeats and a try bonus from four. Let’s hammer the point home: they have seven points from five defeats, we have none from four.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: a win is worth more than four bonus points, because “games won” is second only to total league points when separating teams. But when you get to a deficit of five bonus points on your immediate competitors, then it starts to get serious. Look at it this way: Gloucester and Northampton have the same win/loss record, yet Gloucester are five points clear of Northampton, who, like us, have only amassed five bonus points. Only Newcastle have fewer (none).
I’ll have my little rant about plastic pitches again: they should be banned from Premiership and international rugby. Possibly Championship, too. I can understand their use at lower levels, where the expense of someone to look after a grass pitch might be too high and where pitches might be multi-use. At the highest levels, though, grass only.
I wonder if Ford would have played that game, had it been on grass. Would Raffi have played, had it been on grass? Maybe not; but there is a real danger that an artificial surface can aggravate a slight injury that might cause coaches to not pick a player that they would otherwise have played. Even without any additional risk, though, I still think rugby at the top levels should be played on grass. If that makes me an old fuddy-duddy, then so be it. I’m also concerned about some of the new law tweaks that seem designed to turn rugby into basketball-as-a-contact-sport (see: positioning of the defensive scrum-half at the scrum).
Bah, humbug.
Like last week, I’m not going to single anyone out as being significant to the showing. I think it’s fair to speculate that changing both half-backs might have had an effect on the cohesion of the defence and attack, though. Having to change the scrum half late on, when all the tactics up to then would have hinged around a different style of play may well have been a factor, too. And if Arron is fit… Does it mean that his international recognition is now coming back to bite us on the bum?
It was what it was. The least humiliating defeat so far – if that’s any comfort – it only really got away from us in the last few minutes… once we’d recovered from that opening twenty, of course.
Anyway, the Premiership goes into hiatus for a couple of weeks now and we return to the European Champions Cup (for certain values of “European”).
For the second year running, we travel to the Cap Ville Riviera to take on Stormers (I sincerely hope that Premiership and Top 14 clubs are fully recompensed – preferably by the URC – for the cost of this extra travel). For the second year running, I won’t be going…
Stormers have lost both of their games this season and you have to wonder if they’ll be too bothered or will they go all out for pride? After all, two good wins could still see them through to the round of unnecessariness 16.
But, then, the question is, do we take it seriously? Do we look to do well in all competitions or do we “concentrate on the league”? Two wins should see us in that top four and through to the next round (where we’ll no doubt be away to the Bulls…).
Do we continue with Tom Curtis, even if George’s knee is fine? For me, a fit George Ford is a no-brainer to start but I do see the need to give Curtis a lot more game time. I’m glad it’s not me that’s deciding. If we do go with Tom, I hope that Raffi starts, too. Partly because Raffi also needs a lot more game time but also because I think his style might suit Tom’s game better than would Gus’s.
EQP is not a consideration in the Champions’ Cup, so I’d definitely start Arron and Buck, with Wills on the bench – let’s see some pace in the backs.
I’m in two minds over this game: if we win, fabulous – march on and go for it against Toulon. If we can’t force a home game in the next round, at least we have the slight possibility of a trip to France. If we lose, we could still scrape fourth with a win against Toulon.
Either way, I want to see us go all out against Toulon: not only for the home pride but also as a test run for the much more important game at home to Bath the week after.
Keep the faith…
an old grey dog 