Sale vs Newcastle

[Puja]

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Robert du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke; 1 Bevan Rodd, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 4 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Jonny Hill, 6 Sam Dugdale, 7 Ben Curry, 8 Jono Ross (captain).

Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 James Harper, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Daniel du Preez, 21 Tom Ellis, 22 Will Cliff, 23 Sam James.


15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Mark Tampin, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Pedro Rubiolo, 7 Philip van der Walt, 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Replacements: 16 Conrad Cade, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Josh Barton, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Josh Thomas.

Not available for selection: Connor Collett, Luke Coulston, Ollie Fletcher, Gary Graham, Ewan Greenlaw, Zach Kerr, Pete Lucock, Charlie Maddison, Guy Pepper, Sean Robinson, Oliver Spencer, Ben Stevenson, Corbin Thunder, George Wacokecoke, Will Welch, Michael Young.


Referee: Sara Cox.

[FKAS]

That Falcons pack does look capable of winning this game. They've gone as big as they can but it's so very mediocre. Only good news for them is that they've got two half decent locks joining next year when Sean Robinson will also be fit again.

Sale are still trying to get that 10/12/13 combo to work. I wonder if at some point they'll accept defeat? I mean hopefully not until after the playoff game Vs Tigers.

[fivepointer]

Newcastle have badly missed Robinson.

Reed in a foot race against the 2 Falcons wingers might be fun.

[Tigger]

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Tom Roebuck....

[FKAS]

That really is touch and go as to whether he's in front of the kick. Great take and finish.

[Puja]

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Tom Roebuck....

I still say Ford is our best available fly-half, especially if we're playing a kicking game. That was pin-point and an absolute menace of a spiral bomb.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

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Tom Roebuck....

I still say Ford is our best available fly-half, especially if we're playing a kicking game. That was pin-point and an absolute menace of a spiral bomb.

Puja

He had Newcastle’s kick return in all sorts of trouble for the entire match. They fluffed the first few and he exploited it from there on in. I’m a keep the ball in hand man but it was fun to watch as it wasn’t completely aimless.

[Mellsblue]

All of Sale’s try scorers were academy grads #funfact

[Mikey Brown]

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Tom Roebuck....

I still say Ford is our best available fly-half, especially if we're playing a kicking game. That was pin-point and an absolute menace of a spiral bomb.

Puja

This post makes me realise that Dallaglio has ruined any appreciation I could possibly ever have for someone doing a “spiral bomb”.

[Spiffy]

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Tom Roebuck....

I still say Ford is our best available fly-half, especially if we're playing a kicking game. That was pin-point and an absolute menace of a spiral bomb.

Puja

No surprise there - he has been England's best FH for about 10 years, despite having to play beside Farrell. How did Ford ever miss out on a Lions tour?

[Mellsblue]

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Tom Roebuck....

I still say Ford is our best available fly-half, especially if we're playing a kicking game. That was pin-point and an absolute menace of a spiral bomb.

Puja

How did Ford ever miss out on a Lions tour?

Gatland…

[16th man]

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Tom Roebuck....

I still say Ford is our best available fly-half, especially if we're playing a kicking game. That was pin-point and an absolute menace of a spiral bomb.

Puja

I might be being harsh on the Falcons player challenging, but even with it being a great kick, I'm fairly sure he could have stopped the try by not clapping at the ball like a toddler learning to catch.

[Mellsblue]

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Tom Roebuck....

I still say Ford is our best available fly-half, especially if we're playing a kicking game. That was pin-point and an absolute menace of a spiral bomb.

Puja

I might be being harsh on the Falcons player challenging, but even with it being a great kick, I'm fairly sure he could have stopped the try by not clapping at the ball like a toddler learning to catch.

It was a poor effort by the Newcastle player but the whole point of the spiral bomb is that ball moves all over the place until very last second… not that he ever looked comfortable/confident!

[Mikey Brown]

I really don’t see how that can be judged from the clip above. Hoofs it in the air and it lands short of the 22. Good play but still requires the Newcastle player to completely balls it.

[FKAS]

I really don’t see how that can be judged from the clip above. Hoofs it in the air and it lands short of the 22. Good play but still requires the Newcastle player to completely balls it.

If the Falcons player catches it then he gets absolutely pasted. Falcons have to then use their players in the backfield to resource the ruck. Sale have the initial ruck and then the following ruck as Falcons try to get their back three players on their feet to force a penalty. No penalty then Falcons can either try and run it from near their 22 or kick the ball back to the Sale backline who can launch and attack from deep against the Falcons backs. Great kick to just keep the pressure on Falcons without massive effort from Sale.

[Mellsblue]

Ford describes the spiral bomb as a “very, very good weapon” that he intends to unleash during England’s Six Nations campaign. “For me, it was about how I can make that more challenging and difficult for these players in the back field,” Ford said. “The one protection these guys have is getting in the air to catch the ball. If you can kick a generic end-over-end kick the ability to gauge where the ball is going to be, time your run, time your jump, get in the air is a lot easier than the kicks that are spiralling and floating around. They are impossible to get in the air for them.”

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So what makes a spiral bomb so difficult to field? An end-over-end kick, where the ball rotates around its horizontal axis, follows a predictable parabolic curve. If a full back sees how the ball ascends, they know where to position themselves for its descent. A spiral bomb, by contrast, rotates around its vertical axis which means it cuts through the air like a bullet to reach a higher height. When it reaches a peak, it accelerates in the direction of the nose of the ball, making its trajectory wickedly unpredictable.

That can make for a traumatic experience for a full back as Dan Scarbrough will attest. The two-cap England international vividly remembers a match for Leeds Tykes against Newcastle Falcons in which Jonny Wilkinson rained spirals down on his head. “When they go up, you are thinking jeepers here we go,” Scarbrough said. “It is not until it reaches five-ten metres above you that it dives towards the point. Wherever point is heading you need to place yourself a metre either side, but you have to leave it as late as you can.”

Ford argues the disconcerting effect can spread through the rest of the team who would normally offer a degree of protection to the catcher. “The generic end-over-end kick… gives the catching team an awareness of where the ball is so they can protect the catcher and they can look after the breakdown and get into their attack shape,” Ford said.” A few of these kicks I’ve managed to hit are honestly a nightmare to deal with sometimes because you think you’ve got it, in terms of where the ball’s going to land, then the last one or two seconds it goes in a completely different direction.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... me-lethal/

[Puja]

You can actually see that the ball dies on the Newcastle player - he's expecting it to maintain its flight and land a metre further back than where it does and when he realises he's misjudged, he's having to lunge forward for it rather than having his feet under him.

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

I think Ford is class and I’m not disputing the existence or effectiveness of spiral bombs.

I just find this a slightly odd example to get excited about. Good solid play and a great chase from Roebuck though. He keeps his eyes on the ball and follows the nice neat trajectory (wink.emoji.org) in to his hands while the Newcastle player kind of wimps out.

I think we’re maybe all a bit desperate to see Ford as the answer again after a mixed (at best) couple of years of Smith and Farrell? How has he been playing in general?

[Mellsblue]

I think Ford is class and I’m not disputing the existence or effectiveness of spiral bombs.

I just find this a slightly odd example to get excited about. Good solid play and a great chase from Roebuck though. He keeps his eyes on the ball and follows the nice neat trajectory (wink.emoji.org) in to his hands while the Newcastle player kind of wimps out.

I think we’re maybe all a bit desperate to see Ford as the answer again after a mixed (at best) couple of years of Smith and Farrell? How has he been playing in general?

How you can ascertain the trajectory of the ball from that clip is beyond me - the ball is hardly in shot whilst in the air. Either the Newcastle 9 is a complete spaz or that ball moves in the last few metres.
I was at the match and Ford was putting up those spirals all match long and they were a nightmare for whoever was underneath them.

[Mikey Brown]

I can’t. That was exactly the same point I was making 3 posts earlier. I somehow seem to be knee-deep in an intense argument about my indifference to the suggestion it was an incredible kick. I was just pointing out Roebuck deals with it fine as a chaser.

[Mellsblue]

You’re just trying to pass the Roebuck

[Spiffy]

I think Ford is class and I’m not disputing the existence or effectiveness of spiral bombs.

I just find this a slightly odd example to get excited about. Good solid play and a great chase from Roebuck though. He keeps his eyes on the ball and follows the nice neat trajectory (wink.emoji.org) in to his hands while the Newcastle player kind of wimps out.

I think we’re maybe all a bit desperate to see Ford as the answer again after a mixed (at best) couple of years of Smith and Farrell? How has he been playing in general?

Yes Mikey. The whole spiral bomb thing is over analysed. If the defenders can't figure out how it's going to land, then so can't the chasers. Roebuck chased well and was lucky to get a nice trajectory. It's rather like what they call a "Hail Mary" in American football. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. I am hoping that we don't see the game revert to a series of "up and unders" and hope for the best, as a prime attacking ploy. Still - it does unsettle a skittish defence.
Like the old Ireland tactics :
Plan A : kick the ball high and chase.
Plan B : kick the ball even higher and chase.

[Oakboy]

I think Ford is class and I’m not disputing the existence or effectiveness of spiral bombs.

I just find this a slightly odd example to get excited about. Good solid play and a great chase from Roebuck though. He keeps his eyes on the ball and follows the nice neat trajectory (wink.emoji.org) in to his hands while the Newcastle player kind of wimps out.

I think we’re maybe all a bit desperate to see Ford as the answer again after a mixed (at best) couple of years of Smith and Farrell? How has he been playing in general?

Yes Mikey. The whole spiral bomb thing is over analysed. If the defenders can't figure out how it's going to land, then so can't the chasers. Roebuck chased well and was lucky to get a nice trajectory. It's rather like what they call a "Hail Mary" in American football. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. I am hoping that we don't see the game revert to a series of "up and unders" and hope for the best, as a prime attacking ploy. Still - it does unsettle a skittish defence.
Like the old Ireland tactics :
Plan A : kick the ball high and chase.
Plan B : kick the ball even higher and chase.

Oh, for the days of Fergus Slattery!!

[Banquo]

I think Ford is class and I’m not disputing the existence or effectiveness of spiral bombs.

I just find this a slightly odd example to get excited about. Good solid play and a great chase from Roebuck though. He keeps his eyes on the ball and follows the nice neat trajectory (wink.emoji.org) in to his hands while the Newcastle player kind of wimps out.

I think we’re maybe all a bit desperate to see Ford as the answer again after a mixed (at best) couple of years of Smith and Farrell? How has he been playing in general?

Yes Mikey. The whole spiral bomb thing is over analysed. If the defenders can't figure out how it's going to land, then so can't the chasers. Roebuck chased well and was lucky to get a nice trajectory. It's rather like what they call a "Hail Mary" in American football. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. I am hoping that we don't see the game revert to a series of "up and unders" and hope for the best, as a prime attacking ploy. Still - it does unsettle a skittish defence.
Like the old Ireland tactics :
Plan A : kick the ball high and chase.
Plan B : kick the ball even higher and chase.

Oh, for the days of Fergus Slattery!!

and....Barry McGann - according to his team-mates, running around McGann was the ultimate fitness test. Bit harsh- and he was also a fantastic soccer player.

[Spiffy]

Yes Mikey. The whole spiral bomb thing is over analysed. If the defenders can't figure out how it's going to land, then so can't the chasers. Roebuck chased well and was lucky to get a nice trajectory. It's rather like what they call a "Hail Mary" in American football. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. I am hoping that we don't see the game revert to a series of "up and unders" and hope for the best, as a prime attacking ploy. Still - it does unsettle a skittish defence.
Like the old Ireland tactics :
Plan A : kick the ball high and chase.
Plan B : kick the ball even higher and chase.

Oh, for the days of Fergus Slattery!!

and....Barry McGann - according to his team-mates, running around McGann was the ultimate fitness test. Bit harsh- and he was also a fantastic soccer player.

Andy Goode's role model.