Review of the Season for your team?

I was wondering if any of you would be kind enough to write a few words on how you feel the season went for your club/province/region this year, as for all but a few of us our season is now over...!




In the endeavour to create an interesting thread minus pointless trolling mocking and jeering. It would be the gentlemanly thing to do to encourage a review of your own club before you start to pass opinion on what other board members have contributed as opinions of their own clubs.

Leinster – So far so good. Tense times lately, we could end up with nothing, we could win it all. Cautious optimism abounds but we’re going to have to play our 3 best games of the year to do it. slightly disappointed at missing out on the B&I cup and we’ve lost 2 games at home which isn’t good but our away form has more than made up for it, 1 away loss all season is really impressive.

Munster Rugby:

I think it really comes down to whetether the glass is half empty or half full. Overall I think we are seeing the start of something rather than the end of something.

To lose John Hayes, Jerry Flannery, Mick O'Driscoll, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy, Tomas O'Leary and Lifeimi Mafi in the space of 12 months is a big blow. However we are seeing new players emerge possibly capable of filling the voids in time.

New head coach Penney will bring many new ideas as will the yet to be named backs and attacking coach. However assistant and forwards coach Anthony Foley's presence will keep the team grounded in Munster ethos and ensure it is a gradual evolution instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

The finds of this season were the young duo of Peter O'Mahony and Simon Zebo who have wowed the media and join other youngsters Mike Sherry, Tommy O'Donnell and Conor Murray in the starting team.

BJ Botha has been worth every penny paid with some top performances. There seemed to be indications that his influence was rubbing off on David Kilcoyne with his last few cameos. Certainly he laid a great foundation in Ulster who IMO have the best props in Ireland now.

It is the backrow that worries me a bit. Its a mix of young promising players and older guys who are good club players but not international quality. Thats not enough to win. I would love to see us bring in a seriously big name backrow on a 12 month contract. One who specialises in go-forward get over the gain line ball.

The biggest disappointment of the season is definitely our attack. O'Gara continues to stand too deep and our centres are ineffective together. Felix Jones has not come back from injury with any of his previous form and my own feeling is we have a backline full of finishers but few creators.

Possible Munster team for next season:

01 Wian du Preez (NIQ)
02 Mike Sherry
03 BJ Botha (NIQ)
04 Donnacha Ryan
05 Paul O'Connell
06 TBC (NIQ)
07 Tommy O'Donnell
08 Peter O'Mahony
09 Conor Murray
10 Ronan O'Gara
11 Simon Zebo
12 James Downey
13 Casey Laulala (NIQ)
14 Doug Howlett (NIQ)
15 Keith Earls

16 Damien Varley
17 David Kilcoyne
18 Stephen Archer
19 Donnacha O'Callaghan
20 James Coughlan
21 Peter Stringer
22 Scott Deasy
23 Denis Hurley

In short, this has been so far a better season than last year. I feel better about next season than I did from last year. Thats all you can ask for - improvement.

Tigers

Injuries and RWC did much to derail Tigers season. We started dreadfully but have improved out of sight.
Biggest disappointment was Black Friday. We had significant injuries, but in the face of Ulster's best performance of the season we were like rabbits in headlights.

Quite possibly strong enough to win the AP, we need to be tougher physically and mentally to compete against good European teams away from Welford Road.

LondonTiger wrote:Tigers

Injuries and RWC did much to derail Tigers season. We started dreadfully but have improved out of sight.
Biggest disappointment was Black Friday. We had significant injuries, but in the face of Ulster's best performance of the season we were like rabbits in headlights.

Quite possibly strong enough to win the AP, we need to be tougher physically and mentally to compete against good European teams away from Welford Road.

- Is Cockers the right man to take Tigers forward.

- Will next season be tougher than this one or easier. You dont have to deal with a RWC however you are losing the likes of Twelvetrees, Tuilagi, Skivington and White. The only person I know you are signing is Benjamin (though there is probably more).

Mixed bag for the Ospreys in my opinion... We shed the wage bill and encouraged the academy lads to give it a go... Plenty of successes there.. Ashley Beck, Justin Tuperic, Rhys Webb all called to national squads this year, last year they were understudies at best rarely playing for the Ospreys.

Final recovery from injury for Ian Evans has seen a long postponed career start to bare fruit, and good fruit too.

Adam Jones re-signs his contract, though Paul James and Huw Bennett decide to move abroad.

We are in the play offs, we stand a good chance of winning them too... We probably achieved exactly what we could and no more in the HEC.

New coaching regime for the last part of the season has been a breath of fresh air for the region look forward to a good season next year.

And season ticket sales for next year are on the up...!!!

red_stag wrote:

- Is Cockers the right man to take Tigers forward.

- Will next season be tougher than this one or easier. You dont have to deal with a RWC however you are losing the likes of Twelvetrees, Tuilagi, Skivington and White. The only person I know you are signing is Benjamin (though there is probably more).

I think we will be stronger next season than this by quite some margin. Shame to lose 36, but Daniel Bowden is a good LFL replacement. Losing Skivington is no huge loss, Slater and Kitchener have both improved leaps and bounds this year and while they may not be the HC second row (Parling and Deacon) they will match anyone in the AP. Hooker may still be an issue though Tom youngs looks promising, but at prop we look really strong with Mulipola being the find of the season. Julian deserves a happy retirement.

There is quality competition at half back, good wings coming in with just full Back looking a problem.

Overall the young players who struggled to cover in September and October have learnt so much from that. While maybe not in the Leinster class our second team next year would frighten many first teams:

Mulipola, Chuter/Hawkins, Castro
Slater, Kitchener
Mafi, Waldrom, Newby
Harrison/Young, Ford
Hamilton, Bowden, Tait, Gonvea
Morris

I would be disappointed if the team did not qualify for the knock out stages next season in the HC.

and yes, i believe that Cockers is the right man.

Falcons

Things looked pretty grim before the season kicked off, then they got worse then they switched off the light at the end of the tunnel.

They've switched the light back on but it has only revealed that the tunnel has a very very steep slope and we are not sure where it goes.

However we have plenty of beer and we might start enjoying the ride as they have swapped drivers and they seem to know what they are doing.

TrailApe, how did Stringer do for you lot this year?

Scarlets - Ultimately disappointing though showed promise. Just missed out on the Rabo playoffs and came close to HEC QF's though disappointing losses to Munster and Brive (in the Amlin) killed any hopes of European progress and the draw to Munster in the league was disappointing but don't think it was a big factor in us missing out on the play offs. Huge blow to lose Iestyn and Rhys Thomas to injury, but the thing that killed off our season was missing our WC stars (and most of our backline) at the start of the season, and then again in December for the pointless Oz game - we just didn't have any fluency until January.

Maes - think things look promising for the Ospreys but James is going to be a big miss, do you think you need to strengthen with a top quality player anywhere? Such as FB or LH?

TrailApe wrote:Falcons

Things looked pretty grim before the season kicked off, then they got worse then they switched off the light at the end of the tunnel.

They've switched the light back on but it has only revealed that the tunnel has a very very steep slope and we are not sure where it goes.

However we have plenty of beer and we might start enjoying the ride as they have swapped drivers and they seem to know what they are doing.

Falcons have been teetering on the brink for several seasons. Going down to the Championship might actually do them a big favour, it certainly hasn't harmed Quins and Saints (okay, in terms of budget, Falcons aren't in the same league but the principle is the same).

Red Stag - Stringer (taking into consideration that I don't have Sky and only watch the live games and I'm often hmm... errm... euphoric due to ale) seems to have been a very definite plus. I'm hoping he can pass on his experience to our young uns and I'm not sure of his availability next season, but I think we would like to hang on to him. However,it's pointless having a scrumhalf who sprays out quick, clean, crisp ball if the 10 then puts the welly onto it, time after time.

Falcons have been teetering on the brink for several seasons

I agree with you Equo, we have been skulking about the bottom of the table for a while. Several reasons, the main ones being lack of innovation in the coaching set up, inability to hang on to our good young players and towards the end, the club's benifactor was looking for an out - and that obviously has a huge knock on effect.

However we now have an owner that is ambitious, he has set about building a good coaching team and I hope the improvements will spill over onto the park next season.

This season our acsdemy players were pushed into the background as Tate desperatly tried to get a spark with some imports (you can't blame him for trying, with the exodus of talent from Kingston Park under Bates it seemed he had been dealt a very poor hand) however I'm hoping this sojourn in the Championship will winnow out the mediocre imports and get us back to a more home grown side.

The forecast is rain ahead - but it might get out brighter later

Trailape,

He is back in Munster next season. I think we made a big mistake in letting him leave. Conor Murray's development stalled without him around and I am glad that we are bringing him back and sending Tomas O'Leary on his merry way.

Well two of my favourite european teams did well in the HC, they are playing in the final.

My other team Saracens are doing Ok.

biltongbek wrote:Well two of my favourite european teams did well in the HC, they are playing in the final.

My other team Saracens are doing Ok.

Good man Bil! Why Leinster can i ask? We've only got one Saffer in the squad.

red_stag wrote:Munster Rugby:

I think it really comes down to whetether the glass is half empty or half full. Overall I think we are seeing the start of something rather than the end of something.

To lose John Hayes, Jerry Flannery, Mick O'Driscoll, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy, Tomas O'Leary and Lifeimi Mafi in the space of 12 months is a big blow. However we are seeing new players emerge possibly capable of filling the voids in time.

New head coach Penney will bring many new ideas as will the yet to be named backs and attacking coach. However assistant and forwards coach Anthony Foley's presence will keep the team grounded in Munster ethos and ensure it is a gradual evolution instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

The finds of this season were the young duo of Peter O'Mahony and Simon Zebo who have wowed the media and join other youngsters Mike Sherry, Tommy O'Donnell and Conor Murray in the starting team.

BJ Botha has been worth every penny paid with some top performances. There seemed to be indications that his influence was rubbing off on David Kilcoyne with his last few cameos. Certainly he laid a great foundation in Ulster who IMO have the best props in Ireland now.

It is the backrow that worries me a bit. Its a mix of young promising players and older guys who are good club players but not international quality. Thats not enough to win. I would love to see us bring in a seriously big name backrow on a 12 month contract. One who specialises in go-forward get over the gain line ball.

The biggest disappointment of the season is definitely our attack. O'Gara continues to stand too deep and our centres are ineffective together. Felix Jones has not come back from injury with any of his previous form and my own feeling is we have a backline full of finishers but few creators.

Possible Munster team for next season:

01 Wian du Preez (NIQ)
02 Mike Sherry
03 BJ Botha (NIQ)
04 Donnacha Ryan
05 Paul O'Connell
06 TBC (NIQ)
07 Tommy O'Donnell
08 Peter O'Mahony
09 Conor Murray
10 Ronan O'Gara
11 Simon Zebo
12 James Downey
13 Casey Laulala (NIQ)
14 Doug Howlett (NIQ)
15 Keith Earls

16 Damien Varley
17 David Kilcoyne
18 Stephen Archer
19 Donnacha O'Callaghan
20 James Coughlan
21 Peter Stringer
22 Scott Deasy
23 Denis Hurley

In short, this has been so far a better season than last year. I feel better about next season than I did from last year. Thats all you can ask for - improvement.

Good assessment stag - really like that team as well. Would love to see Earls get another shot at 15, he is a different type of 15 from the likes of Kearney. Leamy I think would have been perfect for that 6 spot had he returned from injury. Is he definitely out now?

Mickado wrote:

biltongbek wrote:Well two of my favourite european teams did well in the HC, they are playing in the final.

My other team Saracens are doing Ok.

Good man Bil! Why Leinster can i ask? We've only got one Saffer in the squad.

Mate, they were the first team I started supporting in europe. I did a "motivate your team" on the old 606, and the Leinster boys convinced me.

Ulster and Saracens are obvious due to the South African connections.

I am assuming that he is Rory. If he returns I think there is enough fight in him to hold that #6 shirt.

A review is too good for the Auckland Blues they need a court Martial.

biltongbek wrote:

Mickado wrote:

biltongbek wrote:Well two of my favourite european teams did well in the HC, they are playing in the final.

My other team Saracens are doing Ok.

Good man Bil! Why Leinster can i ask? We've only got one Saffer in the squad.

Mate, they were the first team I started supporting in europe. I did a "motivate your team" on the old 606, and the Leinster boys convinced me.

Ulster and Saracens are obvious due to the South African connections.

Ha, I actually remember that thread. Fair play!

aucklandlaurie wrote: A review is too good for the Auckland Blues they need a court Martial.

Ospreys- A great start with the international players om WC duty but the failure to get any bp wins was an onminous sign. The HC campaign was the usual disappiontment then the performances trailed off in the xmas and the new year. Jawnse & co finally jumped ship and the arrival of Tandy, the complete change in play, style and team moral has brought the season to a pleasing end.

aucklandlaurie wrote: A review is too good for the Auckland Blues they need a court Martial.

Maybe they just need a little TLC from their supporters?

Glaws


Think that says it all!

A rather interesting stat is that 11 of our losses were by 6 of less points. 8 of those losses we were winning going into the last 10 minutes. Many of those games we should have been clear and free but inconsistency and failure to kill games off has cost us dear. It has ultimately been a disappointing season (with the exception of beating Bath twice!), but the future is promising. The signings of the Morgan, Kalamafoni, 36, etc all bode well. We just need a decent Director of Rugby to bring it all together.

Ulster

Exceeded expectations. After seeing the HC group we would have been happy qualifying - we ended up in the Final ! including being the first team ever to win a knock out stage match in Limerick.

The league started very poorly without our 11 players at the World Cup. It showed up a lack of experience and depth - we were 8th in the table at one stage. Made a decent run and nearly made the knock out stages but one too many injuries meant we didn't have the resources to succeed in 2 competititons.

On the personnel front - we real seem to be developing a stream of young talent - following on from Spence. McAllister and Gilroy last year we have seen the growth of Macklin, Birch and Jackson. Real production line developing - it should be Marshall, McIlroy, Henderson and Nelson next year.
Our Saffers have been outstanding but the NIQ sigining of the year has been Afoa. BJ Botha was good - Afoa has been sensational. It was hard to believe we could have improved on Botha but we have.

Things are looking very rosy for the future not least the ground being rebuilt on three sides in the next 2 years - taking the capacity over 2 years.

The only non playing disappointments have been the poor handing of the coach change (although it is a decision I agree with) and the lost of Wannenberg who has been a true gent (the stupid IRFU policy means we lose a player who is successful in the team to replace him with a new kid on the block who will need to start from scratch. Both NIQ qualified so whats the point !)

Quins:

- The season's not over yet
- Topped the AP table (for what that's worth) for the first time in our history
- Don't know if we have what it takes to win the playoffs, but I think we'll put up a very good fight.

- The squad's been very cannily managed: COS saw the opportunity at the start of the season, took it, and has managed to keep the squad pretty fit until the end of the season (potentially only 2 players missing through injury on Saturday, with good cover for both of them)
- I feel there's some powder being kept dry somewhere, and I don't think we've seen the squad's real form yet
- A more rounded team than in previous seasons. Won games we would have lost a year ago, added a rolling maul and a scrum to our high-tempo attacking game
- Need more Plan B. Still not quite smart enough at playing the referee (especially Messrs Barnes and Clancy), or the conditions (Connacht), or chasing the game against the best sides (Sarries at Twickenham, Saints at FG, Toulouse and Tigers at the Stoop)
- But, when the team does front up, look what it can do (Toulouse and Sarries away).

- Next season will be tougher, but we aren't losing many players and there are several very promising prospects emerging from the academy (Chisholm, Wallace, Buchanan, Matthews).
- Key to success next year is going to be threefold: learning how to adapt when it's not going our way, getting squad rotation working in more positions, learning how to maintain our performance when Robshaw's not on the pitch.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Scarlets - Ultimately disappointing though showed promise. Just missed out on the Rabo playoffs and came close to HEC QF's though disappointing losses to Munster and Brive (in the Amlin) killed any hopes of European progress and the draw to Munster in the league was disappointing but don't think it was a big factor in us missing out on the play offs. Huge blow to lose Iestyn and Rhys Thomas to injury, but the thing that killed off our season was missing our WC stars (and most of our backline) at the start of the season, and then again in December for the pointless Oz game - we just didn't have any fluency until January.

I said to my old man before kick off that the extra international was IMO the difference between a play-off and not. But those are the breaks I guess.

I guess when you look at it we failed to pick up points in only three matches all season, and got the full five points in eight games, so thats not too bad. Also we reached one semifinal (LV=), one quarterfinal (Amlin), and finished 5th in the league (behind by 3 points?). Considering the amount of players missing during the RWC/6Ns/Aus Match I think we have probably done far better than most would ave expected.

The Oz game was definately a big factor in why we didn't manage to do that little bit better and qualify from our HEC group and why the Welsh teams didn't do better - and seeing as we only finished 3 points off the play offs then you can say that without that game we could well have been in the playoffs with the Ospreys.

Still it's been a good season for player development, with Shingler, Gareth Davies, Liam Williams, Adam Warren, Rhodri Jones and Murphy all coming on fantastically - hopefully next season we can learn to kill teams off and strengthen our front 5 so we can really compete.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Maes - think things look promising for the Ospreys but James is going to be a big miss, do you think you need to strengthen with a top quality player anywhere? Such as FB or LH?

No i think the Academy guys will take the opportunity and run with it...!! Bevington will step in to the LH role and Ross Jones will be much better than Fussell at FB.

Scarlets should not be happy with this season IMO. It is not doom and gloom but they failed to get out of their group and failed to make the playoffs. Both were achieveable and it represents no discernible improvement on last year I would say.

Some big strides off the pitch but they should have either got out of the pool stages or made playoffs.

Ulster:

Rabo:

Disappointed to finish 6th in the League. I thought we exceded expectations last season in the Rabo but still hoped we would get a top 5 finish minimum. Generally though we played much better rugby in the league this year but a very poor start to the season left us too much to do.

HEC:

At the start of the season I thought we would struggle to qualify for the HEC QF so regardless of the result of the final this has been a huge success, not just in terms reaching the final but the teams we beat and the manner of the performances against Clermont, Munster and Leicester.

The biggest game is yet to come but overall this has been a very good season and a big step forward from last year despite not making the Rabo play offs.

red_stag wrote:Scarlets should not be happy with this season IMO. It is not doom and gloom but they failed to get out of their group and failed to make the playoffs. Both were achieveable and it represents no discernible improvement on last year I would say.

Some big strides off the pitch but they should have either got out of the pool stages or made playoffs.

Agree we should have gotten out of our HEC group - and (don't mean to open a can of worms) I'm still seething about the Munster games, particularly the home one. But we are going in the the right direction and are improving our weaknesses and building strength in depth in most areas - we're also not reliant on the NWQ players we were reliant on - King and Lyons, and replaced them with very good WQ players - Foxy and Morgan (when he was WQ) and now Murphy.

So not all doom and gloom but as you say we should have done better - I do think the fact that we didn't have our whole squad together or have a settled team until January was telling. But still next season we really need to get out of our group and start closing teams out.

You should definitely be seething about the Munster games. Could and probably should have won both as well as the Rabo game that you drew. Thee opportunities missed. I do think next year will be good.

I have to say though and not directed at you Smifnoff but every team did not have a settled team together for first half of season. Same with Tigers, Ulster, Leinster, Northampton, Ospreys, Scarlets, Edinburgh, Treviso etc.

red_stag wrote:You should definitely be seething about the Munster games. Could and probably should have won both as well as the Rabo game that you drew. Thee opportunities missed. I do think next year will be good.

I have to say though and not directed at you Smifnoff but every team did not have a settled team together for first half of season. Same with Tigers, Ulster, Leinster, Northampton, Ospreys, Scarlets, Edinburgh, Treviso etc.

I know most teams didn't have settled teams because of the WC and players injured as a result of the WC, but just meant that when most international players were coming back into the squads/teams in November the Welsh ones were whipped away again to train for the Wales v Oz game at the start of December (which was a pointless washout) and then were rested until the derby games (though a lot missed out) before coming back for a game or 2 before the 6N's.

This season has been a bit of a mess for every team though, even the ones with huge squads, and has made it a bit difficult to judge teams in more than a rough way (though of course Leinster have been the best in the Rabo/HEC and the Scarlets need to improve)

Edinburgh

We made the semi final of the Heineken cup - that's all that matters to me! I'm not overly bothered with the league form this year to be honest - if you're not in the top 4 then it doesn't matter where you end up. I'm quite content with being second bottom, but with a HK semi final under our belts. Won't be so content if we don't do well in the league next year though, because we really need to show progress from this. HK quarter final and top 6 in the league should be the bare minimum to aim for.

We really have been a strange team this year, and I suspect one that has gained admirers from fans of other countries. We don't really do things the traditional way do we? We play some great rugby and score a bucketload of points, but combine that with awful defending which means we lose a massive amount of points too!

Plus points

The young squad. Several players have established themselves in the space of one season and have played a key role in our success; Denton - 22, Gilchrist - 21, McInally - 22, Matt Scott - 22, Lee Jones - 24, Tom Brown - 22. All these guys have great futures ahead of them, and that hopefully means Edinburgh has a great future ahead of us.

The racing Metro game. One of the most exciting, and ridiculous, games of the season. We were 47-20 down with 20 minutes to go, and end up winning 48-47 with Laidlaw converting a touchline kick to win the game. Everyone that went said it was a once in a lifetime experience that they were privileged to witness - I missed it.

Beating Toulouse. 38000 Scottish rugby fans, great atmosphere, and we beat Toulouse despite being massive underdogs. Amazing.

Heineken Semi final - Despite the result it was great to be there, and the fans that went had an amazing time. Plus, we didn't look out of place in a Heineken semi final, which was great to see.

New sigings - really looking forward to seeing WP Nel cause carnage and some other decent players too in Atiga and the big Georgian backrower.

Negative points
Not beating Glasgow. Glasgow have won the 1872 cup 3 years in a row now and it's high time we get it back. We had them beat at Murrayfield but they managed to scramble back and sneak a draw.

Our defence. No more needs said!

Losing Mike Blair. I with we could have one more season of the Blair-Laidlaw axis, now they've got used to each other. They have both been the heartbeat of the team.

Regular crowds. 12000 against London Irish was fantastic and 38000 against Toulouse was even better, but the regular, week in week out crowd is still only around the 3000 mark. We really should be aiming for 5000. The HK success will hopefully help.

Carnegie.

This was always going to be a tough season back in the Championship. With an exodus of senior players and a re focussing on a less experienced squad it was bound to take time to gel. After a very poor start results wise some good performances suggested that all may not be lost but late season poor ones left us out of any real contention in the play offs. Now awaitng news from the club about next season's squad with a number of players having moved on. The club has to find an approach that fits financially and that's a big ask but I live in hope.

aitchw wrote:Carnegie.

This was always going to be a tough season back in the Championship. With an exodus of senior players and a re focussing on a less experienced squad it was bound to take time to gel. After a very poor start results wise some good performances suggested that all may not be lost but late season poor ones left us out of any real contention in the play offs. Now awaitng news from the club about next season's squad with a number of players having moved on. The club has to find an approach that fits financially and that's a big ask but I live in hope.

I dont think that Leeds are the only ones looking to tighten purse strings in the current climate, a sustainable way forward for professional rugby is everyones ambition.

Exeter:

~ Amlin Quarter Final
~ 5th in the AP => Heineken Cup rugby next year.
~ Braves win the 'A' league competition
~ Rob Baxter shortlisted for Director of Rugby of Season award (2nd yr in a row)
~ James Scaysbrook shortlisted for AP Player of the Season award
~ Gonzo Camacho shortlisted for Gamechanger of Season award
~ Only 2 league games in which we didn't score any table points
~ Undefeated in the league vs Leicester Tigers (no other team has achieved that this season)
~ Likely to be one of only 3 profitable AP clubs
~ Stadium development plans agreed with council
~ Target of improving versus last year soundly achieved
~ 3 players in England U20 JWC squad (Luke Cowan-Dickie, Henry Slade, Sam Hill)
~ 3 players in England U19 squad (LC-D, HS, Jack Arnott)
~ 1 player in England U18 squad (Joel Conlon)

What a season!

This is the news letter emailed out a week or so ago. Sorry if it's not of immediate interest but it does illustrate the dilemma a club like ours faces.

Leeds Carnegie Chief Executive Gary Hetherington says the Rugby Union club will have a short period of reflection before outlining their plans for the future.

Leeds missed out on the RFU Championship semi finals after being eliminated at the group stage of the play offs and therefore for the first time in three attempts have failed to bounce back immediately following relegation from the Aviva Premiership. However, Hetherington says that the club will not be making knee jerk reactions but focusing on the long term vision for the club going forward.

He commented, “Firstly, we have to accept and recognise we have now had two consecutive seasons of under-performance and under-achievement.

“In two years, we have gone from the Country’s tenth top team to 18th and inevitably have lost support and confidence from our stakeholders along the way.

“It is, therefore, time to reflect, take stock and come up with a strategy and plan which clearly shows where we are trying to get to and how we are going to get there,” added Hetherington.

The immediate issue following failure to gain promotion is a financial one following the end of the parachute payment from Premiership Rugby. Hetherington added, “We won’t have the parachute payment and we can only spend what we earn. So, we have to be realistic and focus on our strengths and natural advantages, which in my opinion, involves the Rugby Union fraternity throughout the County. With this in mind, I am very keen to further develop partnerships with some key clubs.

“Head Coach Diccon Edwards and Rugby Operations Manager Chris Gibson will present a full and detailed debrief of the playing performance to myself and I will be working closely with them both to look at what changes may need to be made,” added the Chief Executive.

Leeds Carnegie have already announced that 15 players will be leaving the club during the summer including senior squad members Mike MacDonald, Lee Blackett, Lachlan MacKay, Scott Barrow and Sean Hohneck. Hetherington revealed that recruitment plans have already been put in place with the aim of building a squad to improve the team’s performances from this season. He added, “A big group of players will be leaving and a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes on player recruitment, which will form part of the overall plan for the 2012-13 season.


It is high time clubs gave an honest appraisal of their financial constraints and that they highlight the issues facing them. Hetherington is a shrewd guy and is unlikely to commit to another unaffordable excercise in the hope of a return to the top flight. I think we are in for an extended period of rebuilding but with genuine hopes of sustainable performance in the future.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Exeter:

~ Amlin Quarter Final
~ 5th in the AP => Heineken Cup rugby next year.
~ Braves win the 'A' league competition
~ Rob Baxter shortlisted for Director of Rugby of Season award (2nd yr in a row)
~ James Scaysbrook shortlisted for AP Player of the Season award
~ Gonzo Camacho shortlisted for Gamechanger of Season award
~ Only 2 league games in which we didn't score any table points
~ Undefeated in the league vs Leicester Tigers (no other team has achieved that this season)
~ Likely to be one of only 3 profitable AP clubs
~ Stadium development plans agreed with council
~ Target of improving versus last year soundly achieved
~ 3 players in England U20 JWC squad (Luke Cowan-Dickie, Henry Slade, Sam Hill)
~ 3 players in England U19 squad (LC-D, HS, Jack Arnott)
~ 1 player in England U18 squad (Joel Conlon)

What a season!

No one likes a show off!

...but what a season indeed!

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Exeter:

~ Amlin Quarter Final
~ 5th in the AP => Heineken Cup rugby next year.
~ Braves win the 'A' league competition
~ Rob Baxter shortlisted for Director of Rugby of Season award (2nd yr in a row)
~ James Scaysbrook shortlisted for AP Player of the Season award
~ Gonzo Camacho shortlisted for Gamechanger of Season award
~ Only 2 league games in which we didn't score any table points
~ Undefeated in the league vs Leicester Tigers (no other team has achieved that this season)
~ Likely to be one of only 3 profitable AP clubs
~ Stadium development plans agreed with council
~ Target of improving versus last year soundly achieved
~ 3 players in England U20 JWC squad (Luke Cowan-Dickie, Henry Slade, Sam Hill)
~ 3 players in England U19 squad (LC-D, HS, Jack Arnott)
~ 1 player in England U18 squad (Joel Conlon)

What a season!

Out of interest what size is your current stadium and have you been filling it out regularly - soz I really can't be bothered to look, but very good news for Exete/SW rugby (or at least further south than Bath rugby)

Actually ASBO, your season hasn't be all good. In fact I would go as far as saying one event has overshadowed all your success and this could be one of your worst seasons ever... HERSH has become a fully fledged Chief!!!

Glasgow Warriors:-

Positives - never say die and defend to the death (almost!). Stuart Hogg, Alex Dunbar finds. Emergence of Chris Fusaro. Continuing brilliance of Jon Welsh, Richie Gray, Tom Ryder, Rob Harley and Duncan Weir. DTH coming back (just in time). Lineen brilliant, Mercer outstanding as coaches. Edinburgh will never (ever) win at Firhill ! Overall we are still in it.

Negatives - the appalling idiocy of the SRU in sacking Lineen and Mercer. They (SRU/Robinson - who not only is a coward but a liar) lurch from incompetence to sheer stupidity/lunacy and back to bizarre moronism. Not a great HEC campaign. The continuing demise of Johnny Beattie. Richie Gray going.

HongKongCherry wrote:Actually ASBO, your season hasn't be all good. In fact I would go as far as saying one event has overshadowed all your success and this could be one of your worst seasons ever... HERSH has become a fully fledged Chief!!!

No, pls HKC, have mercy - new coaching line-up at Bath, he's applied for a transfer back again!

Bath

Over the summer we were filled with huge excitement and promise, with Carter, Bismarck Du Plessis and every other player under the sun apparently joining us.

By the start of the season, Donald and Perenise were signed.

The signing of Donald has pretty much summed up our season. Big name on paper, but failed to deliver. Tried all the flashy things and when it worked 1/10 times it looked great, but the other 9 times it looked g ash. Not a huge amount of commitment to the cause and happy to just take the pay cheque.

On the flip side you had Louw and Caldwell playing like men possessed and were huge credits to the club.

Good points
Louw - one of the signings of the season and a great leader
Caldwell - so consistent and added some grunt to the pack
Heathcore - emerged so quickly from Donald's shadow and now a real threat to him next year
Biggs - unbelievably consistent, such a great workhorse. Brave, quick, committed.
Woodburn - showed real promise in a breakthrough year

Negatives
Too many to mention, but Hipkiss, Barkley, Banahan, Flatman all need a serious rocket up their a rse from Mr. Gold and need to start delivering

Smirnoffpriest wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Exeter:

~ Amlin Quarter Final
~ 5th in the AP => Heineken Cup rugby next year.
~ Braves win the 'A' league competition
~ Rob Baxter shortlisted for Director of Rugby of Season award (2nd yr in a row)
~ James Scaysbrook shortlisted for AP Player of the Season award
~ Gonzo Camacho shortlisted for Gamechanger of Season award
~ Only 2 league games in which we didn't score any table points
~ Undefeated in the league vs Leicester Tigers (no other team has achieved that this season)
~ Likely to be one of only 3 profitable AP clubs
~ Stadium development plans agreed with council
~ Target of improving versus last year soundly achieved
~ 3 players in England U20 JWC squad (Luke Cowan-Dickie, Henry Slade, Sam Hill)
~ 3 players in England U19 squad (LC-D, HS, Jack Arnott)
~ 1 player in England U18 squad (Joel Conlon)

What a season!

Out of interest what size is your current stadium and have you been filling it out regularly - soz I really can't be bothered to look, but very good news for Exete/SW rugby (or at least further south than Bath rugby)

priest, currently the capacity at Sandy Park is 10,744, and no we don't fill it out regularly - I think we've hit capacity 3 times this year, with an average nearer the 8k mark. The plan is to take it up to a 20k stadium over the next 5 years

Dragons, bad to worse.

They have signed some good Welsh boys for next season and there's a few in the Cross Keys team ready to step up. Wondering if the backs will have a platform for next season now.

Gloucester have been as frustrating as ever results wise, as HKC pointed out losing 11 tight games that, had we won our fair share of, would have put us in serious playoff contention. But performance wise, notwithstanding the end of season Redpath-induced coma, there are some reasons for optimism.

There have been a few false dawns in recent years, with the Lamb, Allen etc class all either failing to deliver or before being shipped out to prosper elsewhere. However this time round we have retained all our promising youngsters and added a few more at the expense of some older, more expensive and less hungry players. This could lead to a slight leadership void over the next 12 months, with no real stand out captaincy candidate, but provided a solid DoR is appointed and we retain the majority of next season's squad as well as the current attacking ethos, then we could be a real domestic force in 2-3 years time.

I know its all ifs, buts and maybes at this stage, but there are encouraging signs. Even if we have no coach, no captain and no first choice internationals at present...

Trail Ape,

I couldnt agree with you more mate regarding the Falcons.

1) Continuation of the last few seasons rubbish.
2) A continuation of poor coaches have finally taken their toll.
3) Taits insistance on mediocre journeymen....
4) A ten that should have been a footballer....kick kick kick then oh yes lets kick some feicing more!!!! He needs to go on holiday to NZ and NEVER come back!!!!! Get Catterick and Hodgson fighting it out for the ten spot.

Big hopes for the new regime though...odd how relegation has actually created optimism amongst the falcons fans.....