View From the Stand - Tigers v Quins

First topic message reminder :

You know, as the home team, you are getting a pasting when the opposition fans reckon the ref is favouring their team. They probably do not mean it, but the pity they are showing is symptomatic of the day.

One team looked like defending champions - the other didn't. Sadly for me it was Quins who lived up to their title. They were well deserving of the victory.

There is not much point doing a detailed match report as anyone who saw the ESPN coverage had a better view. That also covers my first gripe - several times Dave Pearson went to the TMO but the 20k+ crowd had no idea what was going on. For Tom Williams try we did not even know he had gone to the TMO - presumably to check whether the offload earlier in the move was forward (obviously not though it looked as forwad as the one from Flood to Goneve in an identical situation in the 2nd half). The incident between Mafi and Brown left us perplexed, what was it for, was they penalty the outcome of the TMO or for something else. If the match is going to stop for several minutes the crowd deserve to know what the hell is going on.


So some observations:

In defence Tigers tended to tackle lower than Quins who tended to go for the ball. This probably explains why Toby Flood, who was trying to raise the ball above the challenge so as to pass, took several challenger to the face. He was a target for fierce tackling all day, some of it some way off the ball.

In a attack Tigers try to swing the ball wide but passed poorly, while Quins played a much tighter offloading game. Tigers far too often took the ball into contact and went to ground, allowing Quins to spoil and slow the ball thus enabling a very good Quins defence to re-organise. Quins constant moving of the ball before going into contact, constantly changing the direction the ball was moving always posed the Tigers defence a tough challenge.

Quins by the second half were reading the Tigers lineout. Far too often they were putting up a single jumper who was right in front of the intended recipient in fact you could hear Robshaw screaming where it was going to. Youngs will get some unfair blame for his throwing, it was more good jumping.

I was convinced on one attack, with Pearson playing advantage for a challenge on Hamilton, Flood was hit by a late and high charge. Pearson disagreed so I can only assume my sighting was wrong.

I wonder if a Quins player may be in trouble with the citing officer? I did not see it as was watching the ball, but those around me (including Quins fans) seemed to think a Quin kicked a Tiger squarely in the back off the ball.

Penultimately, neither JTH nor Allen are the answer to Englands woes at 12 - both were one dimensional and poor.

And finally - the better team won.

yappysnap wrote:I think there's a very very small minority who don't like Williams, I can safely say that most Quins fans you meet feel he's paid his dues and given a lot more back to the club since the incident.

As someone who knows and likes Wendy Chapman, and feels that Williams bullied her showing zip remorse, I must have let my own feelings plus those expressed by one of the small minority turn into a theory.

Apologies.

No need to apologize LT. I don't think he came out of the incident looking good. And to be honest I did think we should have got rid of him right there.

But we didn't and he's worked hard for us, always gives his all and when he's been interviewed or i've seen him in the gym he always seems like a model pro.