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Nemani Nadolo can't get his head around criticism of 11-try Bath vs Wasps thriller
By Liam Heagney
Fiji winger Nemani Nadolo has been bemused by the level of negative reaction to Friday night's eleven-try Gallagher Premiership thriller between Bath and Wasps at The Rec.
Northern hemisphere rugby has come in for much criticism over the European winter, with many writing off tournaments like the Autumn Nations Cup and the Premiership as generally dull and boring due to dominant defences.
However, after the Bath and Wasps rearguards were torn asunder, there was much commentary online regarding how 'poor' the respective defences were rather than enjoyment of the attacking rugby that was provided.
The reaction left Nadolo confused and the Leicester winger shared his thoughts on Twitter following the Premiership game at The Rec which was won by Wasps on a 52-44 scoreline.
"Fans complaining about how defence is killing the game and how boring rugby is becoming. We have one game (in the northern hemisphere) where attacking rugby is on show (which mind you was a pleasure to watch) and the first thing people point out is defence."
The 44 points scored by Bath was the second highest by a losing side in the history of the Premiership, three points shy of the mark set by Bristol when they were beaten 47-53 by Sale in an April 2002 top-flight game. Both coaches were critical of their teams in the aftermath of the 96 points that were seen at The Rec on Friday.
Wasps boss Lee Blackett said: “I'm absolutely delighted with the result. In terms of the performance, I thought we were a bit off. People were probably expecting a 10-8 scoreline on a cold January night here, and it was probably two very tired teams coming off big games last weekend."
Bath boss Stuart Hooper added: "Their [Wasps'] conversion rate was bang-on when they got in the final third. Some of it was sloppy from us and we have got to do better. There is nowhere to hide from that. We are massively disappointed and hurt with the result and conceding that many points at home. I'm definitely frustrated with how sloppy we were on occasions.”
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VDF was excellent last week and this week. Henshaw was great in the first half. Sam Prendergast tried to "do it all by himself" precisely once, when he did very well but was left unsupported. McCarthy had a mixed game, as did Crowley. Hansen was poor for the second week in a row. How was Casey not on long enough to rate but Baird was considering Baird was on all of a minute? These ratings were phoned in, the author must have been drunk by half-time.
Go to commentsStill only two RCs in fifteen years when we won nearly every year. Win rate in the Rassie era still under 70% when the Henry/Hansen era was over 85%. Best forwards will be too old in 2027. Poor old Rassie has done a fantastic job but that itch ain't going anywhere and it'll be there for the rest of his life 🥴🥴🥴
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