Yet another week where the Aussie teams finished 1-3, with the Reds restoring some much-needed Aussie pride after a couple of heartbreaking losses for the Force and Tahs. Nonetheless there were plenty of positives, which we will now have a look at.
Team of the Week:
15. Cameron Shepherd – FORCE
14. David Smith – FORCE
13. Anthony Faingaa – REDS
12. Ben Tapuai – REDS
11. Digby Ioane – REDS
10. Quade Cooper – REDS
9. Will Genia – REDS
8. Radike Samo – REDS
7. Beau Robinson – REDS
6. Scott Higginbotham – REDS
5. Nathan Sharpe – FORCE
4. James Horwill – REDS
3. Al Baxter – WARATAHS
2. Stephen Moore – BRUMBIES
1. Benn Robinson – WARATAHS
The Reds dominate the lineup, but the other teams have a name or two in the mix. The front row is a bit of a controversial decision, but I have chosen to penalise the Reds players for their backpedalling scrum. The props are Al Baxter and Benn Robinson, who get the nod largely due to mincing the Springbok-laden Sharks scrum. Doc Moore gets a show after being the busiest bloke on the ground in Canberra. Daley, Faingaa, Slipper, TPN and Fairbrother all get honourable mentions, but in the end the front three was a fairly easy choice for me.
A couple of old workhorses in the second row, in James Horwill and Nathan Sharpe. Both continued their outstanding seasons with great displays. The backrow contains arguably the three best Australian players this weekend: Scott Higginbotham, Beau Robinson and Radike Samo. They made light work of the Crusaders’ star-studded backrow, and held the key to the Reds’ titanic victory. Matt Hodgson and David Pocock came close, and are clearly getting back to Wallaby form.
Genia and Cooper are no-brainers in the halves, while I have also gone with the Reds’ centre pairing of Ben Tapuai and Ant Faingaa. Taps and Ant didn’t set the world on fire in attack, but kept SBW and Fruean pretty quiet with tight defence. Digby Ioane and David Smith both went off like frogs in socks in their respective matches, troubling defensive lines with every touch. Cameron Shepherd returned from injury with a bang on Friday night and was solid as a rock at the back. Other outstanding backs include Daniel Halangahu, Pat Dellit, Nick Cummins and Kurtley Beale.
Player of the Week:
A few new faces lining up for Man of the Match honours this week. For the Force the clear winner was James Stannard, who edged out alliterative cousins Shepherd and Sharpe for the gong. The Brumbies fans nominated stand-in captain Stephen Moore, while the Tahs supporters gave us Daniel Halangahu.
From the epic game on Sunday the Reds fans decided on Radike Samo, who had an absolute belter and is now firmly on the Wallaby horizon. Plenty of other players polled votes though, including Scott Higginbotham, Beau Robinson, Quade Cooper, Will Genia and Digby Ioane.
Try of the Week:
There were a couple of quality tries scored this week, but I have settled on the Waratahs’ 101-metre effort against the Sharks that saw Lachie Turner score in the corner after a great run by Daniel Halangahu. It’s not often you see the Tahs run it from behind their own line, but a great turnover coupled with some quick thinking and great vision from Hangers saw a great end to end try. Have a look for yourself:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mI1fcvTzpY[/youtube]
Moment of the Week:
It is no coincidence that the Reds’ early season form turnaround directly coincided with the promotion of Beau Robinson to the starting lineup. The gutsy blond has been at the centre of everything for the Reds, and has added some much-needed grunt to their back row. The moment he went off with a dislocated elbow the Reds’ season became a lot more difficult. With Liam Gill away with the Under 20s they will be desperately relying on Jake Schatz to get them through to the start of the finals, and then for Beau to come back without missing a beat. It will be a lot easier said than done.
Whom would you pick in your team of the week?
