Fraser Balmain, Tom Denton, Mariano Galarza, David Halaifonua, Tom Marshall, Motu Matu’u, Ben Morgan, Ross Moriarty, Matt Scott, Charlie Sharples, Owen Williams, Jason Woodward all unavailable for selection…..Every one a key player. 12 key players in any squad. Several match winners. Balmain who destroyed Quins front line. Marshall a first choice for any Prem side. Morgan & Moriarty, Williams & Woodward…..and, or course, Sharples.
What side could possibly face the Aviva Champions twice in the last three seasons and current two times European Champions with such a depleted squad? Gloucester it would seem.
Sarries clearly had a game plan that involved depriving Gloucester of the ball. And for forty minutes it worked a treat. For forty minutes Sarries were pretty much camped in the Gloucester half, and mostly their 22. But for all their phases, for all their efforts, Sarries attacks came to nought. The Gloucester defence was impenetrable. McCall clearly hoped early scores would see Gloucester dropping their heads and certainly had planned to see a gulf opening up by half time. It wasn’t to be. Gloucester soaked up the attacks to such an extent that Lozowski clearly thought the only points on offer were a drop goal….Even that wasn’t to be. With a 56% success rate Lozowski will be left wondering what went wrong; perhaps Chiefs got off lightly on that deal! Certainly Jones will be left scratching his head
Gloucester were certainly battered in the first 40 and had little in the way of reward but the only time Sarries have slipped up this season has been at Barff. Sarries haven’t lost yet this season when leading at the end of the first 40…..until tonight.
There were many handling errors by both teams in the first 40 and both teams were let off the hook to some extent
But that Gloucester defence set the tone. The 2nd 40 was very different with Gloucester keeping ball in hand and going on the attack. Clearly something Sarries had feared.
Despite Brits 53rd minute score Gloucester kept their composure.
Of course the 16th man played a part. The Shed was in full voice. Sarries hate it. But the psychological impact of “Glawster” ringing around the ground is undeniable, hence McCall desperately needing, wanting, that early lead. Wanting to shut The Shed up.
With 36 banging the points home each kick was a nail in the Sarries coffin, even from out wide. Even with Sarries fans screaming. A lesson for Lozowski to take home.
So Gloucester started turning the screw. First a contender for try of the week from Thorley with a neat little chip from Burns into his hands. Then Hudson’s grafted try which, despite the phases in Sarries 22, seemed to come from no-where.
Kicks from hand were 30 Glos 35 Sarries, reasonably low numbers given the defensive efforts from both teams and the need for space. Some were sublime such as Heinz’ kick down the line in the 3rd quarter, others wasteful kicks to opposition hands. It’s a difficult call…..do we keep battering an impenetrable defence or try a kick chase over their heads. For us fans it’s only ever the right decision when it goes right, that’s why we’re not wearing the shirt 😉 It does seem, though, that our kick chase is more successful when we have Sharples on the wing. He’s either taking the catch or making the tackle.
But, for me, the key to the win tonight was the bench. Yes, there was some outstanding play by the first 15. Savage seemingly everywhere on the pitch involved in almost every tackle or defence it seemed. Ackerman earning every drop of champagne in his MotM bottle.
But as soon as Vellacott came on Gloucester’s intensity seemed to rise. The ball came out quicker and the pace picked up. Rapava-Ruskin adds big hitting power and I look forward to seeing him pair up with Balmain as a starting pair of props. Polledri replaced Clarke and showed his value. Both will become increasingly valuable. The only one that might be considered to have taken us a step back was Thrush. How do you replace Slater & Savage?
It’s clear that Johan has made a huge impact but it seems to me that there are good reasons for that. He has cleared the board of deadwood. Humphreys has been moved away from any coaching input. Woodman (once described to me as “never be a coach as long as he’s got a hole in his arse”) has gone to the Academy and Johan has imposed total control. He’s introduced a Super Rugby style in the Prem. Fast ball moved quickly. But has also improved our front eight with Woodman’s departure. We are giving away far fewer penalties.
There is one area, however, that seriously needs drastic improvement. The line out. Don’t get me wrong. I love Hibbsy (and he seems, now, to love Glaws), But he can’t throw a ball for toffee. He is fearless on the pitch and does what every Old, Fat, Shed Head wishes they could do and knocks down opponents as though they were bowling pins. OK, we only f**ked up two line outs tonight……but imagine if we had got them right? And 2 was 25%. You can’t afford to f**k up 25% of your set piece.
Of course the rugby world is awash with rumours regarding Afoa, Matu’u and Moriarty but here’s the thing. Afoa is 34 and we have Rapava-Ruskin and Balmain as first choice pairings in the front row for next season. I’d miss John, he’s been a good servant. But we have choices. Matu’u has been a fair to middling hooker. His throwing is on a par with Hibbsy but Hibbsy makes bigger and more tackles. Matu’u would always be second fiddle. With word out that we were looking at Montoya Matu’u almost certainly thought he’d drop to 3rd place so you can understand him looking elsewhere. Even though it looks like we missed out on the Puma it shows we are looking.
As for Moriarty…..word is he’ll be commanding close to £500k with the Welsh RFU paying 60% of that salary. With StQ in charge I doubt we’d be in the market for that sort of wage and you really can’t blame the lad for wanting A) Half a million quid a year and B) A Red Jersey. But I think we have plenty in the wing forwards department at more reasonable pay…..Polledri, Lewis, Rowan, Clarke and, of course, Ackerman.
So we beat Sarries, again. 3 times in 4 seasons at The ‘Holm. Which means, maybe just for today, we can look on the Aviva Premiership Table with just a touch of glee 😉
OK, so it will change tomorrow. Let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
But I must say, for me, the MotM was Karl Dickson, the ref. If I was going to ref my first Prem game in my career the very last place I would want to do so is The ‘Holm. Dickson done a good job. A very good job. There was very little reliance on the 4th official. Play was allowed to continue and, unbelievably, I never heard “you don’t know what you’re doing” once…..possibly the finest compliment you can ever receive from The Shed.
winnyssite 