Weekend Review - Rugby Union
Two victories for my teams over the weekend that have gone a long way to making their seasons good ones.
Northampton Saints
For seventy minutes of their game against Bristol, they were staring down the barrel of a shut out. 16-0 behind and with just ten minutes left, the Saints turned their defense into attack and scored three tries in very quick succession to take the game 19-16. In securing the win the Saints also guaranteed themselves 6th place on the Premiership and Heineken Cup Rugby next season. It is a time to celebrate but also a time to reflect. As a team they got lucky, you cannot continue to give any teams a 16 point lead and expect to win. It's one of the reasons they are only 6th in the league. The team has to work on discipline, continuing to concede kickable penalties against good sides will only lead to defeat. They need to attack, and defend with the same consistency and they need to work out a way to get their key players to perform at all times. There is no doubt that Carlos Spencer will be a better player next year after spending this year bedding in, but there will need to be improvements across the board if they wish to get a higher placing and do well in the Heineken Cup
In the meantime, congratulations for making the best out of this season, and here's to a top four finish next year.
Wellington Hurricanes
The Hurricanes took a giant stride towards a semi-final place in this years Super 14 competition with a five point win over the Chiefs. They are now 6 points clear off fifth place and a win over the Reds next week will see them qualify for the semi-finals. The final score was a little bit flattering and the game was devoid of the usual backs play that the Hurricanes are most feared for. One notable achievement was the hattrick by Andrew Hore. The conditions were poor and dictated that this would be a forwards game, but neither side showed that they could adapt very well with consistent knock ons and dropped passes. Still the Hurricanes will not mind and will probably look to score a good win next week in order to rest some of their key players for the game against the Waratahs. But that will depend on the Crusaders, if they should slip up next weekend then the Hurricanes will be in a position to gain a home semi-final tie so may chose to field a full strength team in their final game.
So congratulations, but the celebrations on hold for a week and come out and destroy the Reds so we can all have a week off before the semi-finals start
Northampton Saints
For seventy minutes of their game against Bristol, they were staring down the barrel of a shut out. 16-0 behind and with just ten minutes left, the Saints turned their defense into attack and scored three tries in very quick succession to take the game 19-16. In securing the win the Saints also guaranteed themselves 6th place on the Premiership and Heineken Cup Rugby next season. It is a time to celebrate but also a time to reflect. As a team they got lucky, you cannot continue to give any teams a 16 point lead and expect to win. It's one of the reasons they are only 6th in the league. The team has to work on discipline, continuing to concede kickable penalties against good sides will only lead to defeat. They need to attack, and defend with the same consistency and they need to work out a way to get their key players to perform at all times. There is no doubt that Carlos Spencer will be a better player next year after spending this year bedding in, but there will need to be improvements across the board if they wish to get a higher placing and do well in the Heineken Cup
In the meantime, congratulations for making the best out of this season, and here's to a top four finish next year.
Wellington Hurricanes
The Hurricanes took a giant stride towards a semi-final place in this years Super 14 competition with a five point win over the Chiefs. They are now 6 points clear off fifth place and a win over the Reds next week will see them qualify for the semi-finals. The final score was a little bit flattering and the game was devoid of the usual backs play that the Hurricanes are most feared for. One notable achievement was the hattrick by Andrew Hore. The conditions were poor and dictated that this would be a forwards game, but neither side showed that they could adapt very well with consistent knock ons and dropped passes. Still the Hurricanes will not mind and will probably look to score a good win next week in order to rest some of their key players for the game against the Waratahs. But that will depend on the Crusaders, if they should slip up next weekend then the Hurricanes will be in a position to gain a home semi-final tie so may chose to field a full strength team in their final game.
So congratulations, but the celebrations on hold for a week and come out and destroy the Reds so we can all have a week off before the semi-finals start
posted by Sports Potato at 10:45 AM
2 Comments:
Hi! Just want to say what a nice site. Bye, see you soon.
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Great site lots of usefull infomation here.
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