by doedin on Sat Jan 19, 2019 1:54 pm
Our front 5 were immense, dominated their oppo numbers and won us tons of yards and numerous penalties. Don't think I have ever seen a french (Saffa really) prop being subbed after 31 mins because he was getting minced in the scrum and then their sub getting minced too. Line out was safe as houses. Nel looks like he is getting back into top form. Shame Shoeman isn't Scottish ... yet! Good to see McKenzie coming on and slotting in and playing really well. They must be amongst the top front 5 in comp at the moment, certainly up there with the likes of Leinster and Munster.
Back row covered every inch of the pitch and held their own against a very, very good Montpellier back row. No real drop in performance when Crosby came on for Watson. Crosbie for me is a top class prospect and will be a mainstay in Embra and Scotland team for years to come. He brings physicality and aggression as well as pace and looks a real class player.
Backs followed the script and played a very controlled game. At times we miss opportunities to break with the structure we play and some of our set plays when we get a 'free ball' in their 22 were very poor. Stats about how poor we are when in the red zone in converting possession into points dont lie. We really do need some attacking set plays off of good ball. However that is being a bit picky!
Interesting to see the change in approach at half time. First 40mins we were very solid but kicked a lot of ball away and were quite risk averse. Second 40 we upped the pace, kept ball in hand more and moved them more about the pitch, creating rucks all over the pitch really tired out their forwards and they were not at the races with 20 mins to go. Cockers and coaching team know what they are doing!
No-one will be looking forward to coming to our patch in the next round. Every game from now on in is a bonus and just hope our guys stay injury free and perhaps a few guys come back from injury soon.