Nottingham Rugby 41 Coventry Rugby 26 - Archers on target as Coventry's frailties exposed again

All around me are familiar faces

Worn out places, worn out faces

Bright and early for their daily races

Going nowhere, going nowhere

Their tears are filling up their glasses

No expression, no expression

Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow

No tomorrow, no tomorrow

...I find it hard to tell you

I find it hard to take

When people run in circles

It's a very, very mad world, mad world

Mad World - Gary Jules

Mention Norman Collier to anyone who remembers the 70s, and they'll probably think of his 'faulty microphone' act. In this popular routine, the beloved comedian spoke to his audience through a mic that only worked sporadically, leading to a performance where much was missing and barely made any sense at all.

And at times it was completely incomprehensible...

...which is exactly the misfortune the public address announcer suffered for most of the afternoon over at Lady Bay yesterday.

And, by a strange quirk of fate, Coventry's performance against Nottingham closely reflected his off-field remarks - mostly baffling and sometimes completely unintelligible.

Coventry's play was often confusing, leaving their traveling fans both puzzled and perplexed as to how their current form has declined so sharply in recent games (excluding Ealing).

Nottingham's decisive victory serves as a strong reminder, if one is necessary, that despite all Coventry Rugby's current discussions regarding Premiership rugby and multi-million-pound renovations to the ground, without a team capable of winning these kinds of games, ultimately it all means very little.

The sad reality is that yesterday we were a pretty poor second. A million miles away from Championship winning form, let alone competing in the play-offs for a place in the Prem.

Light years away in fact.

First though, Nottingham deserve plenty of credit for the manner in which they approached the game. From the very first whistle they played with a pace and tempo that seemed to catch us completely unawares, taking quick taps and short kicks over and between our defensive line which we struggled to counter.

And on a pitch that was wet and sticky, their backs looked pacy and elusive whilst ours seemed sluggish and all too predictable.

From the onset it was abundantly clear that Nottingham's coaches had done their homework on us, opting to avoid engaging our forwards head on, preferring instead to spin the ball out wide or dink it over the top to allow the likes of Williams and Olowofela to create havoc amongst our scrambling defence.

Whilst it was clear to all from the start what the Nottingham game plan was, Cov seemed unable to counter it all game and it was no surprise to read in The Rugby Paper this morning Nottingham's Head Coach, Craig Hammond, comment that this was all very much pre-planned:

'When we usually play against Cov they dictate the pace and take us on physically, so today we decided to play at our pace and some of the stuff we did came off'.

And some...

Earlier in the week, Nick Johnston had accepted that Cov had been 'found out' at Pirates a couple of weeks earlier and so it was again yesterday. We looked devoid of any real spark of creativity for much of the game and despite all the backs' best efforts, I'm struggling to remember a clear line break.

It was left to prop Stevie Longwell's surprising turn of pace to lead the way in the second half with a thumping run that almost led directly to a score (Longwell played his last game for us yesterday so Cov will be scouring the leagues for another tighthead this week I imagine).

I do have plenty of sympathy for the starting front 5 who actually were pretty competitive for most of the game. The set pieces worked well. Cov had the upper hand in the scrums, until the front row was replaced, and the lineout was very solid, altogether displaying a quicker tempo than of late and providing a solid base from which to counter.

Not only that, three of Cov's four scores came from mauled tries (the other being an interception from inside our 40m line). The forwards worked hard to get us back into the game but at the moment we just don't seem to have either the creativity or the firepower amongst the backs to unlock well-organised defensives, as was the case with Nottingham yesterday.

Hammond will have had a far more enjoyable weekend than Alex Rae for sure and whilst the Nottingham Head Coach deserves the plaudits for overseeing yesterday's win, I did find his pre-match comment regarding Coventry a little unnecessary given he seemed to attach more enjoyment from a Coventry loss than a Nottingham win:

'We know Coventry are strong and have made their ambitions very clear to everyone with their promotion application, so it would give me a lot of pleasure to put another dent in their season'

It isn't something I'd imagine AR to say - when talking about the opposition, he always comes across as someone who is generous in his comments, win or lose.

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Lady Bay, home to Nottingham RFC, isn't perhaps the most comfortable of grounds to watch a game of rugby but it does have a certain old school charm about it. There are two main stands along one side of the pitch and a couple of covered smaller standing areas opposite but at least half of the 1900 plus who attended were exposed to the elements. It's pretty basic and for a decent crowd the toilet facilities are really poor.

However, it's an authentic rugby ground, one that screams out honesty and core values, with additional pitches for junior/community rugby and a covered area for folk to drink/eat in that creates a really good pre-match buzz. There are no bag checks and no attempt to stop you bringing in your own food and drink and with no obvious monopoly on food vendors either.

Josh enjoyed his burger and awarded it the same mark as for our previous visit earlier in the season (tbf he'd not remember his previous score), so the standings remain as follows:

1. Caldy - 9

2. Cambridge - 8.5

3. Leicester - 7.5

4. Coventry - 7

5. Nottingham - 6

6. Ampthill - 5.5

7. London Scottish - 5

The ground has had a little work done on it since we were last there (for the Cup game back in November) - the walkways around the edge of the pitch have been improved, although areas where you're forced to leave the paths to go behind the gantry soon became muddy and would be a bit of a hazard to anyone a little unsteady on their feet.

Flooding there is always a potential issue given its proximity to the river but when their team play as well as they did yesterday, I imagine the supporters don't give a damn about the muddied trousers and soaking shoes. And nor should they. We might be fully professional and have one of the best grounds in the league, but on days like yesterday it all counts for very little. Rugby can be a great leveller at times. Whether there's anything in the fact that our two poorest performances of the season have been on wet grass pitches is unclear but it's worth a mention anyway. Thinking about it, Caldy and Ampthill proved tricky too.

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Against Ealing just a week ago, it was no real surprise that the difference between the two sides was Ealing's ability to bring players off the bench that were as good, if not better, than those who had started. Their strength in depth is one of the main reasons they are where they are, top of the pile with a squad that in size and ability is head and shoulders better than any other Championship club. Rightly or wrongly, they have the financial clout that other clubs in our leagues can only dream of.

What is slightly more of a concern to me though is that Coventry, one of just four fully professional sides in the league, appears to lack the firepower off the bench that was so desperately needed yesterday against a side that, on paper at least, lacks the strength and depth we have.

Yes, there have been a number of long-term injuries that have hit us hard, but that is in the nature of the game and such a scenario must surely be built into any pre-season recruitment drive? Nottingham started and finished the stronger side, as they were for a good percentage of the period in between and with Coventry having to look elsewhere for players to fill the gap(s), it's not going to get any easier. Hopefully the three-week break might see the return of one or two of the current absentees?

Tiki Nayalo's late withdrawal was a blow but I thought the back row had one of its quieter games. Tom Ball hasn't quite returned to the form he was in at the start of the season, Kvesic was busy and noticeable at the breakdown and Chester Owen was workmanlike, but we certainly didn't dominate the rucks as we have done at times this year. As previously mentioned, the front 5 I thought did a good job in difficult circumstances - I do think we look better when James Tyas starts as he always leads from the front.

But it's what isn't happening behind the forwards that is a greater concern for me. Whereas Hutler and Martin were bullying defences a while back, now they both look out of sorts with James Martin a shadow of his former self. Things don't seem to be clicking for him right now, he's not hitting the ball or ball carrier in quite the same way and at times he's looks indecisive. Maybe Dave Opoku deserves a run of games now - he is regularly the liveliest of the backs and in defence is as solid as any? We've reached the stage of the season now when promotion isn't out of the question but is becoming increasingly unlikely, so why not give Opoku an extended run as he's surely one for the future, if not the even the present?

Having watched Liam Richman for several games now, I'm still not convinced 10 is his natural position. Yes, he's very safe there and has good hands and feet but he hasn't, as yet, managed to get the backs playing and although Tommy Matthews hasn't had quite as much opportunity at fly half, he looks the more creative of the two.

Whilst Steff Davies is unavailable, would Richman be a better 15 with Charlie Robson either on the bench as a utility back or even starting out wide. For me, the sooner Oli Morris returns, the better. The Hitchcock/Tiueti partnership just doesn't appear to be working and although the ex-Archers centre has come with a glowing reference and appears to already have senior Welsh clubs chasing him, he has yet to show Cov fans just why he is so highly rated. Defensively he puts in a really good shift, but he doesn't offer anything like the threat with ball in hand that many Cov fans had been hoping for after the departures of Rigg and Wand.

Ok, I say 'many fans' but in reality, perhaps it's just me.

Before yesterday, losing away to Pirates and home to Ealing probably wouldn't rank as the biggest of shocks, although the manner of the defeat in Penzance definitely was. However, losing to Nottingham yesterday, and losing in the way we did, makes this something of a slump now.

Whilst Cov can argue that it's still only three losses in all, it's three consecutive losses including two very poor, even unacceptable(?), performances. Something needs to change, whether it be selection, players returning from injury or a different approach from the coaches.

There's no getting away from the fact that we made life very easy for Nottingham yesterday. They were good, very good at times, but our forwards had the beating of them for 25-30 minutes in the second half and when we pulled it back to 14-12 on 54 minutes, they were there for the taking.

But indecision of school-boy proportions gifted Nottingham a try within 10 seconds of the restart and it was back to 21-12 and we were playing catch up again. We clawed it back to 31-26 with 8 minutes to go but in fairness Nottingham looked much the stronger side in the closing few minutes and deservedly won the game.

In attack it was all a bit static and predictable once again and whilst I'm sure the coaches would take umbrage when I say it all seemed a bit one-dimensional from the sidelines, we didn't appear to be even reactive, let alone proactive, in changing our game plan once it was clear Nottingham were intent on keeping the ball away from our forwards.

Another tough game for the supporters then, but I'm sure it was a whole lot tougher for the players and coaches. The break in the season at least enables everyone to regroup now and take stock of what's happened these last few games and to decide what needs to be done to redress some of the cracks that have been appearing for a while now.

Rugby - it's a mad, mad world...

All around me are familiar faces

Worn out places, worn out faces

Bright and early for their daily races

Going nowhere, going nowhere

Their tears are filling up their glasses

No expression, no expression

Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and successful New Year.

Up the Cov

(And as a bonus, here's Norman Collier's faulty microphone routine...I'd forgotten just how funny he was)

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