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#Post#: 64133--------------------------------------------------
What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: Ignoramus
Date: April 21, 2021, 7:57 pm
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I am still not exactly sure what happened after Gustard left, so
I looked at attack and defence stats for three periods - 2019/20
full season, then 2020/21 with Gustard (cancelled game not
included), and 2020/21 without Gustard. I only looked at tries
scored and conceded.
2019/2020, average tries scored per game = 2.9
2020/2021, WITH Gustard, average tries scored per game = 2.8
2020/2021, WITHOUT Gustard, average tries scored per game = 4.5
2019/2020, average tries conceded per game = 2.9
2020/2021, WITH Gustard, average tries conceded per game = 4
2020/2021 WITHOUT Gustard, average tries conceded per game = 3
This seems to suggest that we are now letting in about the same
number of tries as we did in the 2019/20 season, when Gustard
was here, although we were also a bit more leaky at the
beginning of this season when Gustard was still here.
Tries scored per game were similar throughout Gustard's
directorship of the periods shown above, but rose quite a bit
after he left.
So, attack seems to have improved but without defence worsening
after he left. Is that a reasonable (if somewhat obvious)
conclusion to draw?
BUT, conceding about 3 tries a game is probably still a bit high
do you think? In recent years, the teams finishing at the top of
the Premiership tend to have conceded about 1.5 - 2.5 tries per
game (although I'm not sure how to score half a try!). But I
guess conceded tries might go up a bit if teams move on from the
kick-fest.
#Post#: 64134--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: Comet
Date: April 22, 2021, 2:05 am
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That's good, thanks. I think we are being far more effective
with possession, in that we are keeping the ball in hand and
trusting our running game more often. I am not sure if our
possession stats are any higher, nor our territory stats, but we
have definitely been and continue to be more ruthless.
Defensively, we seem to be a lot tougher. Personally speaking, I
now believe that we can keep teams out in the loose or a driving
maul. This is to do with the boys' collective belief as much as
organisation and technique.
#Post#: 64135--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: Quinston Churchill
Date: April 22, 2021, 2:13 am
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I think you’d need to look deeper in to some of the other stats
to really identify the difference in playing style - for
example, number of kicks from hand, number of offloads etc.
Purely from an observational POV, it definitely looks like the
players have a lot more freedom to express themselves and we’re
playing more running rugby.
It also seems that Flannery’s influence has grown which I think
we can definitely see in our lineout/the way our forwards are
playing in general.
Gustard’s biggest single mistake was trying to impose a gameplan
that didn’t fit our players or culture. He didn’t seem to
recognise the strengths of our playing group and instead tried
to turn us in to Saracens 2.0. He also seems to have made a
bunch of enemies along the way ...
That said, I do think he has ultimately left a positive legacy.
His signings have mostly proved to be very good and I hope that
the massive upturn in form since he left has really highlighted
how we should be playing and what to avoid. Hopefully that
influences the choice of our DoR/Head Coach appointment.
#Post#: 64136--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: Comet
Date: April 22, 2021, 2:36 am
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I agree QC. I think Gussy had a sense of the club's style (he
spoke about the Quins DNA quite a lot, particularly in the last
few months) but couldn't or wouldn't allow the players to
deviate from his more controlled vision. I also agree that the
signings were very good in the main.
It is a shame that he made enemies and that he is spoken about
as some sort of pariah or 'he who must not be named'. While I
understand that and some players (like Browny) might have a
legitimate beef, I do still think he was a good bloke trying to
do right by the club.
Since he left, the leading players and the coaches have promoted
bravery over caution, which has shifted our mentality into being
more confident. The next step is to continue to be confident and
back our attacking style in the last 10 minutes of games. Irish
will be a great test of this as they don't go away!!!
#Post#: 64137--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: poorfour
Date: April 22, 2021, 3:10 am
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There's a similar feel to the Deano and post-Deano world, albeit
a bit more extreme. Deano built a squad, brought through youth
and made us hard to beat, which was the platform for COS
unleashing the attacking side of out game.
PG did a lot to rebuild the squad and I agree with the intent of
refreshing the age profile even though I have big issues with
him alienating Mike Brown in the process. Not having Mike will
be an emotional wrench but I think there is enough back 3 talent
in the squad that we could see a successor emerge quite quickly.
I've been repeatedly amazed by how well we've replaced players
we thought irreplaceable and turned up players who might be even
better, and Gustard deserves a decent chunk of the credit for
that.
What he didn't manage, ironically, was to make us hard to beat.
This squad is not as strong defensively as the 2012 squad, and
even the change of regime has only improved it a bit. Maybe next
season the combinations will have bedded in a little better and
we will be tighter in defence. But in attack the shackles are
off and it's fun to watch.
#Post#: 64138--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: sussexquin
Date: April 22, 2021, 3:16 am
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--- Quote from: poorfour link ---
> Not having Mike will be an emotional wrench but I think there
is enough back 3 talent in the squad that we could see a
successor emerge quite quickly. I've been repeatedly amazed by
how well we've replaced players we thought irreplaceable and
turned up players who might be even better, and Gustard deserves
a decent chunk of the credit for that.
>
--- End Quote ---
A bit like when the 'other' Andre left and a young Chris Robshaw
stepped up; I seem to recall it was almost seamless so there is
hope with the known back three talent we have.
#Post#: 64139--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: poorfour
Date: April 22, 2021, 3:22 am
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--- Quote from: sussexquin link ---
>
> A bit like when the 'other' Andre left and a young Chris
Robshaw stepped up; I seem to recall it was almost seamless so
there is hope with the known back three talent we have.
>
--- End Quote ---
And Marcus replacing NEv, Dombrandt replacing Easter, Andre II
finally filling the gap left by JTH. Plus the roles where we've
changed the style of player but lost nothing in the exchange -
Louw for Sinckler, WEv for Robshaw.
#Post#: 64141--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: Brown Bottle
Date: April 22, 2021, 3:35 am
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--- Quote from: poorfour link ---
>
> And Marcus replacing NEv, Dombrandt replacing Easter, Andre II
finally filling the gap left by JTH. Plus the roles where we've
changed the style of player but lost nothing in the exchange -
Louw for Sinckler, WEv for Robshaw.
>
--- End Quote ---
Indeed. It's the backups that we struggle with.
I think NEv's were Jarvis, Clegg and Botica. Any I've missed?
They were certainly a step down on the whole.
#Post#: 64145--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: Quinston Churchill
Date: April 22, 2021, 3:47 am
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Yep. And we’re still struggling on that front.
For example, Herron isn’t quite as bad as he’s sometimes made
out to be (at times he has looked OK), but the drop off from
Marcus is such a gulf in class that, unfortunately, he looks
very, very poor in comparison.
#Post#: 64147--------------------------------------------------
Re: What happened after Gustard?
DIR By: SiB
Date: April 22, 2021, 3:49 am
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He was a control freak by the looks of things and it was his way
or the highway
Very pleased Gustard has gone, and the results on the pitch seem
to show that so are the players and coaches
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