By Leipziger
October 6 2014
By now everyone will have read about yesterday’s game, indeed many will have had the fortune to witness our brilliant first win in twenty league matches.
For those who didn’t see it, there will be highlights online, and for those who want to relive the horror and ecstacy in print, there’s Smithy’s report.
Rather than a report, this week I’m stealing Smithy’s example and going with my five thoughts from yesterday:
1) Ally Hogg has still got it. Our Scottish number eight has come in for criticism this season and he was quiet against London Irish, but two try-saving tackles in the first five minutes set the tone for a man of the match performance. Hogg tackled like a demon and made numerous powerful carries, including the one that set up Sinoti Sinoti’s first try. Great.
2) JP Socino could be a real find. Questioned after London Irish, JP kept his nerve yesterday to kick a crucial fourteen points that went a long way to securing victory. If we’d had a reliable kicker for most of last season, we’d have done better. However, it’s not just with the boot that Socino performs – his awareness and ability to set an attacking platform means that he must now be given an extended run in the ten shirt. Not certain, but this may be a masterstroke signing.
3) Noah Cato is worth any worry. Cato is solid under the high ball (a year ago teams bombarded him with high balls. They don’t anymore.) and most of the time, he makes decent tackles and he can do that as hard as anybody. The ones he misses stand out because he can struggle to get to grips with bigger players I think, making them more obvious. However, Cato is probably the most natural finisher we have at the Falcons and if there is a rugby equivalent of a poacher in football, this guy is it.
4) Attacking will produce results. Yesterday we had only three players in the starting lineup and another three on the bench who joined us later than January this year, yet in this game and all before in 2014/15 we have, for the most part (ignore the first thirty minutes against Northampton) been competitive. The biggest difference for me? The mindset. Go out and attack teams, put them on the back foot, and we will win more games. If we’d have done this last season, I am certain we would have won more than three league matches, but better late than never.
5) White hot atmosphere and positivity. After Cato’s try yesterday, there was an air of real belief around Kingston Park, a belief and defiance that we were not going to lose. The players left everything out on the pitch and they were backed to the death by the supporters. For everyone who felt like giving in after Worcester but didn’t, this was your reward. We are not now a world class team, but we now have something to build on and kick on from. Lets stay positive at the next setback and keep backing the team, starting with on Saturday in Oxford.
Just a quick final one - defeat at home to Exeter prompted big changes at KP in January 2012. Will a home victory over Exeter be the beginning of better things?
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