Watching the game back, the Lees shot on Thompson looked really bad, and I expect he'll be sitting down for a while. And again, on a second look, no complaints about Byrne either. I think criticism of our halves is a bit harsh; they never had a platform provided by our pack. As posters have said, it's a good job we have plenty of props, because we are going to need them.

Which Lees one? Not the one right before the Dupree one? Just watched it and literally nothing in it.

Are you mad? It was a brilliant hit by Lees. Not a chance that’s even looked at.

For which tackle?

The tackle before the Dupree yellow was head on head. Will depend what mood the MRP are in but wouldn't shock me if he was banned for a couple of games

I’ve just watched it there’s literally no evidence of head contact at all. There was body contact which bumped Thompson off and the heads are close but on the replay they show, there’s no definitive contact.

Thats not to say that another angle doesn’t show it. But on what SKY showed, Lees has no case to answer.

Best team won. Our discipline was poor and too many errors.
Not seen the Byrne incident again but at the time I thought the tackle was fine.
I thought that O’Neil had a good game but I couldn’t understand why Leeming played so few minutes.
I’m mystified why we pick a forward on the bench then he doesn’t get any game time. If I was Nsemba I’d be livid. I wouldn’t give a shiny shoite about other players or how finely balanced the game was. If I’m on the bench I’d expect no I’d demand minutes on the pitch. Time to step up Junior.
Our weaknesses so far this season is a backrow that is almost non existent from an attacking point of view and we are particularly weak in defending high balls in our defensive corners.
Our passing doesn’t have that crispness from last year but hopefully will improve over the next few months.
I’m normally distraught after a loss to Saints but today I’m quite calm about it.
Havard, Walters and Cooper will add a lot of size and power when they return which we will need to really take on the Saints pack. I thought that Thompson did ok today but he was taking on the Saints pack almost alone at times.
I want us to beat Cas and Saints to beat Wire in the CC then be drawn together in the SF. Let’s see how that one goes.
Field was poor despite his early tackle on Dodds to avoid a first half try for Saints. Not sure what’s up with him but attacking wise he’s almost anonymous at the moment and his handling today was particularly poor.
Unsure on Saints possession percentage but it must have been huge particularly in the first half. The current Saints are anything but entertainers and if we can cut out the errors and poor discipline I’m pretty confident that we turn the tables next time when we meet.
A disappointing performance but I expect the players and coaching team will turn it around.
I anticipate Byrne and Dupree to miss the Leyth game which will probably lead to another defeat but when we have our long term injured players back i still think that we will be competing for all the silverware.

‘It’s direct contact with the head, there are no mitigating factors. It’s a red card.’

Changes the game at that point.

Aye, nowt in it.

Felt it was a weird game today. I thought we looked comfortable for most of the day and the game was there for the taking but you can’t give so many penalties away and make so many errors and expect to come through. I respect Saints massively and always felt beating them to any trophy this season will be a challenge (as it will be the other way) but I probably feel more confident of doing that after today. We’ve got loads of improvement in us.

Not watched it back.

Think saints were the better side on the 80 mins.

Felt like we were well on top just before the red card, they couldn’t handle us at the time, the away end was going wild.

Both teams are the best in the league by a mile.

I wasn’t convinced on Luke Thompson but by god he was immense today.

I also wouldn’t swap Brad O’Neill for anyone in SL

Thompson was absolutely sensational I thought, in fact it’s only fair him and Walmsley aren’t at the same club anymore because both were scary good. I agree on O’Neill, I’m sick of him not getting the praise he deserves now. He should be Englands hooker for my money. He absolutely walloped any Saints player that went near him. He is a special talent.

Nsemba should have been on the minute we scored, gone for the jugular, we were crying out for an offload game to break them down

Agree with this. More confident after yesterday that we'll add to our silverware this season.

Small moments in the game went their way; the Lees tackle not being picked up, then a tackle later Dupree being sin binned. The video ref recommending a yellow, but Kendall choosing red on Byrne. And don't get me started on the penalties and six agains in the first 40.

The above coupled with we're way off at the moment, makes me optimistic. I felt similar after the Good Friday derby at their place in 2022; we competed well but they were too strong on the day. A few weeks later we turned them over to get to Tottenham.

As a neutral watching the game and wishing my shower played with that much intensity.Was some absolute cracking tackles.The got the Dupree one right as Lees had just slipped and he caught him on the chest then rode up so yellow fair….was a couple by Sts that was debateable and the Byrne one was a red
under the new guidlines.All teams have had less tackles punished than Byrnes.Was Field carrying a knock as he just didnt look right and not his usual zip.