Aviva Premiership - Round 12

First topic message reminder :

Fri 12th
19:45 Newcastle Falcons v Leicester Tigers BT Sport


Sat 13th
14:30 Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs
15:00 Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins
15:00 Northampton Saints v London Irish
15:00 Worcester Warriors v Bath Rugby


Sun 14th
16:00 Saracens v Wasps BT Sport

Correction.

Sorries 13 - The mighty WASPS 31 after 34 mins

Just shows how losing your defence coach can make a difference.

Sarries' loss is England's gain.

You've got to give to Sarries, they've never once give up and Wasps have had to be good for their points.

Add to that the number of guys out playing internationally and this is a result that is understandable.

One other thing to add.....actually maybe two; Yes Wasps are fantastic but skills wise its the southern hemisphere that are the point of difference.....and so maybe the second point is just an underlining of the first, because really how good is Smith? Better than any other 7 in england for my money.

While it's nice to see Sarries get thumped I don't think this is a good result for anyone but Wasps.

Going on the assumption that Sarries will top the table no team will be happy to see their rivals picking up 5 points in a fixture that most will struggle to get any points at all from. Even Exeter I suspect would prefer Wasps picked up nothing today.

Currently 58 points to the good......

Fair play to Wasps. Never seen Sarries this rattled.

Saracens need to write this off as a bad day at the office.

Shows the danger of Wasps.

All top four teams going into the weekend lost to teams outside the top four. Some unhappy coaches this weekend.

I'm unhappy Tigers lost too if that helps ...

formerly known as Sam wrote:All top four teams going into the weekend lost to teams outside the top four. Some unhappy coaches this weekend.

Not been a good two weeks for the teams that entered 6Ns period in the play-off spots. Only win coming in the inter-top four match.

doctor_grey wrote:

Fuzzy Dunlop wrote:

Heaf wrote:But Wuss are still picking up LBPs (admittedly many courtesy of some shockingly poor officiating, but they all count unfortunately) and we aren't ... I'll be massively annoyed if we go down by just a few points after all the gifts they've had.

http://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/news/12331/10166506/dean-ryan-slams-refereeing-system-after-worcester-loss-to-bath

Let's hope he does make these reports public. Might be a nice trip down memory lane to see Tigers top a table

I would absolutely want to see the reports, or at least the statistical analysis, made public.  I think being a Rugby referee is a very difficult task, probably more difficult than in any other major sport.  

But if teams are disproportionately penalised, and the nature of the penalties are not clear and evident, then it could make a person wonder.  If indeed Dean Ryan is correct when he said Bath committed a deliberate knock-on in front of the posts, then some sort of penalty, potentially a penalty try, should have been offered.  But who can say until we see highlights?  

Interesting article and I would love to see that table - it absolutely should be in the public domain imo.

Just saw the wasps game

Crazy result. Saw Wade was playing and expected to see his name on the score sheet a few times given the figures but nothing! Anyone know how he and hughes got on?

Hughes was excellent. A real marauder, Saracens really struggled to deal with him. Thought he was unlucky not to be man of the match.

Thought Wade was actually relatively quiet. Seemed to be one of the few players who didn't tuck in. Disappointing to be honest.

Yappysnap you're a sad little man.

Ta beshocked, perhaps not surprising for Wade given his stage of comeback.

Heaf wrote:I'm unhappy Tigers lost too if that helps ...

They didn't just lose....they were dismantled

Ah, being on the wrong end of 60 points couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch. I hope Nige was there to watch

GeordieFalcon wrote:

Heaf wrote:I'm unhappy Tigers lost too if that helps ...

They didn't just lose....they were dismantled

In the first half. In the second you didn't complete the job and get the TBP. Your bench didn't add any momentum to allow you to push on and put us to the sword. As the game wore on we actually came back into contention despite losing the tactical kicking battle. Pearce running rampant through your defensive certainly helped that.

I was having a laugh Sam....you lost your sense of humour?

We're on the end of hidings not just loses all the time...its nice to get a couple of decent wins against the big boys! Especially after we've been so royally Sh1t...

I have no doubt normal service will be resumed next game...

I was being serious you had us there for the TBP taking. No joking,if you'd have got a rolling maul down in our 22 you'd have definitely got at least one more try. I don't think you'll be sliding back into relegation form quite so quickly. Goode is a master at getting the scoreboard moving.

Cockers was scathing of the players in post match interviews and rightly so. I hope they spent valentines running defence drills.

beshocked wrote:
Yappysnap you're a sad little man.

Cheer up Beshocked, Quins got stuffed as well this weekend, it just cheered me up to see Sarries buy themselves a record loss at home to Wasps.

BamBam wrote:I hope Nige was there to watch

Nige is moaning again about how unfair it is that his team lose so many players. He is also upset that the RFU money is split evenly rather than per head in EPS. Got to say I have limited sympathy for either gripe as he was perfectly happy when other teams were being denuded of players, and he was the main proponent for the even share as at the time it suited Saracens more. Add to the moans two years ago that Sarries should be champions as they topped the table (yet nothing last season of course ) and it is clear that the man is not only a bully but also a hypocrite.

We knew that already LT

Hence the happy dance when his side get thrashed.

Sad that it comes to this in some ways, but when actual justice will probably never occur you have to take what satisfaction you can.

Yappysnap I am not overjoyed by Quins being stuffed because it doesn't matter.

Londontiger in the case of international call ups and playoffs the system has worked both for and against Saracens.

You are entitled to believe Nigel is a bully and hypocrite I personally don't think he is.

Well he is, but you won't agree so doesn't matter

I like Sarries as a club, hate the two-faced, hypocritical bullies who run them.

How good were Wasps? They seem so inconsistent this season - stunning displays in Europe in Dublin then at home to Toulon were followed by spineless displays at home to Chiefs and Sarries.

I'd just feel a lot happier if Bath got a points deduction for salary cap irregularities ... that would put the cat amongst the relegation pigeons ...

No 7&1/2 wrote:Ta beshocked, perhaps not surprising for Wade given his stage of comeback.

I thought he played well and was a marked improvement on his previous outing, that said the game just never really came to him which was quite frustrating.

I'm sure he'll improve further and will be knocking on the international door in no time, especially if we can win big in Europe.

Just an aside, but I watched both games yesterday, the international and this prem match, and certainly skill wise the prem game had the quality as well as plenty of power.

Bambam well as someone who has met the bloke instead of just listening to the media, I have a lot of respect for Nigel Wray.

Meeting someone in person might change your view.

kingelderfield what do you mean the game never came to Wade? This was a golden opportunity for Wade to put down a marker.

The premiership game did indeed have quality if you enjoy see an one sided game with numerous players missing because of international duty.

It was a fun game for those who dislike Saracens, a dent of egos but in the grand scheme of things because the pack had many absentees it's hard to tell if the Wasps gameplan would work if the likes of George,Vunipola bros, Kruis and Itoje were in the pack and if Goode,Taylor and Farrell were in the backs.

The thing I guess it showed is that Wasps click they can cause any team real problems but we knew that already.

His actions are the only things we judge on sadly.

Bruce or Wade?

kingelderfield what do you mean the game never came to Wade? This was a golden opportunity for Wade to put down a marker.

No doubt it was a golden opportunity, unfortunately being only his 2nd game back he didn't appear entirely attuned to his colleagues and game as a whole. There wasn't much in it and I'm sure he'll be scoring freely again soon. Added to this it appeared to me that Sarries defense were doubling up on his wing only to allow space elsewhere.

The premiership game did indeed have quality if you enjoy see an one sided game with numerous players missing because of international duty.

It was a fun game for those who dislike Saracens, a dent of egos but in the grand scheme of things because the pack had many absentees it's hard to tell if the Wasps gameplan would work if the likes of George,Vunipola bros, Kruis and Itoje were in the pack and if Goode,Taylor and Farrell were in the backs.

The thing I guess it showed is that Wasps click they can cause any team real problems but we knew that already.[/quote]

Of course Sarries are a better side when fully equipped and it wasn't a dig at them, though like others I enjoyed Wasps winning big. No, my point was with regards to the specific skills on show - across the board.

Anyway all that aside the next match against Gloucester will be fascinating. Realistically, unless players are released back to their clubs, Sarries will again be under pressure from a side who are relatively untouched by call up's, injuries and suspensions. There may also be the peculiar 'dead cat bounce' provided by a new owner.