#whynotus
Off to the Saints this afternoon and every game left this season will be crucial (unless we lose so many of them that they become irrelevant).
Our current DoR, Jim Mallinder, has been with the club for 6 seasons including this one; initially the curve went up up up with promotion from the 2nd tier in his first full season winning every single game, season 2 back in the premiership we came 8th in our first season winning the European Challenge Cup (non Rugby fans, think Europa League of Rugby) which qualified us into the Heineken Cup, season 3; winning the LV Cup, 2nd place in the premiership and a surprsing SF defeat and Heineken QFs (the only English team to reach the knock out phase).
In season 4 we started to plateau, however when you are knocking on the door of top tier, progression gets ever more difficult. Heading the table on New Year"s Day we went on a succession of defeats, but we did have an excuse in that such was the progression of the players Jim had signed, developed or in some cases both (Tom Wood, Chris Ashton, Ben Foden, Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes) we lost a lot of our first team to the Six Nations period and we held on for 4th and another SF defeat. We did of course reach THAT Heineken Final where we took a 22-3 lead into half time but through a combination of bad game management, tiredness and an incredible 2nd half perfomrmance from Leinster managed to lose the game.
Season 5 had a lot of Season 4 about it, but as a fan I was prepared to acknoweldge the Rugby World Cup as a key factor and we lost 5 of the first 6 games during this period. We hung on for top 4 and another SF defeat.
This season we have definitely gone backwards. We have been less effected by internationals than before but have lost key home fixtures we would not have lost in the past. There has been some transition where we have had to replace our "8" and "12" who each returned to their Irish Clubs and were crucial to the team.
We are currently 6th. It"s crucial to reach Top 4 for the playoffs and last night we received 2 favours as 4th & 5th both lost. Given the fixtures we have left, if we do not beat London Irish at home this afternoon then I don"t think we will make those playoffs, but if you cannot beat the 10th ranked team in the table at home, then you don"t deserve to be in those playoffs.
As the players keep posting on Twitter... #whynotus
