by doedin on Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:10 am
Excellent display in 2nd half, it was almost like watching the weegies! Ok the Os were short of a lot of their first XV and have lost a lot of their games in pro 14 this season but you can only beat what is in front of you and we did that relatively easily.
There was some serious improvements tonight, particularly in the 2nd half. However the most important thing was we didnt panic despite playing poorly for the first 20mins and I suspect our captain was instrumental in that. There seemed to be a confidence that despite falling behind we would come back and we did. I would like to think that McKenzie was key to this. Both he and Gilchrist, as senior players, took a lot more responsibility on the park and made big inroads carrying the ball. They set the example.
The team seemed to recognise that we needed a different strategy to the kick and chase and suddenly decided to keep the ball in hand, go through the phases and look for the gaps/mismatches/overlaps. It worked and we grew in confidence as we began to control the game and play on the front foot. Suddenly Tovey played flat and attacked the line and brought runners into the game, our backs began to take ball at pace and attack inside shoulders and we had support runners all over the place. It was great to watch a team play like they were enjoying what they were doing instead of just going through the motions and delivering AlainRolland all. This was so different to the last few home games and watching our guys play to their potential was fantastic.
For me three players stood out.
- JJ was outstanding at 13 and created any number of chances, he was always there to link play up and bring other players into the game. He made the right decisions, stayed on his feet, supported the ball carrier and added pace. JJ was my Man of the Match. Give him a 15s contract now.
- Crosbie is the 6 we have been looking for, big, physical, dynamic and strong defensively and in attack. He worked his socks off and some of his clearing out was just brutal. I would love to see his stats - he carrier and tackled all day long. He is definitely a real find.
- Lastly CdP showed the class we all knew he had but had gone missing recently. On the front foot his carrying and off loading was excellent. Along with Crosbie they dominated the back row battle.
I also thought that this is the sort of gameplan that would suit SHC better. Fowles was a bit slow to the breakdown at times and not as dynamic as required to suit the gameplan. Although his passing and box kicking is better he doesn't quite have the pace or threat around the breakdown of SHC. If this is our new normal then lets get SHC into the team.
Lets hope we carry our new found confidence into our wee trip to SA.