The Run In...
Chiefs
By Moorsman
March 18 2018
The run in
The Run In
Here's how the table stands with just 5 league games to go and Chiefs opponents are highlighted. Potentially 4 out of the 5 will still be hoping to make at least the top six by season end and some may even be vying for a play off place!
| P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | |||
| 1 | Chiefs | 17 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 432 | 285 | 147 | 13 | 61 |
| 2 | Wasps | 17 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 468 | 391 | 77 | 8 | 54 |
| 3 | Sarries | 17 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 490 | 294 | 196 | 9 | 53 |
| 4 | Falcons | 17 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 335 | 365 | -30 | 6 | 50 |
| 5 | Tigers | 17 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 408 | 373 | 35 | 7 | 47 |
| 6 | Glaws | 17 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 378 | 408 | -30 | 8 | 46 |
| 7 | Bath | 17 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 423 | 397 | 26 | 9 | 45 |
| 8 | Sharks | 17 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 408 | 375 | 33 | 11 | 43 |
| 9 | Quins | 17 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 424 | 459 | -35 | 8 | 36 |
| 10 | Saints | 17 | 6 | 0 | 11 | 386 | 476 | -90 | 7 | 31 |
| 11 | Warriors | 17 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 297 | 455 | -158 | 7 | 27 |
| 12 | Irish | 17 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 283 | 454 | -171 | 7 | 15 |
First up it's Bath away next Friday evening (23/03) In some way the postponment of the Anglo Welsh Final will work in Bath's favour because they were likely to field many of their Prem side given the current injury situation. This would have only given them a 5 day turnaround had the Final gone ahead. Whereas Chiefs strength in depth allowed for many of the Prem side to have a 'normal' lead up to the fixture. The Rec is never an easy place to get a win and Chiefs don't have a particularly good record there. A lot will depend on whether the Chiefs are back on form and which Bath side turns up on the night ( their form has been pretty inconsistent). If the Chiefs are anywhere near their early season form I can only see a Chiefs victory. Even a narrow win will do and push Chiefs closer to a guaranteed top 4 and potential home semi. However Bath will be really pushing for points to ensure a top 6 or top 4 place so it's not going to be easy!
The second game is at home to Glaws (08/04) and we all know how closely fought ouir games v the Cherry and Whites normally are. Glaws really seem to have turned a corner this season and have put in some mightily effective performances. Their Achilles heal appears to be their defence having conceded more points than they've scored and 123 more than the Chiefs have so far this season. This I think will be the diffenece between the sides and with what is likely to be sold out Sandy Park behind them I'm backing Chiefs to win with a TBP in a high scoring game.
Third up is away to Irish (15/04) and given their season so far I think Chiefs will have too much for them on the day. That's not to say Irish have been playing badly it's just their apparent inability to sustain the performance that is the problem. Chiefs ability to break down sides and play well beyond the 80 minutes should see them home with a TBP win.
The penultimate game is at home to Sharks (28/04) and I think this is a pretty difficult match to call as Sharks have played some great rugby this season. However like Bath and Glaws their main problem is lack of consistency. Having said this they have picked up a lot of bonus points this season and always seem to be in the game. The Chiefs have only lost once to Sharks at Sandy Park (season 13/14) and I can't see this being any different this season. Chiefs defence should be too good for the Sharks and by that time I hope we will be pushing hard to cement not only a home semi but to top the table.
Lastly Chiefs have to visit The Stoop to play Quins (05/05). This could be cracking way to end the league games as both sides like to play attacking rugby. Quins have scored just 8 points less than Chiefs so far this season but when it comes to defence that's a completely different story as they have conceded 164 points more than Chiefs in this period! At getting on for 10 points more per game I think the Chiefs defence will be too good for them and another Chiefs win could be on the cards.
This may be an optimistic view of the run in but if Chiefs can get back to the early season form I don't see why it's not possible. If so it would set Chiefs up well for a crack at the titkle for the third season in a row.
Come On You Chiefs...Chiefs...Chiefs...
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The Run In...
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18/03/2018 15:14
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Glaws and Sale are both pushing for a top 4 or too 6 place but struggle on the road so I think the SP crowd should see us home but WBP might be optimistic.
Bath, Irish and Quins away are winnable, hopefully we can recapture the form we showed this time last season and get a home semi final and another visit to Twickenham (I have already bought 5 tickets for my family, my grandsons first live rugby game!)
Bath, Irish and Quins away are winnable, hopefully we can recapture the form we showed this time last season and get a home semi final and another visit to Twickenham (I have already bought 5 tickets for my family, my grandsons first live rugby game!)
Scoring tries this year is are biggest problem, maybe with Slade and Short back we can open teams up a bit more
Quote:mommentum
Scoring tries this year is are biggest problem, maybe with Slade and Short back we can open teams up a bit more
If you mean recently, you may have a point. But, throughout the season, we haven't done too badly - more try bonus points than anyone else and 55 scored all told, compared with Wasps' 60 and Saracens' 56. The main problem seems to be that the opposition now makes a point of slowing everything down in an attempt to kill our pace of play - injuries, errant shoe laces, etc. As you say, we have the players to deal with this and I'm confident about the rest of the season. We have averaged over 3 league points per game so far; if we keep that up, we will finis top 2 and, perhaps, first. Anything better obviously welcome!
I agree with Lowerwatha that we should get 2 home wins and it would be a disaster if we did not win at Irish. Add on a couple of bonus points, try or losing, and we would be on 75 points which would mean that Wasps would need 21 points from their last 5 games to match us and Sarries would need 22 points. Hopefully 75 points would be enough for a top 2 finish.
Any points that we get at The Rec on Friday will be a bonus and will put us in a good spot as well as putting pressure on the chasing teams.
Any points that we get at The Rec on Friday will be a bonus and will put us in a good spot as well as putting pressure on the chasing teams.
I was meaning 2018, can't remember when we last blew a team away (bath maybe) before 65 mins and could take a player off to keep him fresh? Every win has been very hard work as it should be
4 points from the Bath game puts us on 65 points and that's just 1 point ahead of last season at this round. Chiefs then went on a scoring spree with 4 x 5 point games to end the season on 84 points. We're 12 points ahead of 5th spot and 9 ahead of 3rd before the Glaws game and a win of any kind gives us a play-off place.
If my maths are correct (which is by no means certain!), we need just 7 points from our remaining 4 games to be guaranteed a home semi and 13 points to be certain of finishing top. It would be nice to win them all, of course, so as to have momentum going into the semis.
I thought the Saints and Quins results in this round were quite extraordinary. Both teams seem to be going through a rough patch, to say the least. Saints, in particular, are a surprise after a really good start to the season. It's only thanks to that they're not more seriously in danger of relegation. I do feel rather sorry for London Irish, as I don't think they're a bad team and they have come out on the wrong side of a number of close games. (Mind you, I still want us to beat them next week!)
I thought the Saints and Quins results in this round were quite extraordinary. Both teams seem to be going through a rough patch, to say the least. Saints, in particular, are a surprise after a really good start to the season. It's only thanks to that they're not more seriously in danger of relegation. I do feel rather sorry for London Irish, as I don't think they're a bad team and they have come out on the wrong side of a number of close games. (Mind you, I still want us to beat them next week!)
Quote:OldWing
If my maths are correct (which is by no means certain!), we need just 7 points from our remaining 4 games to be guaranteed a home semi and 13 points to be certain of finishing top. It would be nice to win them all, of course, so as to have momentum going into the semis.
I thought the Saints and Quins results in this round were quite extraordinary. Both teams seem to be going through a rough patch, to say the least. Saints, in particular, are a surprise after a really good start to the season. It's only thanks to that they're not more seriously in danger of relegation. I do feel rather sorry for London Irish, as I don't think they're a bad team and they have come out on the wrong side of a number of close games. (Mind you, I still want us to beat them next week!)
Think it’s only 2.
Only 2 now, happily, but was 7 when I wrote my previous post.
Quote:mommentum
I was meaning 2018, can't remember when we last blew a team away (bath maybe) before 65 mins and could take a player off to keep him fresh? Every win has been very hard work as it should be
Did we blow Gloucester away or was it a case of points left out there?
Frankly and without wanting to cause any offence, I find it incredible that anyone would expect us to "blow" a team away. Yes it happens but should never be in our ambitions in this league. Wins... Yes.... Bonus points.... Yes. Arrogant to think we should blow teams away.
First time Jack Nowell has played for us this year and we scored six tries, maybe just coincidence.
That was a very mobile pack that we fielded that week, and how good to be able to bring powerful guys like Lees and Ewers off the bench
Does anyone know which player said they wanted to be part of a dominant Exeter side this season?
That was a very mobile pack that we fielded that week, and how good to be able to bring powerful guys like Lees and Ewers off the bench
Does anyone know which player said they wanted to be part of a dominant Exeter side this season?
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