Anyone else really dissapointed by the Aviva final?

Great defense by Sarries at the death, Brists immense...apart from that.....?
thought tigers were very poor but still only lost by 4. Finals can be cagey affairs but this failed to deliver in my opinion. Did really enjoy the last 5 mins though...thats how finals should end.

Your thoughts?

Did not get to watch but kind of what i expected with defenses dominating precedings and not meny try's. Apparently last years was a lot more entertaining. Hopefully the baa baa's will beat england today though.

I thought it was a decent affair, but in fairness to Saracens they desperately wanted to win that title to prove that their work has some silverware to show for it.

In some ways, although I'm a neutral in this case, I'm glad that Saracens have won because they always believe in what they do and the style of Rugby that they want to play. Maybe it isn't beautiful to watch, but they had a goal and stuck to it.

And Schalk Brits was immense yesterday. Maybe, just maybe, for his all-round skill set he's a better footballer than John Smit.

MR. scotland27 wrote:Did not get to watch but kind of what i expected with defenses dominating precedings and not meny try's. Apparently last years was a lot more entertaining. Hopefully the baa baa's will beat england today though.

Nice

Glad Saracens won. A bit of a change. Enjoyed the game. Leicester don't seem to be able to handle the pressure put on them at the moment. They really missed Deacon.

I did wonder what England 'losing' to the Baa Baa's had to do with the Aviva final?

Went to the game. Nothing to write home about, but I went with a friend who is a big rugby fan but has never been to a top level game and his enthusiasm made it a very enjoyable day for me.

Loved the last ten minutes...must have been horrid to have been a supporter of either team though.

Didn't get to see it but pleased Sarries won , made a change from Tigers.

Me. It was on Sky so I couldn't Flip watch it!

fair play both games were full on,plenty of passion on display,the magners final gets my vote because both teams were positive and played heads up rugby,well done ireland for giving the magners a fitting finale.

Not disappointed at all. Good tense match. Just when it looked like Saracens might have a shot to put it out of reach, Leicester make their run. Two top teams going full tilt. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wasn't great really. Sums up the AP really. Very little creativity and invention. Attritional but lacking excitement. Toby Floods missed kicks were very poor. Not nearly as good a game as the ML final.

leinsterbaby wrote:Wasn't great really. Sums up the AP really. Very little creativity and invention. Attritional but lacking excitement.

Ouchio....

Compared to the HC it was dull, but I'm glad the Tigers didn't win

I was disappointed by Leicester who never really got going until the last 5 minutes, but I thought Sarries played a great game, and Brits deserves all the credit he's getting. Farrell is starting to show some real promise at 10, and every time I see Goode play these days I think he's ultimately going to become a class midfield operator.

Barritt also put in a performance beyond anything Hape has ever produced, and continues to make the England selectors look a little bit silly.

Really pleased for Sarries (and of course Kelly Brown). They were the better side on the day and I thought Leicester got the tactics wrong.

It wasn't the classic that was the HC final, but then again that was one of the great games of recent times. Hard to top that.

Sarries did what they do**, while Tigers made far too many mistakes which Sarries took advantage off.

What disappointed me was that despite being the better team, Sarries never really tried to score the points that they should. Tigers could have sneaked it at the end, but were only that close because of Sarries conservative gameplan.

I do not think Farrell passed the ball once in the first half - though his high kickc were superbly executed.

Well, I've had a few days to reflect on the match so here are a few thoughts from a not-too-disappointed Tigers fan.

Firstly, I really needed time to recover from that excruciating last 8 minutes. It literally drove me to tears - they flooded out for 30 seconds after the final whistle. My brother was almost physically sick. It was truly, truly painful to watch. Gruesome torture. I've never seen 33 consecutive phases before!

Secondly ..... it all came down to inches. You buy your season ticket. Go to the ground week in, week out. Rain, shine or sub-zero temperatures. Saturdays are rugby days. Days out, routine chores and meeting up with friends are all arranged around the matches. Social activities are often cancelled or rearranged. The pattern of life ticks along to the rhythm of the fixture list. Then, after months and months of excitement, disappointment, hope, fear and optimism, it all comes down to inches. The problem is, when you're battering away at the Saracens defence in that mood, an inch may as well be a mile. We needed somebody as wily as Neil Back to finish it off for us. We needed something a bit special.

But Neil Back is long gone. And the current team were just not good enough on the day. Did we look like scoring a try in the first 77 minutes of regular time? Not really. That's why I don't feel robbed, cheated or unfairly-done-by. The best team won.

Yes, Brits was excellent. Yes, Farrell was composed way beyond his years. Yes, Saracens do have an amazing sense of 'team'. But, if we'd played like we did against Saints in the semi, we could have done it. But, curiously, we looked like we didn't want it enough - really, really want it. Like Sarries, I guess. At times we needed a leader to pull the team together and whip up the old Tigers spirit. But a leader never emerged and the old trick of winning a game we maybe didn't deserve to just didn;t seem possible this time.

So, what about next season? Well, some good new players are coming to the club. Some good young players will be another year wiser. But, for me, we need a much better second-string 9 and 10 if we're going to compete, particualrly in Europe. If Youngs and Flood misfire, we just don't have a Plan B.

Beyond that, we need somebody to emerge as a leader in the old-fashioned (Richards/Johnson/Back/Corry/Kay) style. Two leaders would be better! Step up Jordan Crane? Thomas Waldrom? Tom Croft?

Finally, Cockerill needs to make up his mind about Twelvetrees. Either give him game-time or encourage him to move on so he can get experience somewhere else. Don't keep him hanging round the club then bring him on deep into a 'knife-edge' Premiership Final and expect him to deliver. Not fair! Even for someone with 36's obvious potential.

Finally, finally, I guess there's Cockerill himself. Don't get me wrong - he amazed me with the way he transformed himself from 'hot-headed hooker' into management material. But I just wonder whether we've gone as far as we can with him in charge. Time for a change, perhaps?