We Are Going to Beat Sale

Why can't we dream?

How much would it take to get the much needed win this weekend, against Sale?

We have been so close but need that last inch, is it luck? fitness? A new tactic? 

Forwards play a massive role in every game, ours have been on fire this season.

CSW took a knock Monday night, but has been showing the kind of form he gave glimpses of, all those seasons ago before his 2 season lay off.

GJ might be back for this game.  He seems to be a bit of a Marmite captain.  Pretty much splitting the fans 50/50.  All seem to rate him as a player but not as a captain.  The majority of the dissenters pointing to Phil Dowson as the rightful owner of the captains arm band.

 

Annett was injured at Bath but has been our outstanding forward so far this season.  His lineout throwing has been better than we have seen for a while from our hookers, his open play is brilliant.  He may not off load like Creevy but the net results are the same, he rewards the forwards by scoring tries.

Mamma is fitting in very well, obviously he had experience paying for us on loan last season and when he went back to Bristol they value him so much he went straight back into their team.  A great player to watch and compliments the riches we now have in the back row.

Why was DOC left out of the Sarries game?  Nobody seems to be able to answer this, but since he has returned to the team he has played even better than last season and now seems to be able to control himself and not get so many cards.

Great news that we have signed Nick Schonert for the future.  Such a talented prop and a true Warrior, he literally has his passion for the club written all over his face.

Backs, at Worcester - we have always been almost there, surely this season, once the injuries end, we are there?

Decimated by injury and Hougaard being called up to SA the backs are still firing.  We are attacking and scoring like no previosu start to a season in the top flight.

Humphries' arrival in the absence of Pennell and Heem who are not too far away from returning to training has really highlighted the work Vesty and co are carrying out behind the scenes.  He always looked a handy player but now he seems to be delivering on the big stage.

Shillcock, as I have previosly written, has a great future.  Stepping in as our sub 9 in the finals, moving to 10 and now finding his feet in the 15 shirt.  He is really going to be pushing Ben Howard to step up and show that he can fulfil what he has always promised.

Pre-season I predicted Olivier would have a massive season for us - Such a leader on and off the pitch.  One player told me that he does his basics so well, gives the players around him so much confidence that they can go out and perform to their best, just because they know he is there.  His world cup winning class is really starting to shine through.

T'eo has had bit of a tepid start to the season.  Maybe Olivier is shining too bright at the moment.  For me, he is clearly an exciting and talented player I just do not think he has found his feet in the Premiership yet.

Our new pitch is built for running rugby and we are going to get that this season.  Vesty is giving the backs a bit of freedom, this should help Lamb and Olivier play to their strengths.  I remember during the 2015/16 preseason Vesty and Ryan said that although they train set moves they also like the players to "play what is in front of them" though this was not evident in our games last season, this season it is.

The medical team must be ran ragged with the amount of players out, they probably have more players to work with than Hogg at the moment.

Fans - We really do have such a big part to play, especially at home.  We should be targeting points in every game at home and against Sale I think we should be targeting a win.

Can we get the much needed win this weekend?

If our starting XV was:

Ruskin

Annett

Schonert

DOC

Cavubati

Dowson

Mama

GJ

Hougaard

Lamb

Vuna

T'eo

Olivier

Heem

Pennell

Then I would really fancy some decent money on my daughter's second 18-0 prediction of the season.  Potentially 7 of those guys will not start, so we face a different prospect.

This season shows that Simon Cross has our defence nailed down, but maybe we are putting in too much of an effort in the first half and then lose our legs or maybe Hogg just doesn't have a plan B and opposition teams are able to counter us from half time.  I wish I knew the answer.

If we keep playing with the passion I have seen so far this season then I feel we can get a win.  If we take any further injuries or do not get some of our players back soon then it could be a very dark Christmas looking up the table at Bristol and Falcons rather than down. 

In coming weeks I will be going through some of our game statistics and comparing to our Premiership rivals, thanks to the guys at Ultimate Rugby Please Visit Here I will be able to dig down through all of our key statistics and keep up to date with rugby news from all around the globe.