More decisions for Redpath before Sarries game
By Cherry Picker
November 9 2010
The life of a coach, in rugby and every other team game, is centred on his decisions. From the minor ones to the major ones, they all have an effect on the fortunes of his team, and Gloucester's Bryan Redpath faces quite a big one to ponder this week as he and his players prepare for the LV= Cup game at home to Saracens on Saturday.
There are two theories concerning the LV= Cup – should a team like Glaws treat it as the third-tier competition it undoubtedly is, or should they go into every game the same as they would a big Premiership battle, with the strongest possible team determined to win?
Defeat at Newport-Gwent Dragons last weekend didn’t help, and now Redpath has to send a team out against one of his Premiership rivals after deciding whether it’s more important to win or to test the strength in depth of his squad.
Judging by last weekend’s result, that strength isn’t up to the level Redpath would want it to be, but perhaps he feels the fringe players need another chance to prove their worth.
A lot will perhaps depend on the sort of side Sarries will field, of course, and that makes BR’s decision an even more difficult one before Glaws return o the bread and butter of the Premiership against Newcastle a week later.
The LV= Cup will never rival the likes of the Heineken Cup, of course, but while there is a school of thought that says it should be used to give developing players a chance to do exactly that, develop, others say that a team like Glaws should try to win every game they play.
You pay your money and you takes your choice – and that’s what Redpath has to do before Saturday.
Glaws could, of course, have won at Rodney Parade and Redpath hit the nail on the head when he said after the game that they lost because of simple handling errors.
He told the Citizen: "The whole game we were sloppy.
"How many times did we drop the ball, or execute poorly? That just allowed the Dragons a sniff.
"With field position in the second half, we didn't give ourselves a chance to threaten their line until the last ten minutes.
"Fair play to the Dragons, they hung in. But part of this is a good learning curve for the young lads too.
"The youth sometimes is great, but you need games like that to learn from it.”
Sarries drew their LV= game 22-22 with Northampton last weekend, and claim they were unlucky not to win it with a side which, like Glaws, featured a handful of developing players.
The Royal british legion will be selling poppies at the game, the match ball is due to be delivered by parachute by the Royal Logistics a couple of hours before the kick-off and there will a minute’s Remembrance silence before the kick-off.
Hopefully, once the match starts there will be plenty to make a noise about.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:11:10:12:12:03 by Dannyinnit.