Defence

Quote: Steve May "I wonder if the problem is an attitude one? Every week, even during the recent winning streak, we've had PA (and the fans and players) being really down on themselves and complaining about the performances.

This year we win a game narrowly and it's all "That's not the performance we were looking for, we were disappointing, we need to work harder and smarter". Last year we won a game narrowly and it was "We won, we did what we needed to do, got the win, next week we move on and play again". A big difference in style.

There was much talk last year of the players "writing their own story" and almost every match they looked like they were having a cracking time just playing the game. This year, the same coach and players, and it's like they're pulling teeth, like they've decided their story this year is going to be a dull miserable one and they're hating every moment.

It's supposed to be fun FFS! If I wanted misery I'd watch the news or listen to my work colleagues droning on.

I think it's fixable very quickly. Very quickly indeed. Get the lads to remember how much they enjoy playing rugby. That'll sort 90% of it.'"

They seem to be snatching at balls when passed to them as if they're hot potatoes. It's almost as if PA is giving them a rollicking every week and they are trying too hard. This is a test of PA's man management. Some need rollicking, some need an arm around the shoulder, everybody is different. Like you say they need to relax a bit, remember why they decided to play this game in the first place and think back to the enjoyment they had last year.

On another note I've a work colleague who drones on and has to read out every bit of news so that when I get home there's no point putting the telly on to see what's happened in the world. I look forward to watching a game at the weekend but I'm ending up frustrated seven days a week now! Well, actually six days - I get Saturday off.