Five Take Aways From Yesterday

November 17, 2024
  1. Teams Have a Collective Responsibility
    Even before the kick off at Twickenham (aka the Allianz Stadium), the vultures were circling and today I’ve woken up to a lot of comments about poor coaching. We have all worked for average to poor managers and yet the job has been done well, because we have all stood up and done our best.
    Challenge what you feel isn’t working and make things better; don’t just stand there and accept things.
    Allow that one person to be your inspiration – look at how the game came alive when Marcus Smith got the ball!
  2. Cheslin Magic
    We had the priviledge of his talent at Toulouse and I know how much that has inspired not only our current players, but a whole generation who will go into the Academy with memories of his side stepping. A but like all those school kids we saw echoing Jonny Wilkinson’s hand placement before kicking a ball !
    I was surprised to hear that Cheslin has never had a hat trick at international level; he came close last night though…
  3. Never Put Yourself Under Pressure
    I don’t think we will see Marnie Libbok wearing a green and gold shirt again which is a pity; I am sure he just can’t overcome some block he has which is making him tense and not allowing him to play that relaxed fluent game that we have seen in the past. We have all been there in some form or another, albeit on smaller stages, but this doesn’t change that inner doubt we can all have from time to time.
    Doubt can lead us down some very dark paths as well as seriously impact on our performance.
  4. Respect
    I was quite taken aback by seeing a player chewing gum instead of singing the national anthem on Friday night; I hope he has been reminded that when you get picked to play for your country, there are codes of behaviour that are expected.
    Contrast this with our team facing up to the Haka last night; some teams make it all about confronting the ABs during/at the end of their challenge, but we stayed back on our line and gave them the space to entertain the crowd with something which we all look forward to whenever any team plays against the ABs. I have had some lovely comments since from AB supporters which shows how much this was appreciated from their point of view, despite the loss on the night.
  5. Le Flair Francais
    Yes I am completely biased, but I am so proud of our lads. Many supporters were expecting us to lose to the ABs last night, especially with so many first choices unavailable due to injury. We didn’t play at our best and losing Tatafu to injury so early on had a serious impact on the scrum which is normally one of our strong points.
    LBB is electric and it’s such a pleasure to see his face light up in genuine happiness; only 22, we look forward to him growing with the team as we go forward.
    And everything orchestrated by our Captain who nearly got to score when BB had his back to the pitch and probably never for one minute thought anyone would be chasing up that ball ! Expect the unexpected when our Minister of the Interior is on the field !