Review of 2013/14 Season

With only the Playoffs in the Rabo, Aviva and Top 14 left I thought it would be a good time for people to review how their teams season has gone.

From a Sale fan view I thought we had a good season and reached the upper reaches of our aims this year. Our defence has been immense and our attack has improved to the point where we have given the top sides some tough games this season. Europe next year is great for us, it will gives us more experience and allow us signing players a bit easier.

Cips has been very good for us this year, he has improved his defence and his his ability get our attack moving is a big benefit for us. He thoroughly deserves an England call up (never thought I'd say that), we do need to find back up for Farrell and give England some variety and experience at 10.

Replacing our young guns and older talent who are moving on I think could be a bit difficult, we have brought in respected experience in Cusiter and the youthful Hines. I am interested to see how McLean does, we have been solid at 15 but I never got the feeling an attack will be built from there.

Next season I dont think we will be in the Play offs but I hope we can be the dark horse towards the end of the season.

Well, this season has met expectations for Quins (though those expectations are pretty high - knockout stages of two tournaments, and we won the London Floodlit 7s with a much weaker than usual squad).

In preseason we might have expected more, but the squad underperformed early on. We had some bad losses at home in the first couple of months and lost momentum, and then the injuries set in. We had already lost Olly Kohn to retirement before the start of the season, but the list of players who spent a significant period injured this season is verging on ridiculous:`
Hooker: Joe Gray (twice), Rob Buchanan
Tight head: Will Collier, Paul Doran-Jones
Lock: Nick Kennedy and Charlie Matthews were both out for long periods, but at one point we only had one fit lock for several weeks
Flanker: Mo Fa'asavalu, Joe Trayfoot, Tom Guest
Number 8: Jack Clifford
Centre: Jordan Turner-Hall, George Lowe (still not back - fingers crossed for next season), Tom Casson, Matt Hopper, Charlie Walker. We had to bring in Tim Molenaar at short notice - what a great job he's done
Back Three: Ugo Monye, Tom Williams, Ross Chisholm, Ollie Lindsay-Hague, Paul Sackey.

That's half the senior squad. Add to that England absences for Marler, Robshaw, Care and Brown and it's easy to see how all 47 senior and academy players got first team game time this season. In that context, I think we've done OK. We've squeezed into the playoffs with some big wins (Sale, Tigers, Exeter and Bath in the run in), and we've uncovered some real talent in Collier, Sinckler and Ward.

Prospects for next season? I worry that we've been overpowered by Sarries both times (but then again, who hasn't when they've been at full strength?), and beaten by Saints twice (albeit the luck seemed to go their way). I don't know if we will find an answer to that. We've also undone a lot of our good work with loose handling in the red zone.

However, it's hard to imagine that we can have that many injuries two years in a row, and if we can get more continuity in the team it should pay dividends. Plus, I think that in later years we will look upon Sinckler and Collier as a tighthead duo to rival Cole and Castro. They are already good, and Sinckler's learning curve is pretty close to vertical.

We've signed Marland Yarde (yay!) but will be losing Sam Smith (who has a knack of scoring when it really matters), Tom Guest (a shame, but he deserves the chance to shine at LI and Nick Easter ain't going anywhere soon), Paul Sackey (never established himself, but did well at the 7s) and Tim Molenaar (all our fans would have loved him to stay. I hope he goes somewhere that will value him - and that him leaving means the prognosis on Lowe, out since October with a neck injury, is good). No other word on new signings but rumours of Asea Tikorutuma (is that the right spelling) are still circulating. I'd like to see one more lock.

The target for next season has to be Top 4 again and QFs in the RCC. That said, with Bath and Sale both likely to be in the mix it's going to be tougher than ever.

My personal view of Chiefs' season is one of mixed emotion - some real highs (away trip, creditable display and being able to socialise with the team afterwards in Toulon, first half against Cardiff, and winning thw LV= Cup for our first piece of senior silverware in the modern era) set against some lows (three injury-forced retirals mid-season in Tom Hayes, Chris Whitehead and James Hanks, and some fairly indifferent performances including the man-shaming at home by Sale when we simply didn't look interested).

But I read this on the Chiefs' unoffy and it's perked me up a fair bit:

Reasons to be positive:- there is virtually a new, younger team in place that has just managed to finish 8th in its first season in the premiership, same as the old team. Why be positive about that? Well, because its a younger team and has the potential to go further than the old team.

The people that were hysterical about some of the performances were asking where was the spirit that was on display in Bristol four years ago? Well, it was probably in the stands or at home watching on tv, wherever that team actually was at that time.

Rob Baxter mentioned it at the end of season dinner that probably 10-11 players played their first full year of premiership rugby. That's a big change in a team. To back this up, pick the team that has played the most premiership minutes in each position since Exe have been promoted...I think this is close to it:

1. B.Sturgess
2. N.Clark
3. H.Tui
4. T.Hayes
5. J.Hanks
6. T.Johnson
7. J.Scaysbrook
8. R.Baxter
9. H.Thomas
10. G.Steenson
11. M.Jess
12. J.Shoemark
13. S.Naqelivuki
14. Foster/Sesterat/Comacho???
15. L.Arscott

Or, take some landmark occasions over the last few years, winning the championship away in Bristol, Leinster away as a first foray in the Heino, LV=Cup final, etc. Something like 13 of the 'Bristol' squad were on duty in Dublin (2.5 years later). How much of that had changed in less than 18 months to the LV final?

The team has haemorrhaged the solidity and dependability of the unit that drove the club forward for a few years. Some of it nothing could be done about, Richie Baxter deciding to retire, the injury enforced retirements etc., some of it is self 'inflicted' e.g big pay cuts to the likes of Shoemark and Clark (big enough for them to say thanks but no thanks, that's a clear indication the finish is in sight for me here). Then there's the marginalising of the likes of Haydn Thomas, James Scaysbrook etc. This isn't all criticism, its just pointing out what's happened. The coaches have made a decision that they've gone as far as they can with the old guard and now hope to see that the new team can go further. How does that old adage go - 'sometimes you need to go backwards to get a good run-up'?

We've got a squad that got more points in the Heino cup than the year before, won the LV=cup, and has learned some harsh lessons losing games which, you would hope, will be the making of some young inexperienced men in the future - look at the experience in the team mentioned above to what would be the chiefs top minute men this year.

The leadership group of the squad for the preceding years was Hayes, Baxter, (both retired) Scaysbrook (overlooked for most of this season) H.Thomas (marginalised) and Steenson (sitting out many big games for the heir-in-waiting).

The leadership of the squad has been obliterated, new leadership will take time but I'd feel confident it will come.

               

Well I predicted that we would finish 10th, and so it transpired.

Overall the season was as I expected it would be.  Injuries hurt us as the depth was not there, and it took time for the new guys, in particular those signed from the Championship, to gel and find their feet.  On the field there have been high points, notably beating Saracens away, but also real low points, like the shambolic display in Paris which gifted Stade Francais our Amlin pool, and some abysmal performances off the kicking tee, which actually are difference between us finsihing where we have done, and us being where Wasps are and in with a shout of top tier European rugby next season.

Off the field, the only negative is losing Marland Yarde to Quins.  I know the back three is an area where we do have decent depth, but ultimately losing him is only going to make us weaker, as he is one of the top 3 wingers in the country.  Our loss is most certainly Quins gain.  O'Connor would have been a nice to keep, but we knew the score when he signed, and he has been a real positive influence around the club.  I wish him every success down in Toulon and for the future (except for when Australia play England).  

On a positive note the new board have come in and we are now financially secure.  They have addressed some glaring issues that have been there for awhile now, and we will jhave a much improved backroom setup next season.  Recruitment for next season has been good, and the new facilities are almost on track and should be ready for pre season training.

We must do better next season, and turn those close defeats into wins, but I think because of the positive aspects of this season, we will be reasonably well equipped to do that.  Ultimately I am satisfied with how the season went, but want to see improvement form the off next season.

               

Just to add a note to Ozzy's post, O'Connor and some other LI players came down to our mini-rugby club a few weeks back to help with the coaching - they really got stuck in and hung around afterwards to chat and sign autographs. It was a highlight of the season for many of the minis (though not for poorfour jnr, who lives only to tackle and is unmoved by fame or proximity to it) and a really generous action on the part of the players.