Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Frustration over Radradra and Tuilagi being starved of the ball for their new clubs

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The first round of the Premiership re-start brought excitement and anticipation around the arrival of two superstars at their new clubs, as Semi Radradra and Manu Tuilagi donned their new colours for the first time.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fans were widely anticipating the Bristol Bears and Premiership debut of Fijian powerhouse Radradra, who arrived at the club from Bordeaux, after his sublime showing at the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

England centre Tuilagi completed a high-profile transfer from Leicester Tigers to Sale over the break, bringing one of the world’s most dominant ball carriers to an already power-packed roster.

Video Spacer

Drew Mitchell on the time he gave Jonny Wilkinson a wedgie.

Video Spacer

Drew Mitchell on the time he gave Jonny Wilkinson a wedgie.

The salivating prospect of both stars drew fans into what turned out to be rather dour clashes as Harlequins downed Sale on Friday night, while Bristol scrapped a hard fought win over Saracens.

Both Tuilagi and Radradra were limited in their involvement with the ball, with fans frustrated at the lack of impetus to use two of the world’s best attacking runners.

https://twitter.com/RobSutton97/status/1294669500747591681

ADVERTISEMENT

Radradra finished with only two runs for six run metres with an unlikely stat line of zero line breaks and zero defenders beaten.

Tuilagi didn’t fare much better with six runs for 19 metres, with no defenders beaten or line breaks.

Wet conditions offered no favours for either outside centre, as errors, penalties and kicking chewed up most of the clock in both matches.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pundits weren’t overly impressed with Tualagi’s first showing, with English scribe Stuart Barnes rating him an “anonymous one”.

“Tuilagi was the most touted of the summer signings yet on Friday night his rugby terror rating on a scale of one to ten against Harlequins wasn’t much more than an anonymous one,” he wrote for The Times.

Sir Ian McGeechan of The Telegraph also surmised that Sale did not use their new weapon enough, saying it “was not the debut we were expecting”.

Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond was up front about the performance of his side, saying they wanted to see some entertaining rugby, but didn’t.

“My team usually gives away seven or eight penalties, so to give away 19 was disappointing. We were shooting blanks. We want to see some entertaining rugby, we certainly didn’t.”

Sale’s loss and Bristol’s win saw the two sides trade spots on the Premiership ladder, with Sale dropping to third and the Bears taking second.

Exeter’s win over Leicester at Sandy Park held their lead in pole position.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster | Autumn Nations Series All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
Search