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Cheers BRW

I can only agree, I did think the pack played well in the tight too - even though the ref did ping us oddly at the start a few times.

I really wish we'd tried for the push over from the penalty, although I know we needed to take the penalty instead

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3). Another centre injured
Anyone left? Masson & Lowe for Leeds at this rate.

Gonzo should be back from international duty. So Tiesi & Lowe in the centre for Leeds.

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Chris

That sounds like a nice partnership to me

Penalties conceded = 8 (below Quins' usual max target of 9)

Lineouts won/lost = 9/1

"Unlike, say, Saracens, they turned up to play rugby and entertainment ensued. JSD in particular was class, I was worried every time he had the ball."

Whilst I don't disagree with you, I think that MJ is more concerned about wins rather than entertaining. One look at the table tells you that the Saracens brand of rugby is unfortunately more productive in that respect than the more spectator friendly Glaws variety.

RESPECT THE REF - NO REF, NO GAME!

I like the growing senses of strength in depth and confidence - let's hope for a strong showing at Leeds to carry it forward.

I was also very impressed on the replay with how often George Lowe was in just the right position to support a break. Fleet of foot and fleet of mind. Lots of potential there.

Oh, and welcome back the real Tani. Long may his body keep up with his enthusiasm.

I worry that we don't now have a fit natural 12, that there isn't the depth at lock that we'll need and that we've suffered at the breakdown when faced with a less attack-minded ref.

But fix those and there's still a chance to show Sarries (and the England management) how to get results by playing an attractive game of rugby.

Good summary. Although apart from one throw straight to an unopposed Glaws forward, i thought the line out functioned pretty well.

Also agree about JSD - why is he still ignored for England??

Although the stats say we only lost one lineout there did seem to be a couple that we won where no one seemed to jump and we only won it because Gloucester didn't attack it

I've seen a lot of people praising Nicky Robinson but IMHO he spent far too long feeding our back three with long kicks down Mike Brown's throat.

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The Prof
Although the stats say we only lost one lineout there did seem to be a couple that we won where no one seemed to jump and we only won it because Gloucester didn't attack it

Indeed, in the build up to Easter's try the lineout was fielded by Robshaw at the tail who hadn't jumped at all. That was either masterful throwing of the highest order or a lucky foul up.

Merely winning a lineout for the stats is not the same as winning good lineout ball. We went off the top a lot, I think we felt our best chance was to get it moving rather than trying to rumble it in the tight.

Simpson Daniel will just about reach the margins of the England squad by the first game of the 6N before another injury. Great player, too fragile.

Strettle may or may not have the same problem.

Agree, JS-D looked very strong.

Agreed with DC as MOTM, back to his best. Nev was fantastic too, I thought that he looked like he was getting back towards the level we know he can play at.

I thought that the back row played very well too. Mr Skinner might have a fight to get back in. Worried that we'll lose Guesty if he doesn't get more game time.

I think my biggest concern is that MJ might have been watching and seen Ugo pack down at 6.

RESPECT THE REF - NO REF, NO GAME!

Saturday made me realise again how lucky we are to support a side that wants to play rugby in an entertaining and expansive way. Even though they don't get it right all the time at least we aren't a boring play-to-percentages side.

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BRW
though had we lost I suspect we'd have been ranting

Indeed. And we were an awful lot closer to it than we should have been.

I'm more than a little surprised that no one thinks that Quins only bothering to play for 20 minutes was not "bad", but there you go. Fantastic as those 20 mins were, and I know I enjoyed every second of them, you can't give many teams in this league a head start, AND knock off early and still win. Keep the sublime, less ridiculous next time please.

I didn't find Quins "only bothering to play for 20 minutes" bad because I don't think it's true.

Firstly, it's very rare that you see a professional rugby side genuinely "not bothering to play", at least until the match is well beyond reach. The last couple of minutes away at Ulster last season, perhaps.

Secondly, rugby is a game based on territory, which typically means the momentum will swing from one side to the other at points during the match. There's not much you can do to prevent it; the question is, what do you do about it? Quins on Saturday didn't cope as well as they did, say, playing Bath at the Rec last year (7 man defensive scrum on your own line, anyone?), but they weren't bad, especially considering they were facing an on-form Delve, JSD, Sharples and Morgan.

Thirdly, while it is a convenient shorthand that teams "go to sleep" at times, I don't think it can be fairly applied to this game. Gloucester's first try was almost as brilliant as Nev's. The second try came from a slight error of judgement compounded by a fortunate bounce, but nine times out of ten it would have been a 22.

Their final try was well-worked but exploited the extra man while we had one in the bin.

At the top of our game last season, we probably would have stopped the last try, and we might have stopped the first. But this is a side that is still finding its feet. I took much more from the fact that they went behind twice and fought back to build a lead they could defend.

All of which said, they will need more discipline and steel to beat sides like Tiggers, Sarries and LI - but I don't think it shold detract from celebrating Saturday's result and the manner in which we got it..
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poorfour
they will need more discipline and steel to beat sides like Tiggers, Sarries and LI - but I don't think it shold detract from celebrating Saturday's result and the manner in which we got it..

I didn't say it should. There has been plenty of celebrating, but this thread is about analysing the performance, and I just think its a bit daft to pretend the game had no bad side just because the good was so good.

I think Percival's yellow card made the scoreline a little closer than it might have been, they took advantage in his absence.

And I thought Percival's yellow card was the result of Quins going to sleep after getting the 4th try (with 30 mins left...). They lost concentration, allowed Gloucester to make a lot of easy yards and ended up under unnecessary pressure.

I don't want to sound all doom and gloom. It's not my natural state. I just think there were two sides to the game and against better opposition we would have paid the price, wasting all those lovely tries.