Sar v Leic just about all thats wrong with brit and Ire club rugby

I've sat here watching this turgid lacklustre performance at Wembley thinking to myself 'when was the last club game I really enjoyed?'

Sadly Nth v Exeter was similar, Osp v Glas OMG, and numerous other tryless, tight, error strewn, or blow away games.

This isn't an Aviva v Rabo thing, IMO most games have been as bad as each other. Have we ever had such a turgid start to our seasons? or is it just me getting old and now Ive hit the big 30 previous seasons seem to have begun at 100mph and cracking from the off?

Thank the lord for Scarlets and Quins who in all fairness both look to be quality outfits.

I know I'm going to get the excuses (injuries, ints rested etc) but this certainly isn't the case today, 12 EPS players on show and not one showing any quality whatsoever. Also I'll get the WUMS (you know who you are!) who try to pit both leagues against each other.

But out of interest does anyone agree? or am I getting old and a fuddy duddy?

Worst start to a season? There's more tries been scored already that loads of years gone by. So i'd say your being a fuddy duddy.

When have games been exciting involving Sarries?

James Bond was on the other side I switched over.

What was the score?

Watch Edinburgh play thats an attacking team that scores tries ( and lets a few in as well)

Sarries / tigers was turgid dross tho -

But more tries doesn't mean better games, I think that just highlights the gulf between 5/6 teams in the prem and the rest. Theres been plenty of 40+ games but they havnt been great.

Have you seen a quality club game in the last 3 weeks?

MM

9-9 2 missed dropgoals at the death, Hodgson from 10 yards and Flood from 30... kinda says it all. Wish I watched bond!

TJ watched Burgh in Cardiff, that was not a great game, mistakes by both and little real quality of note.

Scarlets looked like a good game, great comeback... Not televised in UK unfortunately

S4c for the Derby lets hope thats a better game...

Very glad I watched the RC this morning else my faith in modern sport would be dwindling very very quickly.

Really MM? I don't think anyones having a good time down under, noones happy with their performances, including Argy and NZ!

I've only watched 3 games.

Scarlets v Leinster was a bit one sided but some nice rugby was played and there were some excellent tries. Leinster were very rusty and particularly poor in defence.

Leinster vs Dragons was hugely entertaining. Lots of good tries. Dragons scored some nice ones too and never gave up. Leinster pulled away in the end. Great game to watch.

Ulster v Munster was a cracker. The pace from the start was incredible. Positive intent and great play from both teams. The best of the three I've seen. The intensity was unbelievable given that it was their 3rd game of the season.

So, I don't agree with the OP. But maybe I've been lucky in the games I saw. I heard Treviso v Ospreys was bleedin awful.

Its a bit unfair to pick on club rugby when SA vs NZ was dog awful

You are right PSW, but theyre not linked, just because they are struggling down under doesn't mean we should!

Right but then nor is that game entirely indicative of club rugby up here. Theres been a lot of better games, but the problem with negative rugby and teams underpe4rfomring isnt just limited to NH club rugby. Indeed we had an article posted a couple of days ago bemoaning the state of international rugby.

Why dont we just say " rugby sucks". Its far too easy for teams to get dragged into a who can be the worst game ( see England every time they play Scotland away, or pretty much any game involving Saracens in the last two years).

Im changing my name to Biltong and giving up.

And I might be next...

Quins v Wasps was good.
So was Leicester v worcester.

Today Tigers were bright for about 20 minutes, moving fast ball but coming up against the sarries brick wall defence.

After that Harrison got worse and worse, he took an age to move the ball, ran 3 paces towards the receiver then passed bloody awfully. All ambition left the team.

Neither side deserved 2 points.

I can add the first half of Dragons Blues to the list too, at least theres the chance of this turning into a decent game though.

thebluesmancometh wrote:

But out of interest does anyone agree? or am I getting old and a fuddy duddy?

You're bloody thirty you pip squeak! Not one hundred and thirty.

Quins games have been good so far this season/

But it's after a WC so there will be a lot or changes.

Cheeky Yappy

I was thinking this as well actually - it has been a fairly turgid start to the season in terms of all the games I have seen so far!

Early days though so no time to panic yet...

Sorry folks but I disagree that the quality is poor in general. Just because teams aren't all throwing the ball about like its on fire doesn't mean that the game is in crisis!

I accept that it looks far more impressive when the backs are running in scores from 50 metres but we have to be realistic in that some games are won by attrition.

Where I do agree that the Northampton V Exeter game wasn't a particularly good game, the result will be crucial later in the season. When the stronger sides face off they will find it diffiult to break each other down and score tries. I strongly suspect that there will be complaints of poor defence if we see cricket scores every week.

I accept that I cannot really comment on the Rabo as I dont really watch it (I dont really find time to watch a provincial 'A' team league )
but my point is this...

Its a long season and in this we will see some amazing high and low scoring games as well as some poor ones. So far there has been a bucket full of tries scored and if you are a sale fan then sadly for you its looking like they are all being scored by the opposition!

Baggy42 wrote:Sorry folks but I disagree that the quality is poor in general. Just because teams aren't all throwing the ball about like its on fire doesn't mean that the game is in crisis!

I accept that it looks far more impressive when the backs are running in scores from 50 metres but we have to be realistic in that some games are won by attrition.

Where I do agree that the Northampton V Exeter game wasn't a particularly good game, the result will be crucial later in the season. When the stronger sides face off they will find it diffiult to break each other down and score tries. I strongly suspect that there will be complaints of poor defence if we see cricket scores every week.

I accept that I cannot really comment on the Rabo as I dont really watch it (I dont really find time to watch a provincial 'A' team league )
but my point is this...

Its a long season and in this we will see some amazing high and low scoring games as well as some poor ones. So far there has been a bucket full of tries scored and if you are a sale fan then sadly for you its looking like they are all being scored by the opposition!

I had the misfortune of being at Wembley as a neutral. It was so shocking before the end. Admittedly this was largely due to Saracens constant playing of awful jingles to compensate for the total lack of atmosphere, but still.

It wasn't just that it was a boshing forwards dominated game, it was that there was no invention and no precision. Awful advert for the Prem.

Sorry, meant to say 'It was so shocking i left before the end'

Hood83 wrote:

Baggy42 wrote:Sorry folks but I disagree that the quality is poor in general. Just because teams aren't all throwing the ball about like its on fire doesn't mean that the game is in crisis!

I accept that it looks far more impressive when the backs are running in scores from 50 metres but we have to be realistic in that some games are won by attrition.

Where I do agree that the Northampton V Exeter game wasn't a particularly good game, the result will be crucial later in the season. When the stronger sides face off they will find it diffiult to break each other down and score tries. I strongly suspect that there will be complaints of poor defence if we see cricket scores every week.

I accept that I cannot really comment on the Rabo as I dont really watch it (I dont really find time to watch a provincial 'A' team league )
but my point is this...

Its a long season and in this we will see some amazing high and low scoring games as well as some poor ones. So far there has been a bucket full of tries scored and if you are a sale fan then sadly for you its looking like they are all being scored by the opposition!

I had the misfortune of being at Wembley as a neutral. It was so shocking before the end. Admittedly this was largely due to Saracens constant playing of awful jingles to compensate for the total lack of atmosphere, but still.

It wasn't just that it was a boshing forwards dominated game, it was that there was no invention and no precision. Awful advert for the Prem.

As a forward i'm happy to see a game like that, rugby is not just pretty backs skipping in scoring trys without getting their hair out of place so they look good for the camera's. Some times a low scoring brutal forward battle is just as beautiful if you really enjoy rugby. However yesterday was poor due to the terrible handling by everyone than anything else

Noone has mentioned a basketball style end to end backs orientated game though guys, we are talking quality from 1 - 15!!

I am happy to watch a 16 man trudge fest, as long as those two packs perform how they are expected to, work hard for every yard and we see the result of what each are trying to do.

The Dragons Blues game reportedly had 32 turnovers, errors from supporting players, silly knock ons, accidental offsides (over and over) it was turgid, second half was better to watch but still wasn't a good game at all.

Knackeredknees wrote:

Hood83 wrote:

Baggy42 wrote:Sorry folks but I disagree that the quality is poor in general. Just because teams aren't all throwing the ball about like its on fire doesn't mean that the game is in crisis!

I accept that it looks far more impressive when the backs are running in scores from 50 metres but we have to be realistic in that some games are won by attrition.

Where I do agree that the Northampton V Exeter game wasn't a particularly good game, the result will be crucial later in the season. When the stronger sides face off they will find it diffiult to break each other down and score tries. I strongly suspect that there will be complaints of poor defence if we see cricket scores every week.

I accept that I cannot really comment on the Rabo as I dont really watch it (I dont really find time to watch a provincial 'A' team league )
but my point is this...

Its a long season and in this we will see some amazing high and low scoring games as well as some poor ones. So far there has been a bucket full of tries scored and if you are a sale fan then sadly for you its looking like they are all being scored by the opposition!

I had the misfortune of being at Wembley as a neutral. It was so shocking before the end. Admittedly this was largely due to Saracens constant playing of awful jingles to compensate for the total lack of atmosphere, but still.

It wasn't just that it was a boshing forwards dominated game, it was that there was no invention and no precision. Awful advert for the Prem.

As a forward i'm happy to see a game like that, rugby is not just pretty backs skipping in scoring trys without getting their hair out of place so they look good for the camera's. Some times a low scoring brutal forward battle is just as beautiful if you really enjoy rugby. However yesterday was poor due to the terrible handling by everyone than anything else

Exactly the Saracens-Leicester game wasn't good because the handling was so poor. That meant numerous scrums and restarts which doesn't lead a free flowing game. Saracens didn't actually kick that much (quite literally when it comes to Farrell). Unfortunately this turned the game into a dour armwrestle with defences on top. Flood and Farrell had poor games too - Flood missed touch twice when he had the penalty, Farrell kicked the ball out on the full with his first touch and missed 4 kicks.

People are happy to give Saracens a royal kicking but I thought Saints-Bath was more boring because neither actually tried. Both kicked more than Saracens. Barkley in particular was incredibly wasteful. Saints went to Bath simply to grind out a win but that's probably seen as heroic and gritty.

Sorry, but what does Paint Drying (Leicester) vs. Grass Growing (Sarries) have to do with Irish rugby?

If there had been any Irish rugby worth commenting upon, I expect somebody would have commented by now....

Jimpy, Ulster v Munster was a superb encounter however the death of Ulster's Nevin Spence has meant that it has very much taken a back seat.

red_stag wrote:Jimpy, Ulster v Munster was a superb encounter however the death of Ulster's Nevin Spence has meant that it has very much taken a back seat.

+ 1

It was a fantastic game, unfortunately, but rightly, overshadowed by the tragic events which followed.

Aye, its true that it was a tragic loss to the sport.

I will say on the Ulster v Munster match that it showed what the RaboDirect can be.

That was as intense as the Heineken Cup quarter final last year between the sides I felt.

OK so both sides were missing 7-8 first team players each. However the sheer desire to win at all costs made it a superb game.

Its a long time since I enjoyed a Munster match as much.

Just saw the highlights of Munster Ulster, from what I saw and heard it started ok and then went nuts, reportedly agood game but it must be a rarity so far this season...

Leinster have offered little, Connacht have been what they always are, stern opposition at home, and Ulster were poor in Swansea.