Coach ‘never been more disappointed’: but there are some positives in defeat
MISFIRING ATTACK, MISSED TACKLES – BUT CRUCIAL BONUS POINTS
HAVING just seen his side throw away victory against Gloucester on Friday night, Dan McKellar looked wounded, and he admitted it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed with a loss.”
You can see why. His side had done enough for victory in attack, showing some good passages in the first half and then finding and exploiting a huge advantage in the driving maul.
That should have seen his side home, but it was third-bottom Gloucester that took the spoils as a late Luke Varney try took the wind out of Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
But why couldn’t Tigers get themselves over the line?
THE ATTACK
There were positives, ball in hand. There seemed to be an intent to counterattack when receiving the ball in the backfield rather than engage in kicking duals, and from set-piece and in general play there were repeated efforts to get the ball wide.
The latter gave more results than the former, as Freddie Steward and Josh Bassett were among those to make clean breaks, but both are positive signs after some of the unimaginative attacking play we have seen too often this season.
The problems were two-fold. The first was that Tigers could not land the final blow after the line breaks to turn them into tries.
Steward fluffed his pass to Dan Kelly on the outside and Tigers were lucky to get a penalty after Bassett’s break as they failed to get into attacking shape quickly enough on the second phase.
For plenty of Gallagher Premiership sides that would have been 14 points, but not for Tigers, yet.
The second problem with the attack is that after conceding quick points to Gloucester they immediately went into their shell.
They went back to kicking for territory - albeit with some success and abandoned something they have clearly been working on in training.
Whether that was instructions from the coaches or the players making that decision consciously or subconsciously, it seemed bizarre to abandon it so quickly.
Don’t get me wrong, Tigers secured a four-try bonus point which could be invaluable. That is a huge positive.
The Cherry and White’s pride themselves on their maul, and although it has not been as potent this season in attack, it has been good defensively.
It is a feather in the cap of McKellar and Brett Deacon that Tigers dominated there.
The fact of the matter is with mauls, they are usually scored in the corner, and that’s the third improvement that is needed with Tigers’ attack.
Five-point scores have to be turned into seven-point ones, and Jamie Shillcock had an off-day with the boot.
Most were difficult kicks, and there is no guarantee that Handre Pollard would have slotted them, but the double World Cup winner would have likely got at least the extra conversion that would have seen Tigers home.
It is common knowledge that Tigers have spent much of this season without an attack coach as Alan Dickens has spent time away from the club.
After the two-month break, it is clear that there has been improvement in attack, but if Tigers are to go the rest of this season without an
coach it will be a case of what could have been in a league so wide open.
THE DEFENCE
For much of this season, Tigers have been good in defence, and it is the main reason that they are still in the mix for the play-offs after the Six Nations.
The biggest exception to that was against Harlequins at home in the autumn where the London side cut through Tigers all too easily to take the win. That was until this Friday night. It is fair to say that the defence had an off day. Missing 37 tackles and having a 78 per cent tackle success is simply not good enough at this level.
For reference, Northampton Saints conceded 52 points to Bristol on the same evening and still had an 86 per cent tackle success.
Some of the blame will have to go to individual mistakes. For instance, Dan Kelly is a good tackler and would rarely miss the first-up tackle on Seb Blake, let alone the second one on Zach Mercer for the first try.
Similarly, Jamie Shillcock is not a bad defender, but a lapse in concentration meant he was behind his team-mates as they charged forwards for the second try and thereattack fore was off-balance as he challenged Chris Harris.
These were the examples that led to the first half tries, but there were so many more instances of players falling off tackles that they should be making.
There were errors with the system, too. For instance, Gloucester – and Mercer in particular – had huge success attacking the guard and body-guard at rucks.
These defenders were too slow to react, and the gaps around them were too big.
McKellar was vocal about a second issue: Tigers’ work on the ground.
Tommy Reffell and Julian Montoya – their best jackallers – were both on the pitch, yet couldn’t disrupt Gloucester’s attacking ball.
It meant that the away side could build pressure too easily and then pick off tiring defenders in long passages of play.
Matt Everard, Tigers defence coach, has done a good job this season with the defence, and will have been furious with some of what he saw.
Newcastle are up next. Despite being winless this season and the bottom side, they pose a huge threat to teams falling off tackles.
Adam Radwan, Elliott Obatoyinbo and Ben Stevenson are a back three with pace and deceptive power, and if there are as many missed tackles again on Friday night, they will punish Leicester.
THE MAJOR POSITIVE
Bonus points will be crucial in a league this tight. The top two sides, Northampton and Harlequins, both lost by huge margins this weekend and neither gained any points, so the league is even more congested now than at the start of the weekend.
Had Tigers not got the two bonus points at home against Gloucester, I think they would be out of the running for the play-offs.
But they are just still in it for me. By the skin of their teeth.
They need a major improvement in the final five games, starting with the trip to Kingston Park on Friday.
There were so many more instances of players falling off tackles that they should be making