View from the Stand - Tigers v Chiefs

OK the traditional rider - this is just my view of things based on a single view from the Goldsmith's end. I have not seen my recording nor read any other views.

The Good

After an iffy start to the season, Sam Harrison was starting to boss his forwards and was much sharper at getting his hands on the ball and firing out. In recent weeks it has taken him far too long to go from first touching the ball to actually passing it. His pass was flatter and faster, helped by Flood standing a touch flatter.
Toby flood had a good day with the boot, constantly challenged the gain line and showed a lot of ambition.
The tackling was awesome - especially Matt Smith.
Dan Bowden in his first start showed he will offer something very different to Anthony Allen.
The Scrum was impressive, the lineout, especially on Chiefs throw was excellent.
Graham Kitchener continued his good start to the season.
Tom Youngs had another good game. His scrummaging and tackling was incredible. Two lineouts were lost - one when Hanks (I think) got up well at the fronnt and another where the timing seemed off when the ball went long and no Tigers jumper got off the ground.
the Chiefs fans in the Crumbie. The constant drums, whooping and tomahawk waving throughout the full game was very impressive.
Oh and a hat-trick for thompstone



The Bad
Flood still throws too many unsympathetic passes.
No dummy runners meaning the flat passing is easy to defend against.
The backs are still far too lateral in attack, rarely committing defenders and killing all the space.
Felt like we got away with killing the ball too much.
All the blooming mic'd up waterboys issuing instructions at every break - though was good to see Ben Youngs looking so fit.


The Ugly
Haydn Smith's frustration at Tigers killing the ball saw him kick and punch the prone players in separate incidents.
Some Tiger's fans reactiontp/abuse of the ref. It was uncalled for.
The judo neck throw style tackle that ended Bowden's game. This happens far too often ( we are guilty as well0 and should be stamped out before someone gets seriously hurt.



Overall
Tigers won the physical battle, something we failed to do in both meetings last season, and so the higher level of class meant we dominated much of the game. Thing is, and no disrespect meant to Chiefs, we fail to do that against better teams and thus need to be more clinical in attack.

Have t seen the match yet but +1 one the judo clearouts. Every bit as dangerous as a spear to me

Immaterial of where on the pitch you are tackling by the head is illegal. I got in an altercation eth the opposition fullback today after he removed me from a ruck by my neck. It should be targeted by refs before someone gets seriously hurt.

Having watched the highlights now, Waldrom's challenge on Mieres was rather ugly as well.

Scariest sight

Steve Mafi on the program cover - weird facial hair.


Funniest Moment

Message over the tannoy :

"Could Mr Wayne Wilson, owner of a silver Volvo XC 90, registration **59 xxx please return to his vehicle at the Freemans car park, where the police are waiting for him"

Having watched the highlights now, Waldrom's challenge on Mieres was rather ugly as well.

Thought that was Kitchener?

Very good performance from Tom Youngs, needs to just perfect his throwing ans he'll be a massive asset.

Didn't see the injury to Bowden on tv. Recorded the match since I was out all day. Just watched and didn't see anything except for Bowden involved in a tackle. What hppened?

Sam,

I meant the one where Thomas took him off the bvall that Baxter was upset TMO did nothing about when reviewing 2nd try. Was the Kitchener one shown? I saw nothing live and heard Oz and Kay's comments but no picture.


Dr G,

It was off the ball about 3 or 4 minutes before he went off, probably not picked up by cameras. He had a lot of treatment, retook his position then eventually went off.

Was the Kitchener one shown?

Not that I've seen, maybe that will spare him any punishment. Was the Waldrom one before the Tigers try? That was rather clumsy.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Was the Kitchener one shown?

Not that I've seen, maybe that will spare him any punishment. Was the Waldrom one before the Tigers try? That was rather clumsy.

That's the one, Sam - I think Rob Baxter's beef was with the question asked of the TMO which didn't allow him to examine the incident. I suspect a try would have been forthcoming anyway tho, with you guys getting a scrum for the original Mieres knock-on, such was your set-piece dominance at that stage

True. Good to see the young prop Balmain and the academy graduate Stevens coming on and getting experience though. At 19 and 21 there's more to come from them.

Tigers were not clinical enough and the Chiefs will be annoyed with the easy going reffing interpretation that allowed Tigers to disrupt.

Well done Tigers.

Flood looked far better this week which is good, it's crazy how much he can change from game to game! I suppose a lot rests on his pack in front of him though...

So can we lood forward to a few of the injured backs getting a run out next weekend?

Expect to see Manu start with Youngs on the bench. I doubt we willsee Murphy, and whiel he has been pretty good so far the bug that hit Scotty Hamilton did us a favour.

Oh and Tait should appear in the A league fixture tonight.


As to Flood. I still dispute that he was any where near as bad as people said against Quins - nor was he as good this week. I guess he went from an OK 6/10 to a decent 7/10. The main difference was he attacked the gain line more - helped by Harrison clearing the ball quicker (I notice this week that Harrison was less involved in securing the ball so more able to move it quickly). The other difference is that Tigers clearly won the physical contact.

formerly known as Sam wrote:True. Good to see the young prop Balmain and the academy graduate Stevens coming on and getting experience though. At 19 and 21 there's more to come from them.

Tigers were not clinical enough and the Chiefs will be annoyed with the easy going reffing interpretation that allowed Tigers to disrupt.

Sam, good team adapt quickly - we'll learn. In the meantime, no complaints

I'm just disappointed that Logo didn't get the ball down when he had the chance, it could have been the difference between 4 and 5 points. Still, that's what happens when you give the ball to a prop...

Baxter made much of the off the ball incident in front of the Chiefs' posts. I think that perhaps he had a point. What was obvious was that the Exeter coaching staff clearly thought that the Ref favoured Tigers and that Chiefs were always going to be up against it. I just don't think Chiefs played that well to be honest, the outcome never looked in doubt.

yappysnap wrote:Well done Tigers.

Flood looked far better this week which is good, it's crazy how much he can change from game to game! I suppose a lot rests on his pack in front of him though...

So can we lood forward to a few of the injured backs getting a run out next weekend?

That's exactly it. Any fly half finds it easier when their pack is on top. Not many fly halves play well on the backfoot. Do any?