How do we beat Exeter?

This is becoming a long drawn out affair.  The battle with Exeter Chiefs has been running ever since our two clubs have been in the Premiership, those with a longer memory will know the battle raged long before that and it doesn't look good for us.

Back in June 2014 I wrote about the fact everyone thought we should be trying to emulate the formula that has been so successful in Devon.

At the time I disputed this and thought the Northampton model was more realistic and would better suit our club.

You have to go back to the 2004 season to find the last time we beat Exeter.  Obviously there was then a long gap before we were in the same league again, but still the following 9 fixtures have all resulted in an Exeter win.

Two years ago I clearly did not agree with the general consensus that we wanted to be the next Exeter.

 This for me is the key.  "Building a squad, bringing on youth and building on a winning culture".  Our inability to retain talent has always prevented us from kicking on from any kind of success.

Using 11 of the guys involved in the Bristol final, Exeter opened their Premiership account with a win against Gloucester.  They kept their talent, built from within and maintained that all important winning culture.  It looks like even Kvesic has bought into the Exeter dream.

We did the same, having also beaten Bristol in the final we kept the core of the winners together and won our first game in the league.  Ironically for this article, against Saints.

My argument at the time was that Saints had gone on to be more immediately successful than Exeter and that I thought they would be more sustainable.

We all know that we have made some shocking recruitment decisions.  We have all seen that going out and trying to buy our way up the league does not work.  I am pretty sure we all thought Dean Ryan, love him or hate him, finally had the backing to build on success, bring in talent and start to retain the talent our academy produces.  Clearly not.

Nick Johnston though may still hold the key.  Since Nick arrived our facilities have been stepped up, our academy heavily invested in and be it a season early due to massive injury lists, we are finally starting to see academy players getting Premiership caps.

So, two years ago I thought we could do better than being Exeter and I still think the same, we should be beating Exeter.

At their peak, pushing for Premiership fame the majority of the Exeter 23 were in their first full season as Premiership players.  They took fine margins and delivered results.  What may previously have been a draw or LBP loss they turned into wins.  I am not saying we can finish in the top 4 but I do think we are capable of winning more games this season.

Ruskin, Singleton, Schonert - A great front row.  Our props, though not academy strictly have come through as junior players and thrived.  Vals statistics have him down as one of the best props in the country.  Singleton is a very exciting hooker, performs well at age group international level and has been solid so far this season.

Andrew "little Kitch" Kitchener - 6'8" and probably still growing.  Looked more than capable after replacing DOC.  Hopefully a Kitch we will get to see mature at Worcester.

Barry - Reminds me a lot of Percy.  Puts his head were it shouldn't be and delivers results.

Potgieter, Kirwan and Dowson: Clearly not academy but a great combination.  Potgieter should now be fully match fit so we can expect even better performances from him.

Arr - The oldest academy prospect going.  Always steady in a Warriors shirt.

Shillcock: Arrived at 9, played 10 for England, came back as a 15 and now playing at 10 like it was always his shirt.  A very exciting prospect as we all know.

The backs are very exciting this week:  Adams, Heem and Pennell.  Bryce made immediate impact last time out and Josh has been getting better and better each week.

The switch of Hammond to centre is interesting.  Willison has been left on the bench for this partnership with Olivier.  There must be some serious results being delivered in training for this to be tried, away at Exeter.

The bench is solid with some serious impact, so we should be able to compete for the full 80 and put up a great fight.

So, how do we beat Exeter? 

Do not do what we did against Wasps, do not try and play them at their own game.  Play ours.

Hogg needs to back his plans, Cross needs to ensure that our defence is solid and Vesty needs to give the backs confidence to play their game.

The biggest key is the instill belief, ensure the pack functions and get the ball out quickly to those backs.  There is so much pace and talent in our backs that they should be scoring tries against any of the best teams in the country, which is handy as Exeter are clearly one of the best right now!

We need to turn our recent narrow losses into success and get success back into the team.  We have world cup winning talent, we have young international talent and we have future internationals across the 23 - we now need to deliver the biggest double of our season.  An away win against Exeter.

#COYW

Were we beaten Friday night or did we lose?

We took the bus to the ground Friday night, that was an experience.  Not sure I could join that queue for the return bus ride!

It may sound like I am just playing with words but I feel that there is a difference and I had to watch the highlights then the full game again in order to answer this, seemingly simple question.

At the start of the game we all had the memory of beating Saints last season and to a man, each person I asked at the ground, thought we would be able to beat them again.  Especially after the news that Coops and Heem were back in the team.

Saints arrived having won only 3 games in the league so far, so I guess this justified the general view that this was a game we should win.

Phil Downson, our captain for the night, not theirs; was pumped and ready for the match.  I don’t want to get side tracked but: Where is Captain GJ?

Greg MacDonald was clearly only in charge of his 4^th premiership game.  I hope in future he remembers to actually signal the intent of his whistle blowing and not leave players and fans alike guessing all game.

We started competitively and Callum Clark gave us the first opportunity for points, Shilly obliged.

Just after Potgieter went off the Saints had their first sight of our try line but due to a bit of professional fouling shall we say, they ended up with 3 points instead.

At 3-3 following 10 minutes of balanced play I would happily say we were looking good for the win.

The Hammond try, came from lots of great phase play by the Warriors pack.  The break by Wynand, started by Shilly was well finished.  I am still not sure why the linesman had to question the Kirwan clear out but I guess that is what the TMO is for.

12 minutes in, we were 10-3 up and Saints lost their captain.  It was looking great for the win.

For the first 15 minutes I could not fault the play by Arr.  Quick in and out of the break down and his boxing kicking finding the targets.

DOC – looked from the North Stand to be a man that had gone mad.  TV replay shows otherwise but he did spend the 2^nd quarter of the game trying to get a yellow card.  I think his contribution to the team and in each match is amazing, just wish he could control himself a bit more off the ball.  It feels like every contact he goes into is a potential yellow card moment.

Clark was very lucky that the referee was not able to see things right in front of his face.  A knock on by us in their 22 happened at the same time he cleared Annett without the ball [away from the play] and then tried to poke Arr in the eye.  I guess a leopard never can change it’s spots!

Watching the full match on TV does give a different perspective on the referee.  I did see even more things that he missed, but I was also impressed at how vocal he was with the players.  Very calm, very clear and very much in control.  I just wish he would let fans know what he is doing.

10-9 at half time really did not reflect either the effort from our guys or the quality of play.  At this point we were already 1 try to nil up and controlling a lot of the action.

Ryan Mills “team” yellow card was justified.  We had clearly been warned all through the 1^st half, though I am still not 100% sure what he was judged to have done illegally?

The next phase of the second half was not pretty for Warriors.  Saints took their first lead of the night and we were struggling with 14 men, allowing Myler to score 9 unanswered points.

We are finally getting some depth of talent back and the substitutions did not lead to a sudden switch in performance or possession.  Obviously being able to bring Heem into the game is a massive advantage.

Another player worth a mention is “Little” Kitch.  He got almost 30 minutes on the pitch, in a Premiership match and he played really well.  The 20 year old is 6’8” and maybe needs to bulk a little, but he is definitely in the mould of his brother.  Hopefully we can keep hold of this Kitchener to see him grow into his potential.

The next score for us was in the 78^th minute.  Pennell setting up Heem – what a return to play.

Callum Clark, to quote My wife “why is he back, he obviously has anger issues?” then got a yellow card for throwing Jonny Arr across the pitch, which led to a penalty being award, from the half way line as the final action of the game…

Shillcock’s face and body language said what every Warriors fan was thinking… SO CLOSE!

It has taken us until November to lose a game at home in the league.  Has that ever happened before?

So, to my question – Were we beaten or did we lose?  I think we lost that one.  We could have and should have won the match.  I cannot say that the referee impacted our result.  We gave him too many opportunities to give them penalties.  Especially when within kicking range.

We outscored them 2 tries to nil and lost.

We spent 10 minutes with a man in the bin and lost by just 1 point.

Statistically we beat Saints all over the place:

Metres gained, Clean breaks, Defenders beaten, Gain line carries – all better than them.  The only things they did better than us was offloads and penalty points kicked.

We managed 98% tackle success 110/112 no wonder they could not score a try!  I know a lot are wondering why Simon Cross is still in charge of defence but I think that kind of statistic and nilling Saints on the try count shows why.

Ultimate Rugby Stats

We played well for large chunks of the game and gave away the result through giving away too many kickable penalties.  We lost the game, Saints did not beat us.

If we can keep the team fit then we can start looking up the table. 

I must admit I was banking on Wasps beating Gloucester with the vein hope that we could overtake them in the coming weeks, but they didn’t so we probably won’t.

The loss against Saints does halt our stuttering season somewhat but we are 7 points ahead of relegation and only 4 points from 10^th.  Between us and 6^th is starting to grow, the gap is now 9 points.  

Exeter are beatable but we then face Wasps before our trip to Bristol.  Bristol have Tigers and Gloucester before our boxing day match so I can see us going into that game still 7 points in front of them, with a fit team (other than Hougaard) and with a massive point to prove.  Falcons have some tough games on the road – do I predict we will jump up to 10^th before the year is out?

Why not? I say we will face Harlequins on New Years Day in 10^th looking up to Gloucester and maybe even with an eye on Quins spot in the table.

Oh and as you will have seen in My picture with Aidan on the bus, I am half way through Movember - if you are feeling charitable then all help is appreciated: http://mobro.co/phillmason

#coyw

New Signings - Will Make the Difference for the Warriors

The Bristol game was a big test.  It was a big test that we passed with flying colours.  In part down to some new signings making instant impact.

The Anglo-Welsh Cup comes at a time when senior players are either with their respective countries or having bit of a rest, so it is time for the young guns to shine.

It wasn't all down to young guys or new signings and I know that we have not just played well against Bristol, but what a story - Bristol DoR is suspended, their players are now having to prove a point, demonstrate to the new management that they should be in the team.

The temporary managers pick the first team for an Anglo-Welsh Cup game... our Academy, young fringe players and first time starters go on and win.  I loved every moment of it.

What more can we expect from our recent signings and young stars?

I get it now, yes it has taken me a while and yes I am sure it was obvious to the rest of the Warriors fan base, but I finally get it.  I can now see what Ben T'eo is going to bring to the party.

Unlike Bristol, we are using the Anglo-Welsh cup to bring through players.  We have plenty of injuries still and T'eo is away with England [As will I be for the South Africa game].

Ben T'eo - Rough diamond?  Very individual style of play?  Not fully recovered from injury?  There are many possible reasons for his less than spectacular start at Sixways, what ever it is it has now gone away.  He is a star.

The England centre was a big gamble in some ways.  Although clearly talented and getting great reviews in Ireland he was very much an unproven commodity in rugby union, no knowledge of Premiership rugby and yet we broke the bank in bringing him here.  I think that move is going to pay off.

Max Stelling - OK not a new signing, but his recent performances after a season in the wilderness is like getting a new player.  I do not think we will ever fully understand what he did to make Dean Ryan banish him, but he is back and with some style.

This week Max is playing in the centre with Andy Short.  They both have the ability to rip defences apart, they can also both defend like forwards at times.

Another solid performance from Max and I am sure he will be contending with T'eo, Willison and Olivier for the 12/13 shirts.  Though just writing those names makes me realise how tough a job he has on his hands.

Michael Dowsett - Does this lad of the skinniest legs in rugby union?  We have found yet another EQP from the Southern Hemisphere leagues and going by his first performance he could be another gem, just like T'eo.

The boy was clearly trying too hard in the first half of his debut but his face said it all when he scored that try.  Pretty quick, solid kicking and has already found the try line.  Pretty good recruitment in my books.

In three seasons at the Brumbies he only played 422 minutes, 22 games, 4 starts and scored 1 try.  His current stats are played 61 minutes, 1 game, 1 start and 1 try - looking better already.

Wilhelm van der Sluys - This guy is very much an unknown quantity.  Brought through the Western Province system he has only made 29 appearances in his career, since 2012.  The guy is a South African lock, seemingly light weight at "only" 16 stones but his show reals indicate he carries that weight well and gets around the pitch.

He is on trial with and and has gone straight into the team at lock so either he has already been able to show his talent or we are desperate to rest the likes of Barry, DOC and CSW.

Jackson Willison - he is another one than took a little time to impress.  I had obviously heard of him before and seen his clips but I wasn't expecting all that much to come from him.  He then clicked with Olivier and followed that up by demonstrating an understanding with T'eo.

Am I reading too much into it or are we yet to see T'eo and Olivier play well together?  Is it possible that, though in my opinion Ben and Wynand are better players than Jackson, Willison will get the most caps as he partners better with the other two?

This is quality from Jackson:

What ever happens we have three great centres fighting for two shirts with plenty of talent behind them to keep them honest.

Jack Singleton - Any hooker that can score 4 tries at age grade international level has something about them.  We cannot really claim to have brought him through rugby as most of his academy time has been with Saracens, but we have certainly added the cherry to the cake.  Great form in A league games, glowing reports from England and now putting in very confident performances for our first team, this guy is going to be pushing for the Warriors #2 shirt very soon.

Huw Taylor - This guy has already made 12 senior appearances and has been at the club for a while. The guy is a winner, he was part of the B&I Cup winning squad, he made it to the final of the A League with our Cavaliers and won the Under 20 World Championship this year.

The club see him as a leader and are expecting great things from him.

EQP funding is having the desired affect at Sixways and we as rugby fans are going to gain massively.  Not only are we going to generate £150k extra rugby funds but we get to see English qualified players running on the Sixways pitch.  We are developing our academy players and recruiting EQP guys to add to the team.

This can all only be great for Worcester Warriors and England.  Don't forget we already have an England player, don't complain that he is missing games for us, see it as demonstrating that Worcester players can play for England in the biggest games.  Personally I can't wait for England vs South Africa - I will be there, just hope he gets longer than 5 minutes for his first cap #swinglow

WRSC are going to have a tough job this season; first listing all of the players eligible for Young Player of the season and secondly getting people to choose just one!

Don't forget your Poppies on Sunday,  I am proud to say I will be leading the silence at WRFC this Sunday for the Mini & Juniors.  Rugby is all about respect and Sunday we get to show the ultimate respect.