REFLECTIONS ON VICTORY OVER RACING
“I said after the Glasgow game I didn’t think we were far off, small percentages in most areas which are punished more against the better teams. So we asked for small percentages. Three or four rucks out of 100 make the difference against the better teams. We got that improvement. Our breakdown efficiency was good. At this level the small margins make the difference and that was across the board, barring the set-piece, which was the exception not the norm this week at the lineout. Racing had some exceptional athletes which spooked us a bit. But everywhere else we were on point.
“It is rewarding to know the things we have worked on; power game, defence, breakdown, attack, all came to the fore in front of our home crowd. We met at the start of last week, reflected on the Glasgow game. Ben Curry said he felt we were going in the right direction. It has been three or four weeks since we changed our principles and language. We want to keep going down the way we have set ourselves to. Their belief in what we are doing and the way we are going was proven against Racing. A big relief actually that the things we have put in place does work against good teams.”
NEW CONTRACTS
Du Preezs- “still in negotiations, confident for the most part”
Sit down with Jonny Hill in the next week or two now he is back fit and playing
Talks with Tom Curry well under way and positive
George Ford sat down with Simon Orange last week with George being the marquee player
Christmas Day there will be a few presents
Raffi Quirke- talks going on now he is back fit, he wants to stay, there have been rumours linking him with Harlequins but Raffi has told Al he has not spoken to them, only speaking to us and told his agent that. We want him to stay. We will sit down with him over the next few weeks
LUKE COWAN-DICKIE
“He is playing out of his skin. Things at home are settled, which helps. He is renewed and rejuvenated. The strength in his arm is almost back to full strength which makes a difference in terms of his physicality which you have seen in his carries and at the breakdown. His ability to do it over 80 minutes and he is working like a back-row. His numbers were as high as Ben Curry’s. He is a British and Irish Lion. We had a guy who was almost retired from international rugby two years ago and now we have a prospective Lion on our hands. That is down to him but we can facilitate and create an environment but his drive and motivation to a better person and player is solely down to him.
“Over the summer there was psychological and physical support that he had. We all like to socialise and no-one more son that Luke, he is the life and soul, but he has put his rugby first now. He will still come out but is very much focused on the weekend by way of rugby. His family life with his partner and his boy is good. There are deeper and higher purposes that are driving his performance nowadays. I think he is back to the player he was before the injury. Our scrum functions so well with him, he is a threat off the back of the maul which we saw in the Autumn Internationals. He is doing something no other hookers are currently doing in the Premiership at the moment with his physicality on both sides of the ball. That is a complete player I have described.”
RAFFI QUIRKE
“I thought he forced it in the first couple of games [upon his return from injury], went down some blind alleys wanting to make it happen. Then he has shifted his focus in the last game to be focused on the speed of ball away from the ruck and basics and just letting it happen when the gaps appear for him because he is quick enough and sharp enough to do it. As a result I was really happy with his game management. He looked a much more complete player in his last game. He was happy with it. He has just been wanting it to happen for so long, got injured, came back and forced it. Now it seems he has just taken a breath and it looks easy for him. It would be telling but there is a start coming for him soon.”
INJURY UPDATE
George Ford- went for a scan today (Tuesday) to see what pain medication he may need, either a pill or injection, purely precautionary, no drama, up for selection, feeling his medial ligament slightly which affects kicking from the floor
Tom Curry- could be back for Bristol game (27th December). Stem-cell procedure, that is fairly new, went well, been in this week, feels good in body and mind, long-term benefit to Tom to do the procedure
Nick Schonert- out eight to ten weeks. Played Newcastle game, we were building him up for Racing, increased his loads but the ankle he had his operation on has not reacted well. WillGriff John, who was in for injury dispensation, is now signed through to the end of the season, lucky to have him and played really well against Racing
OTHER NEWS
Christmas lunch at Carrington on Tuesday 17th December, academy lads do a Christmas jingle which is basically a roasting where they can rip into everyone, Secret Santa, a yearbook of Rap, a story of rap through the ages, Al likes his hip-hop
Challenge of playing Exeter- set-piece is strong, kick a lot of contestable kicks, aggressive kicking strategy, dangerous strike runners like Feyi-Waboso and Hodge, tackle dominance is strong, competitive at the breakdown, showed some good resilience against Toulouse, who are playing rugby from a different universe at the moment, their scrum looks strong, keeping the ball quick and shifting point in attack important against a side like Exeter, you don’t really want to get into an arm wrestle with a big, angry, desperate team
Praised Ben Curry for being influential on both sides of the ball and his decision making
Full of praise for Tom Roebuck- lads told Ben Curry to give his man of the match award to Tom as they voted him best player on the field after the game, looked sharp stepping off his outside foot and as always aerially brilliant, multi-faceted player and these new law changes around contesting kicks has highlighted his x-factor and super power which is to climb, compared aerial ability to Liam Williams
Lineout drill could have been better against Racing and their athletic, tall back five of the scrum players spooked us a bit, speed could have been better
Couple of good games and one not so good since the Prem Rugby Cup, still a lot to play for over the Christmas period, key over Christmas is enjoying time with family but then being able to switch back on when you need to
Suggested in the Champions Cup it could be worth to play two games not one when travelling cross-hemisphere
Leaning into our driving maul more considering our set-piece dominance, it is a real weapon of ours that is very effective so why not lean into it more
Hyron Andrews has been running the lineout recently and the lineout has been strong this season
Al has had to change to make the changes recently, had to battle his loyalties as he is a loyal person, necessary changes that have had to take place which his new to him, a bit of growing on that regard, coaching again and back on the field so his language has changed and he is much closer to the players which he is enjoying, change is difficult, takes momentous effort to force the change and then the momentum should carry you on, change has been through the organisation, players have been open to the change and are driving it, everyone has changed
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