Referee: Ian Tempest Assistant referees: Dan Jones and Rob Warburton No.4: Ryan Collier TMO: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Teams:
Not considered for selection: Matthew Arden, Emeka Atuanya, Callum Burns, Piers Francis, Jake Garside, Oisín Heffernan, Alex Moon, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Courtnall Skosan, and Kayde Sylvester.
International Duty: Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam
Grayson on bench, presumably forced by no Furbank in the 23. Hope he gets some minutes. Good to see Tuala and Sleightholme are fit enough to start and Proctor to bench, and I like the look of that back row!
That's a decent looking team - presume Grayson can also cover 15 at a push unless Collins shifts back with Proctor on the wing?
I'm gonna sound like a stuck record here but I still think Hutch is the 13 and Dingwall is the 12 (appreciating the numbers on the back don't define completely where/how they play)!
Most of all big congrats to Dingwall, sounds like he's been becoming a leader in the team for a while despite being relatively inexperienced.
Bit of a surprise to see Fraser getting the captaincy, good luck to the young lad.
Does anyone know if he's holding on to the hope of an England cap and therefore not getting selected for Scotland?
ramseysaint Bit of a surprise to see Fraser getting the captaincy, good luck to the young lad.
Does anyone know if he's holding on to the hope of an England cap and therefore not getting selected for Scotland?
I don’t see it as a surprise at all Ramsey. I thought 2 years ago that he was destined to be a Saints captain and that he would be in the mould of Gary Pearce Dylan Hartley and Bruce Reihana. Solid dependable and quietly authoritative. Something we’ve been lacking in the last few years.
ramseysaint Bit of a surprise to see Fraser getting the captaincy, good luck to the young lad.
Does anyone know if he's holding on to the hope of an England cap and therefore not getting selected for Scotland?
I don’t see it as a surprise at all Ramsey. I thought 2 years ago that he was destined to be a Saints captain and that he would be in the mould of Gary Pearce Dylan Hartley and Bruce Reihana. Solid dependable and quietly authoritative. Something we’ve been lacking in the last few years.
I was surprised seeing T, Alex and Tom all on the team sheet, don't get me wrong it was a pleasant surprise as I have rated him for a while as well.
Dylan stated on one of the podcasts with hask that he saw Dingwall as the future saints captain, he may have said England as well but my mind is sketchy as best on that one.
Pleased to see Dingwall as captain in Ludlams absence, it is important to develop a young leadership group for the future as it is currently a weak point of ours and can only be a positive going forward
Berkshire-Saint Pleased to see Dingwall as captain in Ludlams absence, it is important to develop a young leadership group for the future as it is currently a weak point of ours and can only be a positive going forward
Ditto.
Am I correct in thinking that Dingers was picked out early on and praised by Boyd for some comments made before a game/half time?
Berkshire-Saint Pleased to see Dingwall as captain in Ludlams absence, it is important to develop a young leadership group for the future as it is currently a weak point of ours and can only be a positive going forward
Ditto.
Am I correct in thinking that Dingers was picked out early on and praised by Boyd for some comments made before a game/half time?
That wouldn’t surprise me at all, I really like his style, let’s his actions do a lot of the talking, seems positive and encouraging and speaks when necessary but equally seems to know when it’s better to just say nothing and get on with it. Obviously we only get a snapshot but that’s the impression I get.
I remember some articles where he has praised Boyd for the trust he puts in him allowing him to develop
Biggar almost screwed the pooch there. Saved himself and finally Wuss concede field position. Hope this is not foreshadoiwing how the match will go....
Saints first real attack threat turns into a try. Shouldn't have to work so hard for this. Especially after spending most of the first 20 on defense. Scrum is still a problem. Mitchell looking poor so far....
Lot of huff and puff from Warriors
Diamond watching from stand so a lot of players probably playing for their future
But no real threat to Saints defence
Lacking attacking ideas
Great individual try by Hutch
Best part of the game so far
Ribeye’s clearance kick
Landed on his backside
Lots of stops for injuries
Stopping any continuity
Saint Gordo Mate, agree Ribbans has the two highlights! That clearance kick, a thing of (relative) beauty. Also his handbags with Duhan van der Merwe.
Do you think he could replace Mitchell today? He can kick better....
Not sure about his spin pass from the base of the scrum
Likely to go anywhere
Weird half, eh? According to ESPN Saints had 42% possession, but seemed like a lot less.
Mitchell took a clean line break at midfield and had an open cantor to the line. I think he was looking to pass then saw a hole larger than the Grand Canyon and went through it. Good to see in a game in which (I think) he is not playing terribly well, to still take his chances.
Augustus and Ribbans are playing well though Saints have not played terribly well in the scrum and lineout. Saints scrum should not lose against the head to Worcs.
Weird half, eh? According to ESPN Saints had 42% possession, but seemed like a lot less.
Mitchell took a clean line break at midfield and had an open cantor to the line. I think he was looking to pass then saw a hole larger than the Grand Canyon and went through it. Good to see in a game in which (I think) he is not playing terribly well, to still take his chances.
Augustus and Ribbans are playing well though Saints have not played terribly well in the scrum and lineout. Saints scrum should not lose against the head to Worcs.
I think Waller is under huge pressure in the scrum and has given away the penalties
Worc have clearly identified Ribeye in the lineout and have done well to challenge him
Once we have thrown to T or Woody it hasn’t been a problem
For me the area we really need to improve is the breakdown
Letting an old boy like Kesic steel the ball is unforgivable
I think Boyd has wired Biggar up with a electric shocker
Every time he starts backchatting the ref
Boyd shocks him
That’s why he keeps grabbing his shoulder
Deesaint I think Boyd has wired Biggar up with a electric shocker
Every time he starts backchatting the ref
Boyd shocks him
That’s why he keeps grabbing his shoulder
Saints are getting pretty lucky on defense. Were lucky not to give up a second try there. Saints not playing well and Worcester starting to take advantage. Lineouts are pish poor.
Not much quality play from any of the backs, really.
Wakey wakey saints. Mistakes beginning to tell and pressure coming onto us because of mistakes. Worcester done nothing for nearly an hour and suddenly saints mistakes giving them belief.
Saint Gordo Saints are getting pretty lucky on defense. Were lucky not to give up a second try there. Saints not playing well and Worcester starting to take advantage. Lineouts are pish poor.
Not much quality play from any of the backs, really.
Lineout especially close to line in attack and defence is pretty shocking week in week out. We aren’t going to be in any sort of contention until this is sorted one way or another. We are having another period where we struggle when the ball dries up. Patience and solid defence required olease, and start playing in the Wuss half
Rather fortunate the Worcester back missed the clearance kick to put Saints in position for the lineout and maul. Big relief getting the fourth try. Glad to see Grayson come on.
Glad the game is over, especially with a BP win. Very frustrating to watch. Team did not do well and virtually noting from the backs at all. A lot to dissect, at least it's from a win not a loss. But showed everything which have been frustrating from this team for the last few seasons.: Poor scrum, poor lineout, weak breakdown, and surprisingly limited play from the backs. Proctor not very good defensively in his comeback. It's now after 12:00 noon. Time for a pint before going after the snow.
Positives - we won in difficult conditions with a lot of key players missing. Hutch try brilliantly finished.
Negatives - just about everything else.
Scrum went backwards all afternoon - against Wuss!!
Line out - total shambles
Breakdown - 2nd best.
Restarts - under pressure from pretty much every restart.
Dumb penalties putting us under pressure.
Dropping the ball at key moments again.
Waller/Collins - sorry but not Prem standard in my view.
Fortunately Wuss were poor.
Don’t really want to be playing our best rugby against Worcester in January, just saying!.. ugly 5 points away it may be but at this stage, 5 points is all it’s about
Fair play, with their coaching changes I saw this as a banana skin for us so that’s a tidy little result in my book. Saints Twitter also says it’s our fifth away win of the season which isn’t too shabby either.
Plenty of room for improvement and things to work though too. Let’s hope we come out of the 6N period in the form we’re heading into it.
Well I’d happily take the points and move on. There’s always good and bad in a performance and the bad provides the work-ons. Pleased that Dingers got a win, I think he was Eng U20 captain so his potential was spotted early, He’s the sort of player we want in the club, solid and reliable first, with enough class and flair to take his chances when they come. Hopefully he’ll stick around and be another one club man.
finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.
Marshal Ney finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.
I feel like I watched a different game to most of you lot! Second half was awful I agree. We switched off on everything.
But first half we were excellent. Wuss came out with something to prove and our defence was excellent and didn't give them a sniff. Good discipline and they got no momentum even with huge possession stats.
Then when we had the opportunity we scored 2 great tries.
Mitch scored a great opportunistic try to top it off.
Lineout continues to be poor which I just don't understand when we have wood, ribbans, API, T in there.
Scrum seemed solid in first half too. I don't get how it can just fall off a cliff though.
..........
I love Mitchell but alongside his so so kicking it drives me insane when things go wrong at a scrum, ruck or maul. He seems to wait for someone else to sort it out. Just take control man!
A good bonus point win, I too saw it as a potential banana skin. Lots of disruption in the camp and we are still 6 points clear of Exeter, none too shabby.
Let us hope we can hit first gear towards the end of the season.
Statesman Positives - we won in difficult conditions with a lot of key players missing. Hutch try brilliantly finished.
Negatives - just about everything else.
Scrum went backwards all afternoon - against Wuss!!
Line out - total shambles
Breakdown - 2nd best.
Restarts - under pressure from pretty much every restart.
Dumb penalties putting us under pressure.
Dropping the ball at key moments again.
Waller/Collins - sorry but not Prem standard in my view.
Fortunately Wuss were poor.
In the first half Saints scored two of the four tries total against 14 men. And they were scored after Worcester lost their starting fly half.
To me, this was not a good game by Saints by any measure. The saving grace was Worcester were worse. This was likely the worst game Mitchell has played in a long time and, with this game he may have played his way out of any England reckoning at all. Not sure who was player of the match because my feed shut off right after the closing whistle, but I frankly can't think of anyone who approached 'good'.
Back home up north now. We defended very well in the first half and stopped three driving mails from line outs. Took our tries well. Same old story made too many musta on our own ball that gave them a way in. However we still held out for a good win. Dans banana kick to the corner was really quite something
5 points and a week off now to prepare against tigers
Expected us to win regardless of performance. Worcester are not a good side and we generally win these games.
Benchmark for improvement is the Leicester game after last timeout, that will be a measuring stick to see any progress.
Marshal Ney finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.
+1
Are people now not allowed to hold an opinion
Unless of course it’s one that you like
The tough fixtures during the 6 Nations will tell us a lot about our character and fight where we are missing a few key players like Ludlam, Lawes and Biggar.
And congrats to Dingers for captaining the side yesterday. He has always come across as a potential future captain, cool head, great reader of the game, someone who the other players and pundits speak highly of. Our best back for me so far this season - think his game in attack has developed nicely to go with his excellent defence.
Marshal Ney finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.
+1
Are people now not allowed to hold an opinion
Unless of course it’s one that you like
Nonsense! You have an opinion, I have an opinion. You are perfectly entitled to express that opinion, as am I. I thought we were engaged in a discussion. I'm certainly not trying to shut anyone up!
Marshal Ney finally at the end of this thread some positive comments - to read some of the stuff above one have thought we were loosing and rubbish. We are not - we got five points away despite absences injuries and covid interrupting training
So lets have a great big cheer for our boys. Well done.
Welcome back to the forum. I'm assuming (although I could be completely wrong) that the continued absence of a particular poster has prompted this. Hopefully more will follow that are lurking.
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