RugbyRebels

First Quins game I've gone to this year and a few thoughts:

- Quins threw that away. Leicester didn't feel at all threatening but lived off penalties and mistakes. A more disciplined team would have put them away easily.

- Leicester also look awful in defence. Their kick chase is really poor and means that they spend a lot of time turning around. Combined with the aneamic attack and I think that they're in real trouble this season and sarries will win 35 points more than them.

- Neither Ford or Smith looked good but the former was much more polished whilst the later needs to work on his kicking to control a game.

- Ross Chisholm is fast but not a good rugby player. Did he actually manage to pass the ball once? On the other hand James Chisholm is very good and I'm surprised he doesn't play an awful lot more.

- With all the shaved heads it can be quite hard to tell Quins players apart.

switchskier wrote:First Quins game I've gone to this year and a few thoughts:

- Quins threw that away. Leicester didn't feel at all threatening but lived off penalties and mistakes. A more disciplined team would have put them away easily.

- Leicester also look awful in defence. Their kick chase is really poor and means that they spend a lot of time turning around. Combined with the aneamic attack and I think that they're in real trouble this season and sarries will win 35 points more than them.

- Neither Ford or Smith looked good but the former was much more polished whilst the later needs to work on his kicking to control a game.

- Ross Chisholm is fast but not a good rugby player. Did he actually manage to pass the ball once? On the other hand James Chisholm is very good and I'm surprised he doesn't play an awful lot more.

- With all the shaved heads it can be quite hard to tell Quins players apart.

Well, Gustard is putting his own mark on the team...

Oakboy wrote:That collision sums up my criticism of Ford. Why did he not shout his authority?

I'm intrigued...recorded it, what time did this gross dereliction occur?

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:That collision sums up my criticism of Ford. Why did he not shout his authority?

I'm intrigued...recorded it, what time did this gross dereliction occur?

I’m guessing it was when he and Kalamafoni collided trying to collect a loose kick. Ford got the ball, Kalamafoni got injured.

It’s Ford’s fault, obviously.

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:That collision sums up my criticism of Ford. Why did he not shout his authority?

I'm intrigued...recorded it, what time did this gross dereliction occur?

Sorry, can't remember - mid-1st half? High ball, two Leicester players under it, clearly Ford's ball, no call????, collision. You would have been screaming, 'My ball', as would Farrell. Either Ford did not call loud enough or his team-mate did not trust him. I'll look forward to your take on it. I think he just fails to manage the micro-situations but no doubt you'll put me right.

Stom wrote:

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:That collision sums up my criticism of Ford. Why did he not shout his authority?

I'm intrigued...recorded it, what time did this gross dereliction occur?

I’m guessing it was when he and Kalamafoni collided trying to collect a loose kick. Ford got the ball, Kalamafoni got injured.

It’s Ford’s fault, obviously.

Jeez.

switchskier wrote:First Quins game I've gone to this year and a few thoughts:

- Quins threw that away. Leicester didn't feel at all threatening but lived off penalties and mistakes. A more disciplined team would have put them away easily.

- Leicester also look awful in defence. Their kick chase is really poor and means that they spend a lot of time turning around. Combined with the aneamic attack and I think that they're in real trouble this season and sarries will win 35 points more than them.

- Neither Ford or Smith looked good but the former was much more polished whilst the later needs to work on his kicking to control a game.

- Ross Chisholm is fast but not a good rugby player. Did he actually manage to pass the ball once? On the other hand James Chisholm is very good and I'm surprised he doesn't play an awful lot more.

- With all the shaved heads it can be quite hard to tell Quins players apart.

100% agree.

James Chisholm actually plays quite a bit when he’s fit. He’s just had a lot of concussion-related problems in the last couple of years.

It also depends on the type of back row we want to field. We’ve got lots of decent options without there being an obvious first choice combination. Robshaw is nailed on, but that could be at 6 or 7 and then Lawday seems to have cemented a place, but similarly can switch between 6 and 8. Dombrandt seems to have dropped down the pecking order a bit and it seems as though Lawday and Chisholm are preferred starters based upon greater work rate. Evans comes in if we want an out-and-out 7 and then Kunatani seems to be preferred when we’re expecting a looser game. Who knows where Clifford will feature if he’s ever fit?

We’re very low on fit hookers but generally our forward options aren’t too bad. Our backs are very depleted though.

Campagnaro’s injury means our midfield options are even more severely limited. No Marchant, no Tapuai, no Saili, no Lang and now no Campagnaro. That leaves us with Lasike, Penny who we’ve just signed on a short term deal from Falcons and Northmore who has never played in the Premiership. Brilliant.

Add in the season-ending injury to Brown, Morris and Earle and we’re down to the bare bones. Very strange that we’ve not been able to bring in any decent injury cover.

Scrumhead wrote:

switchskier wrote:First Quins game I've gone to this year and a few thoughts:

- Quins threw that away. Leicester didn't feel at all threatening but lived off penalties and mistakes. A more disciplined team would have put them away easily.

- Leicester also look awful in defence. Their kick chase is really poor and means that they spend a lot of time turning around. Combined with the aneamic attack and I think that they're in real trouble this season and sarries will win 35 points more than them.

- Neither Ford or Smith looked good but the former was much more polished whilst the later needs to work on his kicking to control a game.

- Ross Chisholm is fast but not a good rugby player. Did he actually manage to pass the ball once? On the other hand James Chisholm is very good and I'm surprised he doesn't play an awful lot more.

- With all the shaved heads it can be quite hard to tell Quins players apart.

100% agree.

James Chisholm actually plays quite a bit when he’s fit. He’s just had a lot of concussion-related problems in the last couple of years.

It also depends on the type of back row we want to field. We’ve got lots of decent options without there being an obvious first choice combination. Robshaw is nailed on, but that could be at 6 or 7 and then Lawday seems to have cemented a place, but similarly can switch between 6 and 8. Dombrandt seems to have dropped down the pecking order a bit and it seems as though Lawday and Chisholm are preferred starters based upon greater work rate. Evans comes in if we want an out-and-out 7 and then Kunatani seems to be preferred when we’re expecting a looser game. Who knows where Clifford will feature if he’s ever fit?

We’re very low on fit hookers but generally our forward options aren’t too bad. Our backs are very depleted though.

Campagnaro’s injury means our midfield options are even more severely limited. No Marchant, no Tapuai, no Saili, no Lang and now no Campagnaro. That leaves us with Lasike, Penny who we’ve just signed on a short term deal from Falcons and Northmore who has never played in the Premiership. Brilliant.

Add in the season-ending injury to Brown, Morris and Earle and we’re down to the bare bones. Very strange that we’ve not been able to bring in any decent injury cover.

I just can’t wrap my head around how we seem to be operating at half the efficiency/quality/expense of teams like Bristol and Sarries.

Scrumhead wrote:

switchskier wrote:First Quins game I've gone to this year and a few thoughts:

- Quins threw that away. Leicester didn't feel at all threatening but lived off penalties and mistakes. A more disciplined team would have put them away easily.

- Leicester also look awful in defence. Their kick chase is really poor and means that they spend a lot of time turning around. Combined with the aneamic attack and I think that they're in real trouble this season and sarries will win 35 points more than them.

- Neither Ford or Smith looked good but the former was much more polished whilst the later needs to work on his kicking to control a game.

- Ross Chisholm is fast but not a good rugby player. Did he actually manage to pass the ball once? On the other hand James Chisholm is very good and I'm surprised he doesn't play an awful lot more.

- With all the shaved heads it can be quite hard to tell Quins players apart.

100% agree.

James Chisholm actually plays quite a bit when he’s fit. He’s just had a lot of concussion-related problems in the last couple of years.

It also depends on the type of back row we want to field. We’ve got lots of decent options without there being an obvious first choice combination. Robshaw is nailed on, but that could be at 6 or 7 and then Lawday seems to have cemented a place, but similarly can switch between 6 and 8. Dombrandt seems to have dropped down the pecking order a bit and it seems as though Lawday and Chisholm are preferred starters based upon greater work rate. Evans comes in if we want an out-and-out 7 and then Kunatani seems to be preferred when we’re expecting a looser game. Who knows where Clifford will feature if he’s ever fit?
.

What do you think of Lawday? We were debating it in the pub after and, for me, he doesn't offer an awful lot more than workrate. He's a decent honest player who's great to have in the squad but I've yet to see anything that has made him first choice. He's 7/10 at pretty much everything.

I like him in general but no idea how he can be worth taking Dombrandt out of the side for when you already have workhorses like Robshaw or Chisholm.

@Mikey - 100% agree. We seem to be managing our budgets very strangely. I can only assume we’re paying some players massively over the odds?

@Switchskier - I quite like Lawday but I’d agree with your overall assessment. He is a 7/10 player with no obvious standout qualities. A good player to have in the squad, but not really regular starting XV material, particularly if he’s keeping Dombrandt out of the side as Mikey said. IMO Dombrandt’s a rough diamond. He’s raw, he makes a few mistakes and his work rate is good rather than great, but he also has the ability to make game-changing interventions on a fairly regular basis. I think the positives outweigh the negatives if he’s paired with a 6 and 7 that complement him.

Scrumhead wrote:

switchskier wrote:First Quins game I've gone to this year and a few thoughts:

- Quins threw that away. Leicester didn't feel at all threatening but lived off penalties and mistakes. A more disciplined team would have put them away easily.

- Leicester also look awful in defence. Their kick chase is really poor and means that they spend a lot of time turning around. Combined with the aneamic attack and I think that they're in real trouble this season and sarries will win 35 points more than them.

- Neither Ford or Smith looked good but the former was much more polished whilst the later needs to work on his kicking to control a game.

- Ross Chisholm is fast but not a good rugby player. Did he actually manage to pass the ball once? On the other hand James Chisholm is very good and I'm surprised he doesn't play an awful lot more.

- With all the shaved heads it can be quite hard to tell Quins players apart.

100% agree.

James Chisholm actually plays quite a bit when he’s fit. He’s just had a lot of concussion-related problems in the last couple of years.

It also depends on the type of back row we want to field. We’ve got lots of decent options without there being an obvious first choice combination. Robshaw is nailed on, but that could be at 6 or 7 and then Lawday seems to have cemented a place, but similarly can switch between 6 and 8. Dombrandt seems to have dropped down the pecking order a bit and it seems as though Lawday and Chisholm are preferred starters based upon greater work rate. Evans comes in if we want an out-and-out 7 and then Kunatani seems to be preferred when we’re expecting a looser game. Who knows where Clifford will feature if he’s ever fit?

We’re very low on fit hookers but generally our forward options aren’t too bad. Our backs are very depleted though.

Campagnaro’s injury means our midfield options are even more severely limited. No Marchant, no Tapuai, no Saili, no Lang and now no Campagnaro. That leaves us with Lasike, Penny who we’ve just signed on a short term deal from Falcons and Northmore who has never played in the Premiership. Brilliant.

Add in the season-ending injury to Brown, Morris and Earle and we’re down to the bare bones. Very strange that we’ve not been able to bring in any decent injury cover.

I actually rate Penny quite highly. I mean, he'll never be an international (unless he finds some Scots blood), but he's a decent Prem player. You could do a lot worse.

Puja

How dare you.

Oakboy wrote:

Banquo wrote:

Oakboy wrote:That collision sums up my criticism of Ford. Why did he not shout his authority?

I'm intrigued...recorded it, what time did this gross dereliction occur?

Sorry, can't remember - mid-1st half? High ball, two Leicester players under it, clearly Ford's ball, no call????, collision. You would have been screaming, 'My ball', as would Farrell. Either Ford did not call loud enough or his team-mate did not trust him. I'll look forward to your take on it. I think he just fails to manage the micro-situations but no doubt you'll put me right.

10 mins in . One of those rugby incidents for me- couldn't tell if Ford called or not- I'd generally fault the player running back though . I'm pretty sure Ford wouldn't have missed the kicks Faz did today, nor throw such a poor pass that it cost a try, nor failed to use the ball better with decent backs outside him .

Mikey Brown wrote:How dare you.

Chris Harris - regular Scotland international. Show me your leg to stand on.

Puja

I thought Lawday was one of, if not the best Quins players yesterday. He showed up pretty well, i thought. The 7/10 tag isnt too wide of the mark but every team needs the kind of dependable, hardworking player who invariably delivers week in, week out.
That could be a very good move for Penny and Quins. Injury has disrupted what looked like quite a promising career.

Puja wrote:

Mikey Brown wrote:How dare you.

Chris Harris - regular Scotland international. Show me your leg to stand on.

Puja

No; Chris Harris* deployed to counter defence coach’s fears for his job.

Hutchinson tearing it up in the GP and not even good enough to trouble the Scotland RWC squad.

Take that as seriously as you choose.

*Looking okay this season?

Chris Harris is a very decent player, not sure why he is the butt of jokes on here. He was excellent yesterday, albeit against a pretty flimsy Northampton defence in the outside channels, and made some big impacts in defence.

Timbo wrote:Chris Harris is a very decent player, not sure why he is the butt of jokes on here. He was excellent yesterday, albeit against a pretty flimsy Northampton defence in the outside channels, and made some big impacts in defence.

He's a solid Premiership trier and can sometimes be very good, but it is laughable that he's got international caps, even for a lower tier country.

Puja

Heh, they can't all be as good as Tim Visser!