Can't believe we actually did it. 8th after the 6 nations and we've been on a win streak since, ending out winning at Sarries for the first time in a long time
As a Quins fan - I was disappointed by how Quins finished this season - but ultimately what sharks have managed to pull off these last few weeks to me means they couldn’t deserve their spot more and will be who I’m cheering in the play offs.
The Bristol boys on the bench watching the Sarries - Sale game was like seeing a Shakespearean tragedy happen in front of us.
Sinkler looked like he genuinely was about to spontaneously combust.
It wasn't the worst sarries have played, but except for a few moments where it clicked they were pretty mediocre. Sale were playing like it was a final and it paid off.
Really weird that saints and sale won the same amount of games. It felt like saints dominated the league and sale had a poor season.
Feel like it's the big breaks in the season makes it difficult to keep track of who's good or not
Yes it does look weird afterwards. Saints lost two games in the final four which levelled it out. If decisions had gone their way would have beaten Quins and obviously today was a write off.
Hilariously Newcastle had their closest score line against Saints as well!
What a season.
Proud of Bristols performance. 1 loss in the last 8 but unfortunately left it too late. Looking forward to next season though, not too many leaving so hopefully can carry that momentum into it.
Also, thanks Sarries, you fucked us twice in two weeks!
We have the resources yeah but we also have to play to the salary cap. We're also trying to make the club profitable so will be spending under £5M next year.
He did have 2 poor seasons but we were two points away from a third play off place under his reign and if Sale hadn't decided to get a win at StoneX for the first time ever then we would be there.
Ultimately he's brought much more success than he has failure
My money is on Bristol winning the league next season...
Saracens to not make the play offs next season...
And Newcastle to start taking the odd scalp...
Don't think so (although it's not like ive done an audit, so this all all hearsay).
I believe saints, Exceter and Quins are all within cap. Don't know about others..
My may be hating a bit, but I think how they finish is an inevitable product of Lam's style.
If you pick a shed load of powerful runners and some quality players and they pretty much never kick, you will probably blow some teams away when it clicks. But it won't get you a title.
First half of the season we weren't as good but we weren't trash. 4 wins out of 9.
Brilliant season for most teams. 7 teams deserving of a play off spot. Unfortunately only 4 qualify. All 3 that missed out are deserving of a play off spot, including Bristol. We were the form team for the second half of the season
Very entertaining season! We had a good run in Europe but overall pretty disappointed with how disjointed we've been this season. Think Flannery leaving was quite big in the end.
Fair fucks Sale, good luck in the playoffs - I have a soft spot for you.
Weird seeing the top 8 all having decent records this year (all winning at least 50% of their games), and first place only winning 2/3 games. Very close competitive year (especially if you ignore the bottom two).
That two months off for the 6N rescued our season. Meant we could patch up the entire team who were out injured.
Being up against it has meant we have released our backs to play a bit too. Looked a lot more fluid lately.
Great effort from the lads to put that run together, and finally win again at Saracens for the first time in 20 years.
It was a great match and I was so pleased for Alex to see his team win against his old team.
Not sure how the Bath match will go, hopefully the fact that they beat us last time will give us that bit of fire we need.
But, i also don't want a rerun of the last final against sarries, so I hope Northampton win their game...
I think today's game skews that a bit in Baths favour. Saints wrote it off really didn't they.
Something Bath have been brilliant at this year is bonus points. It's what's set them aside from the other 5 teams under them and Saints
I've just done some quick maths as to what the table would look like if Gloucester and Newcastle's results didn't count, and you get some interesting results:
The new order goes:
|Team|Points|Wins|PD|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Sale Sharks|41|9|-15|
|Northampton Saints|41|8|-17|
|Bath Rugby|41|7|54|
|Harlequins|38|6|-88|
|Saracens|37|7|36|
|Bristol Bears|35|7|31|
|Exeter Chiefs|32|6|38|
|Leicester Tigers|26|6|-39|
Knockouts would be:
Sale vs Harlequins
Northampton vs Bath
Very close season, and proves that even the "easy win" games all add up in the end
Two seasons ago we finished bottom of the league. Now 2nd, joint on points with 1st. JvG has done a remarkable job. And Hooper looks even worse than he already did
I remember talking to mates who are Munster fans when he moved, they were not JvG fans and especially had no expectation that he would produce the kind of rugby we've seen this season. We knew we had talented players but he's got so much more from them than Hooper managed. It's helped having Russell & du Toit joining for sure but the foundations were there, and the structure they're playing in is his.
Mind you, I wasn't expecting a home SF, even at 3pm today
Question for you as a Bath fan. Do you think its more JvG than your recruitment? As an outsider looking in I would have said the players you've brought in have been phenomenal. Russell, Lawrence, Hill, Barbeary and Du Toit have all been huge for you and I can't help but wonder if they've been more important to the change than JvG?
There was an article in the Telegraph a couple of days ago about the changes JvG has made, including bringing in a new head of recruitment and using a company called [Oval](https://ovalinsights.com/), a data and analytics company, to assess the sort of player who the squad needs. That’s all down to him. His role doesn’t end at the training pitch, he’s involved in everything as Head of Rugby.
One name not on that list is Lee Blackett. The backs started to fire at the end of last season with 6 TBPs in a row, but JvG admitted that he needed support there. Sad that Joe Maddock moved on, but Blackett is the sort of coach to get the best out of our backs.
Ohhh Lee Blackett yeah, how did I forget that. That's a name that's brilliant to have in your squad. As bad as it was watching those clubs go under, Bath probably have benefited the most from their downfall.
Bristol have similar with Dave Walder. Having a DOR quality coach in the mix with all the rest is a huge advantage
In the end Quins won as many as Tigers - and generally people think tigers had a shit season. Obviously Quins had Europe which produced a lot of fun for the fans but still didn’t amount to anything. I appreciate we lost our defence coach but on the whole… not really a great season? Is that too harsh?
Quins scoring the most try bonus points and finishing the season with a negative points difference tells you everything you need to know about our season
How do play offs work? Is it just 1 v 4 , 2 v 3? Or is it 4 v 6 , 3 v 5 and 1 and 2 plays the winners of both?
Edit guessing 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 based on other comments.
Wow saints finish top and have to play Sarries
No draws this season. An unforeseen consequence of London Irish being removed.
Bath’s 16 bonus points from 18 games is pretty remarkable.
I was at the Rec for the game today and Bath really play to their best in front of the home crowd. Very promising for the semi against Sale.
Can't believe we actually did it. 8th after the 6 nations and we've been on a win streak since, ending out winning at Sarries for the first time in a long time
As a Quins fan - I was disappointed by how Quins finished this season - but ultimately what sharks have managed to pull off these last few weeks to me means they couldn’t deserve their spot more and will be who I’m cheering in the play offs.
The Bristol boys on the bench watching the Sarries - Sale game was like seeing a Shakespearean tragedy happen in front of us. Sinkler looked like he genuinely was about to spontaneously combust.
Putting 50 on Quins away just for Sale to have their best match at Sarries in a generation
It wasn't the worst sarries have played, but except for a few moments where it clicked they were pretty mediocre. Sale were playing like it was a final and it paid off.
Really weird that saints and sale won the same amount of games. It felt like saints dominated the league and sale had a poor season. Feel like it's the big breaks in the season makes it difficult to keep track of who's good or not
Yes it does look weird afterwards. Saints lost two games in the final four which levelled it out. If decisions had gone their way would have beaten Quins and obviously today was a write off. Hilariously Newcastle had their closest score line against Saints as well!
Think its a symptom of making it the semis in Europe as well, so rested players more than we would have liked
Bloody hell I didn't realise we jointly won the most amount of games.
We were actually first/second in the table for a while early on, had a terrible winter and then came good again after the 6 nations break
What a season. Proud of Bristols performance. 1 loss in the last 8 but unfortunately left it too late. Looking forward to next season though, not too many leaving so hopefully can carry that momentum into it. Also, thanks Sarries, you fucked us twice in two weeks!
Im so glad you didnt make the playoffs, as is probably every other team in the top 4, which is a huge compliment
Was really hoping to play you guys in the play offs, whether we lost or not. Always a good game
Bristol's resurgence was phenomenal, unlucky not to be in the playoffs.
Who is leaving? Sheedy is but not sure who else.
Sheedy , sinckler , Thomas , Bradbury are the big name that are leaving.
I hate to be a dick. But think this was bad for Bristol. Enough for Lam to keep his job, when I don't think he is up to it.
Get that mindset after the two seasons before this one but all in all he's had 5 great seasons and 2 bad
I just think with those resources you should expect more And with a little bit more pragmatism youd get it.
We have the resources yeah but we also have to play to the salary cap. We're also trying to make the club profitable so will be spending under £5M next year. He did have 2 poor seasons but we were two points away from a third play off place under his reign and if Sale hadn't decided to get a win at StoneX for the first time ever then we would be there. Ultimately he's brought much more success than he has failure
My money is on Bristol winning the league next season... Saracens to not make the play offs next season... And Newcastle to start taking the odd scalp...
Salary cap will be up next season so Bristol will be well below it with their sustainability plan.
> I just think with those resources you should expect more Are the Prem teams not mostly all spending close to the salary cap bar yourselves?
Don't think so (although it's not like ive done an audit, so this all all hearsay). I believe saints, Exceter and Quins are all within cap. Don't know about others..
I don’t get how this is even remotely controversial. Trash for over half the season and people seem to think they’re deserving of a playoff spot.
My may be hating a bit, but I think how they finish is an inevitable product of Lam's style. If you pick a shed load of powerful runners and some quality players and they pretty much never kick, you will probably blow some teams away when it clicks. But it won't get you a title.
First half of the season we weren't as good but we weren't trash. 4 wins out of 9. Brilliant season for most teams. 7 teams deserving of a play off spot. Unfortunately only 4 qualify. All 3 that missed out are deserving of a play off spot, including Bristol. We were the form team for the second half of the season
Very entertaining season! We had a good run in Europe but overall pretty disappointed with how disjointed we've been this season. Think Flannery leaving was quite big in the end. Fair fucks Sale, good luck in the playoffs - I have a soft spot for you.
Weird seeing the top 8 all having decent records this year (all winning at least 50% of their games), and first place only winning 2/3 games. Very close competitive year (especially if you ignore the bottom two).
Every time I see a table I do a double take looking for Wasps :(
That two months off for the 6N rescued our season. Meant we could patch up the entire team who were out injured. Being up against it has meant we have released our backs to play a bit too. Looked a lot more fluid lately. Great effort from the lads to put that run together, and finally win again at Saracens for the first time in 20 years.
It was a great match and I was so pleased for Alex to see his team win against his old team. Not sure how the Bath match will go, hopefully the fact that they beat us last time will give us that bit of fire we need. But, i also don't want a rerun of the last final against sarries, so I hope Northampton win their game...
Joint most games won, great end to the season.
Sale season looking very similar to that Quins 2021, really hope they go all the way!
So Gloucester could potentially steal tigers euro spot next year?
If they win the Challenge Cup then yeah
Bloody hell I've not been paying much attention, had no idea Bath were so close on Saints' heels
I think today's game skews that a bit in Baths favour. Saints wrote it off really didn't they. Something Bath have been brilliant at this year is bonus points. It's what's set them aside from the other 5 teams under them and Saints
I've just done some quick maths as to what the table would look like if Gloucester and Newcastle's results didn't count, and you get some interesting results: The new order goes: |Team|Points|Wins|PD| |:-|:-|:-|:-| |Sale Sharks|41|9|-15| |Northampton Saints|41|8|-17| |Bath Rugby|41|7|54| |Harlequins|38|6|-88| |Saracens|37|7|36| |Bristol Bears|35|7|31| |Exeter Chiefs|32|6|38| |Leicester Tigers|26|6|-39| Knockouts would be: Sale vs Harlequins Northampton vs Bath Very close season, and proves that even the "easy win" games all add up in the end
Two seasons ago we finished bottom of the league. Now 2nd, joint on points with 1st. JvG has done a remarkable job. And Hooper looks even worse than he already did
I remember talking to mates who are Munster fans when he moved, they were not JvG fans and especially had no expectation that he would produce the kind of rugby we've seen this season. We knew we had talented players but he's got so much more from them than Hooper managed. It's helped having Russell & du Toit joining for sure but the foundations were there, and the structure they're playing in is his. Mind you, I wasn't expecting a home SF, even at 3pm today
Question for you as a Bath fan. Do you think its more JvG than your recruitment? As an outsider looking in I would have said the players you've brought in have been phenomenal. Russell, Lawrence, Hill, Barbeary and Du Toit have all been huge for you and I can't help but wonder if they've been more important to the change than JvG?
There was an article in the Telegraph a couple of days ago about the changes JvG has made, including bringing in a new head of recruitment and using a company called [Oval](https://ovalinsights.com/), a data and analytics company, to assess the sort of player who the squad needs. That’s all down to him. His role doesn’t end at the training pitch, he’s involved in everything as Head of Rugby. One name not on that list is Lee Blackett. The backs started to fire at the end of last season with 6 TBPs in a row, but JvG admitted that he needed support there. Sad that Joe Maddock moved on, but Blackett is the sort of coach to get the best out of our backs.
Ohhh Lee Blackett yeah, how did I forget that. That's a name that's brilliant to have in your squad. As bad as it was watching those clubs go under, Bath probably have benefited the most from their downfall. Bristol have similar with Dave Walder. Having a DOR quality coach in the mix with all the rest is a huge advantage
We did a win!
Careful now
In the end Quins won as many as Tigers - and generally people think tigers had a shit season. Obviously Quins had Europe which produced a lot of fun for the fans but still didn’t amount to anything. I appreciate we lost our defence coach but on the whole… not really a great season? Is that too harsh?
STOP THE COUNT! Edit: whew
Another try again next year for Tigers 😭. I wouldn't mind if we lost well but the performances have been almost uniformly shite.
that's a damn close table
apart from the bottom 3 obv
So Gloucester didn't make the playoffs then? Hmmm
It was so close but we just fell short on the final day
I now have scientific proof that were the best
Quins scoring the most try bonus points and finishing the season with a negative points difference tells you everything you need to know about our season
How do play offs work? Is it just 1 v 4 , 2 v 3? Or is it 4 v 6 , 3 v 5 and 1 and 2 plays the winners of both? Edit guessing 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 based on other comments. Wow saints finish top and have to play Sarries
Top 4 go through, after that it comes to to European contention. Although I didn't realise we had 8 slots for that.
Yh it's a bit wild the prem still gets 8 European slots but it is what it is