It's a 10 Pointer at the Vicarage!

By T
February 10 2006

Having written the preview on a 12 hour flight on Sunday the entire thing was binned on Wednesday following a simple text message “Diamond Gone”. It threw up more questions which have been contemplated on the returning 12 hour flight home: Should Diamond have been made DOR in the first place?

Who is looking after the team now? Have we binned the stick it up the jumper game plan? Will our players be given more freedom to play? If it was player power again over throwing a coach should the players play in red shirts rather than black?

What ever the real reasons behind Diamond’s departure, one thing that we’re all hoping for is a positive reaction from the team. Since November our form has been woeful, injuries have shorn us of key players and it’s been clear for a while that something was very wrong behind the scenes. The rugby has been quite frankly awful and it was apparent that the players and the casual fans thought the same…

The dire 12 -12 draw at the Rec during the Autumn internationals where both sides spent the whole time focusing on set pieces and rolling mauls to the detriment of all other attacking facets should have sounded the warning alarms. You can draw your own conclusions from the similar style game plan both sides had employed and the precarious league positions both find themselves in.

However under the returning Ashton Bath appear to have a spring in their step. The 10 man rugby that has got Bath into a predicament has been replaced with a more progressive style allowing for key decision makers on the pitch to run the game while the huge pack offer up quality ball. The plan offered immediate rewards with a thoroughly deserved win against Wasps where the pack did their job - for the often derided - Walshe and Malone to pull the strings at 9 & 10.

Saracens could welcome back Visage and Yates in what ironically could be the strongest pack we’ve been able to play for sometime. Seymour’s enthusiasm will be missed while the one of the few contact avoiding centres at the club Adam Powell is away with the U19’s. Steffon Armitage looks set to get called up to the bench after getting rave reviews in the A team games this season.

So what of the new Ford era? A new game plan in the style of Bath? An even more open style we were playing at the beginning of the season? Ford doesn’t have time to play around and drastically change things, we need a winning game plan quickly. This is the metaphorical 10 pointer, win and the club have a chance to leap up the table in contention for the final European Cup place. Lose and Sunday evening's league table could have us just 4 points off bottom place, a thought that really doesn’t need questioning.

Teams TBC

Referee : A. Rowden (who obviously has upset someone at the RFU to get this game having had the undoubted pleasure of doing the dire 12-12 draw back at the Rec!)