Long was good in the main I thought and Manu was poor for long periods.

Agreed.

I bet he doesn't too, and he's had the last laugh! That wasn't my point, but I guess people are in argumentative moods (not aimed at you, btw).

The problem was after the first 20 we were on the backfoot and Long had no chance to shine, early on we looked impressive when moving the ball I thought.

totally agree. Was great to see both our halves taking the ball right to their line then finding runners.

Aye made a refreshing change. We normally do the ugly stuff well and we never today.

Well said, Paul.

Attacking line was deeper as well, giving us more room to work in. That first 10 minute spell was as good as I've seen us play in attack for years.

Absolutely. Which is why what followed was so depressing

Thats when we needed him to take control and move us around the pitch, dictate our exit sets and put himself in good positions to put a good kick in at the end of it. Yes we looked decent in brief spells when close to the line but TBH most teams this weekend looked decent when close to the opposition line. We just didn't get there often enough. One positive was the depth of our attack but we really struggled with the basics for some reason.

In fairnes to Rovers the were on top and we had no room, the pack could have done better although I agree Long could have kicked better.

Thought Radders looked very good, tweeked a hamstring according to his post match interview- hope it is only a minor one? We put ourselves under pressure with the stupid penalties and silly basic errors, coughing up too much possession .

And then the momentum changed by bringing on Dowes and the tempo changed from front foot aggression to back foot passive defence. Agar should have brought on Hame with Moa to keep the tempo going and use Dowes for later in the game when we should have been holding on to the lead we could and should have improved upon. Very bad rotation when Hame could have finished Ogre's work finishing Galea off.

And so it begins...

A similar defensive effort next week and we'll be looking at 50 points against. Success is built on defence and it was this aspect that really disappointed me today. I really find myself wondering again about our levels of fitness. I say it every year. Not sure if Ben Cooper is the answer. Other teams have better line speed and keep it going for much longer.