Saints v Quins 4th October 2024 - Teams Up

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:10:11:08:01:01 by Saint Ted.

I somehow managed to merge the original thread into the weekend rugby thread, then managed to delete both, sorry!

That 3rd Quins try was a mile forward!

But saints struggling to impose their game.

We need to get more involved at the breakdown and move the ball out wide a bit faster. We have been playing a bit of rope a dope though. Seen this before. Quins will keep focusing on putting men in the breakdown and we will start popping balls up and playing much faster.

Or so I hope.

Not helped when only one side is getting reffed

Reminiscent of the boyd era.

Dowson and Radford need to light the fire at halftime we slept walked through that first half.

Coles going off injured a big blow but getting destroyed at the Breakdown.

Kemeny nowhere as prominent as he’s been in the last 2 rounds.

Pollock on to counter Evans and Pearson to 6?

We are losing because we are coughing up possession and giving away territory with ill discipline. We need to score first after the break.

I don’t think saints have had the upper hand in any aspect of the game
Sorry we won a scrum penalty

Blaming the ref or forward passes is simply being blinkered to the obvious

We seem to have continued the same style of play we enjoyed for the last 20 minutes against Chiefs

Here’s hoping for a much improved 40 minutes

We are being mullered at the breakdown



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2024:10:04:20:43:47 by Deesaint.

Let’s hope the rest of the league aren’t watching. Dominating us at the maul and breakdown. All our weaknesses on show. We look rattled!

Let’s hope we can find a foothold at the breakdown second half. We might be about to see if Pollock is ready or not?

Can I get some of what they fed saints at half time

Still working hard to lose it as usual! 🙈

Well, that was quite the turnaround.

Can we please learn to start first halves like we start second halves?

Much better second half
Pearson really stepped up

Last week against Exeter this week against Quins

Going to need something for nerves really soon

I feel a little vindicated. We looked much the better team in the second half. Still a bit too close but I am fairly happy with our progress. 2 home wins against top teams while playing below our best. Feels like we are building.

Great turnaround.

Never in doubt….

Just too passive in first half. Much better aggression in second half.

Depth of squad being tested: encouraged by Pollock and thought McParland showed better control than previously.

Not at the races In that first half. Decent second half with lots of chances missed aswell. 5 point win not playing great yet is positive . I thought munga had another big game. Really showing his worth now .

Nice first game of the season for me! Well done lads. Hope Cole is ok. Looked to be in a lot of pain.

Great turnaround for the second half. Hutch, Pearson, Graham and Iyogun were class

Did James fail his HIA?

Thought Iyogun was superb and was unlucky not to get MoM.

Pollock really added some energy.

According to Sam V there was no hairdryer at HT just talked about what went wrong in the 1st half but something fired the forwards up because they were a different pack in that last 40!

Definitely Favourites for next weekend!

We were lucky that Quins had so many injuries. Against a full strength side, I'm not sure we'd have turned it around.

I've slept on it but still feel unreasonably grumpy about Quins' third try.

Haven't watched it back yet, but it felt like a different Ref in the second half. Perhaps trying to balance the penalty count a bit?

Go back to bed: it’s apparently bad form to comment on forward passes 🤣

Anyone else think Hutch has abit more physicality to him this year so far?

Re Quins 3rd try/forward pass , apparently Carley said it clipped George Furbank's back 🤔

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BerniesBestFriend
Re Quins 3rd try/forward pass , apparently Carley said it clipped George Furbank's back 🤔

That's laughable having watched the TNT replay. But it was the TMO who should have spotted it

The ref the TMO and all those commentating on the game didn't think it was forward. Could it be they know something people on here don't?

Of course. Apart from Austin who says “that looks iffy to me”.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:10:05:10:48:54 by Connorman.

I thought Carley had a good game, the difference in the halves was the lack of intensity at the breakdown by Saints in the first half and the vast improvement in that area in the 2nd!

Agreed Simon. On both points.

Have just watched the game back, not sure if I am being a bit precious? Around 38:05 on the clock Sam Graham clears out Cunningham South and holds onto his ankle. CS takes umbrage and lifts and batters his head into the ground at least 3 times. Linesman right in front and I saw it live at the ground and thought "that's not right". While Sam was being a bit of a pain I thought the head was sacrosanct and certainly off limits for this sort of thing. Any thoughts?

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tigersimon
I thought Carley had a good game, the difference in the halves was the lack of intensity at the breakdown by Saints in the first half and the vast improvement in that area in the 2nd!

It was the basic errors that gave Quins so much possession and ill-discipline that gave them territory in the first half. Second half we did increase our intensity but also held on to the ball and were much more accurate.

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NobbyClarke
Have just watched the game back, not sure if I am being a bit precious? Around 38:05 on the clock Sam Graham clears out Cunningham South and holds onto his ankle. CS takes umbrage and lifts and batters his head into the ground at least 3 times. Linesman right in front and I saw it live at the ground and thought "that's not right". While Sam was being a bit of a pain I thought the head was sacrosanct and certainly off limits for this sort of thing. Any thoughts?

Agreed. My wife saw it live and was incensed. I think it took place in what is a near blind spot for the TMO , although the AR should have been it. CS was niggly all match, but this was out of order.

Edited for spelling



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:10:05:19:21:12 by Sans Culottes.

Players hanging onto their legs at rucks preventing the defender from being involved is one of those things I really wish refs would clamp down on.

It is blatant cheating and the defender has to either just accept it or get penalised for taking some action that looks really bad.

Quote:

ajack
Players hanging onto their legs at rucks preventing the defender from being involved is one of those things I really wish refs would clamp down on.
It is blatant cheating and the defender has to either just accept it or get penalised for taking some action that looks really bad.

Agreed, however repeated planting of Pearson’s head at a depth suitable for turnips seems over the top.

Edited for spelling



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:10:06:17:21:21 by Sans Culottes.

Quote:

Sans Culottes

Quote:

ajack
Players hanging onto their legs at rucks preventing the defender from being involved is one of those things I really wish refs would clamp down on.
It is blatant cheating and the defender has to either just accept it or get penalised for taking some action that looks really bad.

Agreed, however repeated planing to Pearson’s head at a depth suitable for turnips seems over the top.

Agreed but you either accept it, stamp on them, punch them or do something similar to this. If you are repeatedly doing this they are not letting go. If refs clamped down on this it would stop.

While Quins third try was clearly forward, I also wonder from the highlights if the lineout was far from straight.

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Scrumpy Half
While Quins third try was clearly forward, I also wonder from the highlights if the lineout was far from straight.

Agree completely. The pass for Quins third try seemed clearly forward to me. For what it's worth, Healey thought it was miles forward, in his words. The problem is they had already were again in a strong attacking position in our 22. And kept coming most of the first half.
But I had also thought there was a lineout throw in the buildup was pretty far off the mark and seemed wide as well.

Surprised no one has mentioned where Freean held up Joseph over the line. Amazing bit of skill and strength.

And in the footrace he had a couple of yards or so to make up, well so it seemed. It wasn't a 1 in 10 save, seemed a I in a 100, was that good.

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Saint dolph
Anyone else think Hutch has abit more physicality to him this year so far?

Yes. I think his defence has improved enormously in the last two years and he has been excellent all-round so far this season. He's always been an elusive runner, had an eye for a gap and a good pass but now he's carrying well and making his tackles, can see us losing him to Scotland again.

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Scrumpy Half
And in the footrace he had a couple of yards or so to make up, well so it seemed. It wasn't a 1 in 10 save, seemed a I in a 100, was that good.

Well if we’re brutally critical of him, for the first Smith try he covered the ground across field too quickly forcing the inside step from Smith into the hole created by Hutch not being able to get across the field as quickly as Freemo. Havingn said that I’d rather credit Smith than criticise our boys!

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Sir Hector

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Scrumpy Half
And in the footrace he had a couple of yards or so to make up, well so it seemed. It wasn't a 1 in 10 save, seemed a I in a 100, was that good.

Well if we’re brutally critical of him, for the first Smith try he covered the ground across field too quickly forcing the inside step from Smith into the hole created by Hutch not being able to get across the field as quickly as Freemo. Havingn said that I’d rather credit Smith than criticise our boys!

You're only quoting what Healey said in commentary.
To me the tackle was another example of the quality we've come to expect from him.

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Santiago

Quote:

Sir Hector

Quote:

Scrumpy Half
And in the footrace he had a couple of yards or so to make up, well so it seemed. It wasn't a 1 in 10 save, seemed a I in a 100, was that good.

Well if we’re brutally critical of him, for the first Smith try he covered the ground across field too quickly forcing the inside step from Smith into the hole created by Hutch not being able to get across the field as quickly as Freemo. Havingn said that I’d rather credit Smith than criticise our boys!

You're only quoting what Healey said in commentary.
To me the tackle was another example of the quality we've come to expect from him.

Not sure that is true he did give Smith the option to cut inside which he shouldn't have done but Smith does have one of the best steps in the premiership and if you give him that much space he would be a real test for any player. I dont think that detracts from the excellence in holding Joseph up over the line.

I think virtually no player in the world stops Smith there, as soon as you've let him run at a defence that spaced out trying to cover across half the pitch you're dead - if Freeman slows up a little to keep connected to his inside man coming across and Smith accelerates away and round him.

Freeman's only real weakness in relative terms is his initial pace because he's tall and relatively heavy. When he started running back I thought Joseph had him on toast because he's much quicker in those first few yards.... then the stride gets going and he eats up the ground and has the composure and power for that tackle.