Our Warriors 2016/2017

Our Warriors 2016/2017
Our Warriors 2016/2017

Saturday 26 November 2016

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

Sunday 20 November 2016

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 4th 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 2nd 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 1st 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 78th 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.



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 10th.  Between us and 6th 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 10th before the year is out?



Why not? I say we will face Harlequins on New Years Day in 10th 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

Saturday 12 November 2016

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.


Friday 28 October 2016

A Few Things to Get Off My Chest

We are heading back into Premiership action this week and there are a few topics I have not covered, maybe they do not justify a full blog but together I thought it could be an interesting talking point.

Can we do it twice in as many seasons?



I was lucky enough to be invited to a corporate box at the Stoop last season.  I was the token Warriors fan brought along for entertainment.  The main guy in the box was very confident in his team and certain a bonus point win was coming their way.  The impartial guests were of a similar opinion and could not see how "plucky" Worcester could get anything from the game. 

By the end of the game, my host was the only person in the box not cheering us on - we fully deserved that away win, though Quins fans may argue that GJ's try was a bit controversial.

Personally I think we can do this 14-23 COYW!

Shillcock enters the senior squad 

Finally we hear that one of this seasons surprise packages has been promoted to and signed for the Warriors senior team.  I do not need to explain why this is good news.  He has been outstanding this season.  I just hope the return of Chris doesn't end this guy's run of games.



Personally I would be playing him at 10, especially with Heathcote out for probably a month now following that "tackle" against Brive.

Brive "Red Card"

Am I the only one that cannot see how this helps us?  The citing panel agree with the crowd on the day that this should have been a straight red.  We lost our 10.  They lost nothing and went on to win the game. 

We now have to replace Heathcote in the near future - Brive and more importantly Johan Snyman seem to have got off very lightly.  The 5 week ban indicates a medium severity BUT he will be back in time to play against us in the return fixture.  This cannot be right, surely?

I have a crazy thought - a citing for a red - the next fixture against that team (in this case our trip to their place in the Euro cup) they should lose a player from the minute that the citied player should have got their red.  Balances out for both teams then.  They should also have their ban, this is not instead of.

"Warrior" players getting local recognition

I guess the "players" should have been in quote marks too.  Great to see Valkyries getting recognition with Bianca Blackburn, Chelsea Parker from the HITZ programme and then Cooper Vuna as sports personality of the year - all in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sports Awards 2016.

Just based on personality Coops would win this hands down.  Add his Warriors performances and we have a no brainer.  He will need votes though - http://www.sportspartnershiphw.co.uk/vote-for-spoty-2016

Ongoing injuries

This is getting silly now.  How many guys do we need to sign as injury cover?  Having waited for what feels like months for Hougaard to return, he comes back injured.



I did see somebody suggest JBB return.  First off, congratulations to him having become a Dad recently.  Secondly please do not even consider him.  He played some great games for us, but having not found another premiership club or Pro 12 club or Top 14 side to sign for I am certain there is something about him that top clubs do not fancy.  I also do not think he bought into the 5 year plan then and would not fit into the club now. 

Ben T'eo

I am pretty sure that I am the only person to think this, but here we go - He still has not displayed anything near what I was expecting.

Olivier is still playing his socks off.  If not for Perry and Shilly grabbing the headlines then this man would be in every story related to our club.  My man of the season so far!

Chris Pennell is back

We missed Chris.  He came straight back into the 15 slot like he had never been out of it.  It is not just his playing that we miss, it is also his leadership on the pitch.  I am sure he will help in the final 20 of the game against Quins and help us get another away win.

When is Charity not Charity?

I do read some funny things on the internet, but nothing quite like this for a while:

The Facebook group for WRSC actually had a thread where a very vocal member complained about the new WRSC badges:



These badges are bought and sold with the intention of raising money for the Warriors ASEE programme.  This is a scheme that brings young adults / teenagers from the surrounding area into the rugby environment to see if they can make it as players.  The parents however need to support them in staying in the local area - this is where the badge comes in - buy a badge for £5 and 100% of the profit goes straight to ASEE.

The objection came when this particular member took offence to this being declared as charity.

Definition of Charity:
""the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need.


Wayland's Yard

I crowd funded and was involved in the decision for the WRSC to crowd fund also, I then attended the "soft launch" man I have bought into this idea.  The place is great.  I do not drink coffee.  I don't even like the smell very much but Sam and his team have catered for that…. Their tea is amazing!



I finally have a place to visit for a weekly treat that does not involve beer, though they sell that too.

The new £1 pint pots

Seem to be working, though once they have been washed a couple of times the edge seems to get a bit thin / sharp.  This does not happen with the ones I have from other grounds, so for me the jury is still out.

Two pint jugs


How did I not see these until I was about to leave.  The big problem for me with the old two pint pots was cold hands in the winter - this would seem to me as the perfect solution.  Looking forward to giving them a go!

Wednesday 19 October 2016

European (Russian) Rugby Taking a Back Seat

So, this weekend the Warriors were in Europe, well Russia and the club have clearly nailed our European intentions on the mast - it is not important.  So if the club feel that way then I will take a break from blogging about them and turn my attention to the Valkyries this week.


                               Sam Bree scoring

With the absence of a Warriors fixture it was great to head to Sixways on Sunday with my 2 youngest and get involved.

You may know that I am the kind of person that likes to be part of things and not just sit by and watch them happen, well hopefully my kids have inherited that personality trait too.

Having played tag rugby that morning at Malvern we turned up muddy and a bit tired, but we had jobs to do.

First up - sell match day programmes.



Now sadly the crowds at Valkyries games are less than at an A league game, but that certainly did not put off the team.  I am a bit perplexed about the attendance.  There were a few parents and family members, a handful of girls in rugby kit and maybe half a dozen men that I have seen at Warriors games - that was it. 

It's free! 

Ever wanted to get a girl interested in rugby?

Think your neighbour might fancy a couple of hours out?

What to do an age grade rugby social event that will only cost parents a cone of chips and a bottle of coke?

We (all rugby fans) need to embrace this sport.  In the most part the rugby is outstanding.  With professional standard coaching and facilities, it is only going to get better too.

The first half was not pretty.  The Valkyries were playing with the wind in their faces and that final ball or clever little move just seemed to fall short of excellence each time.

In part it was the bad kicking from them that kept us in the game going into half time.  Something needed to change and though she was not the only improvement, brining Heather Fisher on for the 2nd half was an inspired move.



If you follow me on Twitter @rugbyworcs then you will know I was pretty impressed by this try.

Aidan started reminiscing when she "bashed the Japanese players" at the Olympics.  I'm not sure if you watched the Olympic ladies 7's but there was some great rugby on show and Fisher left a lasting impression on my son.  He was so happy when he finally twigged that she is a Worcester player.

We also ran the East Stand lines with the team acting as ball boys and girl.  It is probably the first time my daughter has paid attention for an entire game.



Lets hope she was inspired and not just buzzing from the Diet Coke treat she had!

There is one thing that became clear to me on Sunday, our city needs to get behind the Valkyries.  Their style of rugby is exciting, their skills are evident, their passion, explosive attacks and determination in defence all make for a great rugby spectacle.

The details on the website are not great and there is no ability to forward plan watching their games thanks to venue details being omitted, but why not stick some of these dates in your diary and join Me, Aidan and Daisy in supporting the Worcester Valkyries?



Friday 7 October 2016

Tigers vs Warriors - What do I expect?


Watching the game between Bath and Sale it occurred to me… we are not really that bad.




These are teams that we have already played. Did either of them make us look bad? I have not researched this claim, but I am pretty sure we have never won at the Rec and we drew with Sale.


It wasn't our finest hour but we have played a lot worse

There were more than a few players that thought Sale was a bad game. Was it? Should they not consider playing a yo-yo club like Worcester as an expected 4 points?



If you have read any of my previous blogs then you will know that my glass is very much half full, so there will be no shock that I think there are signs of greatness coming out of Sixways.

We have a massive challenge coming this weekend and even I cannot see past our biggest hope being a losing bonus point.

Tigers are 4th and we are 3rd from bottom the is a 5 point gap. That is a gap that, as I may have mentioned before, would only be 1 if only we had an 80% kicker

Although, is asking for  80%  asking too much?

Tigers do have an 80% kicker, but table toppers Wasps fall short of the "magic" number




So if our kicking is not going to win the game, what will?



This man should be able to make an impact for us.  But will he?

On showing so far he has fallen short, is that down to his summer injury? Is he struggling to hit Premiership rugby Speed?

I'm not sure, what I do know is that Olivier and Willison have been outstanding this season and they 100% deserve their starting positions and could well be our difference against the Tigers.

Come On You Warriors!

Saturday 1 October 2016

Worcester need a new 10 I hear you say?

But do we?  Do we really need a new 10 or do we just need to find that kicking accuracy of the Championship final?



Fissler and some of the actual press have been reporting that we are in a battle with Harlequins for the signature of New Zealand fly half Aaron Cruden.  There were even reports that we were willing to pay him £700k per season.  Now I would love this, I think he is an exceptional player and to get the opportunity to watch him would be worth a £40 match ticket, but and this is a big BUT - It is never going to happen.

Carl Hogg was interviewed about it, basically saying he would love somebody "like" him and that we are always looking for talent "like" him.  If we were really in the race the club would shout it from the roof tops.  Further to this, though today [Saturday 1st October] it is reported that French clubs are will to offer: $1,54m per year!  The 80+ responses on COYW to this possible signing balked at the thought of £700k how about we double that as without top European rugby we would have pay through the nose for his signature.

So we are faced with the thought that if we average 8,000 per home game for 17 home games £11 of each and every ticket would go towards his wages.

Or we invest in the kicking talent we already have.

Back in March 2012 a young talented 20 year old fly half was given an unlikely opportunity - Stephen Donald, New Zealand world cup winner picked up an injury, Bath fans were crying out that a new 10 was needed, up steps Tom Heathcote.



Brad Davis the Bath backs coach at the time was quoted saying that he does make mistakes but he will enthrall and score points [sounds a bit like Lamb].

Do we expect too much from our play makers at Sixways?

Do we compare all that follow Goode to a man that set records everywhere he played?

Should we give our guys more of a chance or is that something we cannot afford?

The Inverness born 24 year old has played for Scotland, having played age grade rugby for England and has played for Bath and Edinburgh, so he is clearly not a novice.  In the same way Grove went North to further his international hopes, Tom came back to England looking to re-build his professional career.  He has already played more games for us and scored more points for us than he did for Edinburgh.

This season he has played 121 minutes, scored 10 points [6.6 per game] with a kick success rate of 67%

Compared to Lamb, who has played 199 minutes, scored 17 [6.85 per game] points with a kick success rate of 54%

They are pretty similar, one thing that separates them [and may well be why Tom starts against Falcons Sunday] is their tackle stats: Tom is 86% whilst Lamb is only 74%

























Only looking at this season there are some clear signs: Lamb is the more attacking fly half of the two and Heathcote the more stable or secure.  Lamb must have a league record for bad passes and I can see where the Falcons view of "some players that cannot defend" comes from with Ryan missing 7 tackles and being turned over 5 times this season already.

Heathcote seems to make better ground and have better distribution as his statistics are better than Lamb's even though he has had less game time this season.

The big problem is the place kicking.  We have already seen that kicking better than 74% in a game makes the difference between a loss and a draw or even a loss and a win.  Both Gloucester and Sale games would have been home victories for us if only we have kicked >74% on the day.


I'm not sure who can help Lamb with his missed tackles as it seems to have been part of his game his entire career.

In our last Championship season we got Paul Grayson in to help with kicking.  The season we were relegated he was brought in to improve Pennell and Lamb's kicking [Seems a common requirement].

So where is he now?  Surely by now we must have been on the phone to him asking for some more of his kicking magic?  It would appear he is a coach for hire, so get him hired!  Book Him Here

Bring in Grayson, he could help Tom and Ryan with their immediate need - get the kicking to >74% but he could also work with some of our future kickers, or even back up kicks like Shillcock, Eden and Pennell.

I have no idea how much he costs but if he can bridge the gap between 64% and 74% then he would have already been worth 2 victories over 2 draws.  I am also sure he would cost less than Aaron Cruden.

Invest in the players we have got, the club need to do it with time and money, we as fans need to do it with support at the ground.  Just a 10% improvement and we will get much needed wins, starting this weekend.

And finally....


September has been a busy month.  Sam Smith having retired from the club is crowd funding his way to opening the brightest coffee spot in the city.  Outgoing WRSC Chairman, Darren is pictured above with the supporters committee donation of £250.  Take a look Here and make sure you start visiting when the place opens later this month.

A big thank you to Darren Birch who after more than 5 years as WRSC Chairman has stood down and given the seat to Bob Low.


Good luck Bob [he is the one on the left] I am looking forward to seeing where we take the supporters committee under your leadership.

If you would like to get involved with the WRSC or see what we do take a look Here