Your Mood after first Weekend

We all enter a new season full of optimism, but also with a little trepidation. After the first match how is your mood now?

Looking up, but a long way to go, bigger challenges to face

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Looking up, but a long way to go, bigger challenges to face

Result of the round really. I expected Chiefs to win, but not by such a margin.

As a London Welsh supporter, we didn't get as humiliated as expected, and got two tries, and showed some good rugby. Reckon we could grab a few ins this season, maybe stay up even...

Edinburgh fan here - less optimistic. New signings didn't look up to much on Saturday (Tonks aside), and we've lost a league game at home already - something we were hoping to put right this season.

As an Ulster fan thumbs up. We beat a near full strength Glasgow side with players on the treatment table numbering into double figures - cant be bad.

Not good. Against a team expected to struggle, against a backrow that lost it's best player (Horstmann)...

Beating our main rivals...im happy that we should make the play offs if we stick to form...and continue improving...and to be honest im hopeful of coming straight back up.

Well, technically its the 2nd weekend, but so far this season Tasman have beaten Canterbury and nearly upset Taranaki in New Plymouth to win the Ranfurly Shield - 40 points is the most ever scored by a losing challenger. Not bad after finishing last in the ITM Championship last season - both Canterbury and Taranaki are in the ITM Premiership.

The ITM Cup has a really weird format where all 7 teams in the Premiership play each other, plus having 4 matches against Championship sides, and vice versa. The Championship winner gets promoted to Premiership, over the last placed team in the Prem.

There's also mid-week matches, all in the name of squeezing a 14 team competition with playoffs into 10 weeks

London Irish fan. Enough said.

A bit dispondent over losing to Treviso but fair play to them they are a good team.

Just watched the match and we did alright with the lack of experience upfront.

More to come I'm sure.

I don't support Ospreys. Good weekend for me Im optimistic for the season.

Stressed. At the start of the afternoon I was

I shouldn't have to go through so many highs and lows on the first game of the season!

But by the end of the game on Sat I was

Do you support a team Sugar?

Looseheaded wrote:As a London Welsh supporter, we didn't get as humiliated as expected, and got two tries, and showed some good rugby. Reckon we could grab a few ins this season, maybe stay up even...

It was still a large winning margin for Tigers who are traditionally, quite slow starters. Prior to Sunday, they'd lost 3 of the last 4 opening league matches. And Tigers were nowhere near convincing from my point of view. Okay, so London Welsh had a purple patch at the end of the first half, but apart from that looked like the proverbial rabbit in the headlights at times.

I think what i'm trying to say was don't count your chickens. Look what 'Quins did to The Pests on Saturday and be nervous for next week. Staying up is a possibility I suppose but Exeter you aint, the only other team likely to be in a relgation scrap at the end of the year will probably be Worcester (or London Irish!) and I know who i'd back to stay up.

Ozzy3213 wrote:London Irish fan. Enough said.

I was there, it wasn't great!

Quins do usually struggle against the smaller sides. Connacht, Exeter, Wuss all pushed us last season.

But if LW do try to throw it about too much I think it'll make things easy for us.

Disappointed more than anything as an Ospreys fan. With the team that went out there we should have got the result.

We got 4 points against a playoff rival with double figures on the 'not available' list including Ferris, Bowe, Best, Pienaar, Wilson etc.

We WILL improve as we play more games and get more players back. Our set piece is good, our defence is good. I'm happy with where we are going.

As a Munster Fan, it's hard to say............watching the reserve team play won't tell you a whole lot.............

yappysnap wrote:Quins do usually struggle against the smaller sides. Connacht, Exeter, Wuss all pushed us last season.

But if LW do try to throw it about too much I think it'll make things easy for us.

Exeter proved tough to beat for quite a few teams last season.

Jimpy wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Quins do usually struggle against the smaller sides. Connacht, Exeter, Wuss all pushed us last season.

But if LW do try to throw it about too much I think it'll make things easy for us.

Exeter proved tough to beat for quite a few teams last season.

Impossible for us.

We were able to beat Quins, Saracens, Saints, Ulster and Clermont. Exeter however had the wood on us.

I was a bit low about the performance yesterday. Then I remembered that the last time we won the first match of the season was 2008/9.

We went on to top the table, beat LI in the premiership final and make the HC final. I would take that result at the end of the season

Optimistic. If we can come back to win that match, we need never think we are out of a game. Ever. And we won't defend that poorly anytime soon again

As a newly converted Bath fan, I'm really excited about their prospects for the season.

always relieved to get the first match under the belt and see how the squad will perform. As usual I came away thinking I should have more faith and very pleased at what appears to be an improved performance from a squad with more strength in depth.

LondonTiger wrote:I was a bit low about the performance yesterday. Then I remembered that the last time we won the first match of the season was 2008/9.

We went on to top the table, beat LI in the premiership final and make the HC final. I would take that result at the end of the season

Only the supporters of Sale and LI have any excuse to feel despondant (maybe Wasps). The rest of the matches either went as planned or were close. Lest we not forget its the first competetive match of the season, there are bound to be rough edges.

Beg to differ Jimpy. Bath were shoite.

Jimpy don't you think Gloucester fans will be disappointed?

Bathmad at least you won away from home. Opportunity to make it 2/2 vs Wasps.

Personally I am optimistic. From what people have said the Saracens-Irish game wasn't good to watch but the try bonus point was secured!

Beshocked I think the main plus to take is that Ashton looked like he has his mojo back!

Yea if Saracens play a full game like they did that second 40 then they'll rack up the points.

If they play like the first 40 then it could be another long season.

I suppose the coaches and players should be commended for changing up the gameplan when it obviously wasn't working, something they got a lot of flak for not doing last season.

All in all things are looking good for
Quins
Wasps
Tigers
Saints
Exeter
Saracens

And not so good for
Irish
Welsh
Sale
Bath
Glos
Wuss

ChequeredJersey wrote:Beshocked I think the main plus to take is that Ashton looked like he has his mojo back!

He shouldn't have been yellow carded, mind you, neither should the LI yellow card have been yellow either.

Barnes didn't have a good game really.

Well there's a surprise, Jimpy

ChequeredJersey wrote:Beshocked I think the main plus to take is that Ashton looked like he has his mojo back!

Yes that's true. It's also good for Ashton to get used to playing with Goode and Barritt as all three are in the EPS.

It means of the three full backs likely to start for England Ashton will have played with two extensively - Goode and Foden.

ChequeredJersey wrote:Well there's a surprise, Jimpy

I would think that Quins would want Barnes every match. Certainly based on last season his style suited the things Quins do

i strongly disagree with Jimpy - both YCs were clear cut for me.

Doesn't mean I think he's a good ref, LT

LondonTiger wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Well there's a surprise, Jimpy

I would think that Quins would want Barnes every match. Certainly based on last season his style suited the things Quins do

i strongly disagree with Jimpy - both YCs were clear cut for me.

But then, you always appear to look on the bright side don't you...

Happy with bonus point win - can only play the team infront of you.

Our new signings have done very well - Nimmo, Prydie and Dan all played very well.

We kicked well and defended well, Lydiate has got such a bright future ahead of him.

Our forwards need to front up more, the scrum needs alot of work but we have a new specialist in for that.

ChequeredJersey wrote:Doesn't mean I think he's a good ref, LT

He is a very pedantic ref with what appears to be little understanding of the flow of the game. The decisions he actually makes are very rarely wrong as such, but he does seem to miss a lot.

I feel sorry for refs, Barnes included. In most cases their view of the game is worse than those watching on TV, they can only look at one thing at a time, and have to referee to a risiculously complicated law book while at the same time cope with players doing their damnedest to find ways to push the boundaries. Despite all this they make far less mistakes than the players.

Jimpy wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

i strongly disagree with Jimpy - both YCs were clear cut for me.

But then, you always appear to look on the bright side don't you...

Equo, neither were tackles, they were high and late shoulder barges.

I think Wayne Barnes overall is a good ref but occasionally makes the odd howler here or there. Luckily none of these howlers have been against my team yet!

My favourite refs are Dave Pearson and Nigel Owens.

Clancy was his usual terrible self for the Dragons match.


Hang on a minute, I thought only the Welsh moaned about the ref ?

beshocked wrote:I think Wayne Barnes overall is a good ref but occasionally makes the odd howler here or there. Luckily none of these howlers have been against my team yet!

My favourite refs are Dave Pearson and Nigel Owens.

Pearson is my favourite too, but didn't both he and Barnes get 'sacked' from international duty recently?

Yes they did.

Don't know why Pearson was.

I think it was to do with that dodgy World Cup decision where he failed to recommend that a blatant tip tackle was penalised with a red card, whereas Warburton was sent off for the exact same offence - actually, the Warburton tip tackle wasn't as bad as the one Person 'let go'.

Thats my recollection of it anyway.

Jimpy wrote:I think it was to do with that dodgy World Cup decision where he failed to recommend that a blatant tip tackle was penalised with a red card, whereas Warburton was sent off for the exact same offence - actually, the Warburton tip tackle wasn't as bad as the one Person 'let go'.

Thats my recollection of it anyway.

Do you mean the Ireland v Wales match in the Six Nations, when he had a clear view of Bradley Davies picking up Donnacha Ryan and landing him on his shoulders, but then recommended a yellow card to Wayne Barnes, who hadn't seen the incident? I bet the powers that be took a dim view of that.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

Jimpy wrote:I think it was to do with that dodgy World Cup decision where he failed to recommend that a blatant tip tackle was penalised with a red card, whereas Warburton was sent off for the exact same offence - actually, the Warburton tip tackle wasn't as bad as the one Person 'let go'.

Thats my recollection of it anyway.

Do you mean the Ireland v Wales match in the Six Nations, when he had a clear view of Bradley Davies picking up Donnacha Ryan and landing him on his shoulders, but then recommended a yellow card to Wayne Barnes, who hadn't seen the incident? I bet the powers that be took a dim view of that.

Thats the one.

It was worse for being an off-the-ball incident, too.

Who was the one Biltong hates ?

Ha, that's Bruce Lawrence.