Well what a tough old game that was. I was actually enjoying how gritty it was (although both sides weren't great) up until the 60th minute or so. We were the better side for most of that game and we let it slip. It's like last year, we just faded out of the game at a crucial time and that is just not good enough!
We had so many chances but our attack was in all sorts, yes the dogs defended well but we looked like we had no creativity at all, it was just going through the motions. What happened to the attack of Rounds 2 and 3? That was brilliant! Looks like Sam and George will be spending time on the sidelines with two really dumb plays tbh.
Johnston: Very mixed. Rocks and diamonds, he had some good runs and that try he scored was truly brilliant. Then a few minutes later he has an incredibly stupid play, how hard is it to kick the ball dead? Yes Jennings and Goodwin didn't communicate but seriously. He needs to be more consistent.
Burns: Again mixed. I was impressed with a few of his runs but he still looks very shaky under the high ball, as some have said, he was actually moving away from bombs in the first half.
Talaki: Mixed once again. He wasn't really bad and his defence was still a little better but he's just not quite there sadly.
Jennings: Not great it has to be said. A few errors and although he made a few good tackles, he still hasn't fixed up his defence over all. He was disappointing
Goodwin: Solid. Didn't get involved much but he was good when he got the ball. Almost powered over for that try and I thought he was unlucky to have that try disallowed. I understand the rule that the player must catch the ball outside that decoy runners inside shoulder but for mine, Josh Reynolds made the decision to tackle Sutto so.
Walker: Quiet compared to his usual standards, He looked dangerous a few times but just didn't get the ball enough.
Reynolds: Mixed. Put in some good plays and almost created some opportunities but then had some very poor plays and average last tackle options. that field goal was amazing though. Thank god he wasn't injured in that tackle, my heart was in my mouth.
T.Burgess: He was okay. Got through plenty of work and had some good runs. I don't think he made an error either.
Cook: I thought he was good. Darts from dummy half looked sharp and saved two tries. We are better with him on the field imo.
Turner: Wasn't too bad. Not as good as last week though. Some strong runs but also some weak ones.
Sutton: Not great tbh. Very lazy in defence at marker which cost us a try and his runs didn't have as much punch as last week. A poor effort from him. He needs to find consistency.
Crichton: I thought he was solid. One of our best forwards, yes, he made a few errors but his runs were a lot stronger than many of the other forwards.
S.Burgess: Had that really stupid brain explosion early on which will cost us in the next few weeks but he was our best tonight. Great runs and 100% effort. He tries his heart out every game, if only everyone else could do the same.
Farah: He was okay. Wasn't outstanding but wasn't bad. I think his service from dummy half is a wee bit slow though.
Clark: Quiet. He didn't do much at all which is a shame because he was good last week.
Musgrove: See above. Like Clark, it wasn't the impact we've come to expect.
G.Burgess: Mixed. It's a real shame. I thought he was finally, slowly playing himself back into form. He was cutting out the errors and his strong carries were coming back. He has set himself and therefore the whole side back for that stupid brain explosion, I'm questioning his attitude.
It was like 2016 tonight. Errors in attack and defence at critical moments and giving away silly penalties. Attack was clunky close to the line and this needs to be addressed ASAP or we will flounder.
However, We were slowly getting on top of them until that 60th minute or so but if was a really poor effort after that. We could have and should have won that game, we put ourselves in a position to do so but we choked. That is simple not acceptable. It's that fact which makes this result so hard to take.
The side need to have a good hard look at themselves this week. It's the basics we are getting wrong, fix them up and we will find some consistency and be okay.
