1. Greg Holmes (Reds) – Played out the full game again this week, the only Australian loose head to play every minute of this years competition. Considering it was done in 35 degree heat it is even more impressive
2. Adam Frier (Waratahs) – Suffered from Knuckles’ obsession with size, a goer who gets things done with busy work around the field and solid at the set piece.
3. Al Baxter (Waratahs) – No longer the punchline in front row jokes
4. Will Caldwell (Waratahs) – Plays an abrasive style of match which will be needed as the Tahs face some tough assignments in the coming weeks, starting with the Reds next week
5. Van Humphries (Reds) – Provides some real thrust with his ball running in tight and tends to offload the ball not die with it like Sharpe or Mumm
6. Matt Hodgson (Force) – Stuck it right up the Brumbies back-row and was always around doing the hard stuff
7. George Smith (Brumbies) – He can do just about anything, except throw miracle passes. Maybe he is trying to make up for the short-comings of Lealiifano.
8. Wycliffe Palu (Waratahs) – Without him the Tahs would become nothing more than average battlers
9. Josh Valentine (Force) – Seems to be the only half-back that has some idea of what he is going to do before he picks up the ball. Gits must be loving his passes after putting up with the shit from years previous
10. Matt Giteau (Force) – Showed us what all the fuss is about, his ball to Cross that set up Shephard’s try was simply champagne football
11. Cameron Shepherd (Force) – Should have broken his ankle long ago as it has made him faster and a much more composed player
12. Junior Palessa (Force) – Controlled Morty and got the better of him, he has flashes of brilliance and then goes missing for weeks so the test will be for him to back up this performance
13. Digby Ioane (Reds) – I’m calling it, he is the new Tana!
14. Peter Hynes (Reds) – Has faded in and out of games in the last couple of weeks, but his week showed he is back. Outstanding defence as well.
15. Mark Gerrard (Brumbies) – It sure wasn’t his fault the Brumbies got done. Things went downhill for the Ponies after he was replaced with a dodgy quad.
[poll id=”10″]
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="1481 https://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/?p=1481">18 Comments
Camoron Shepherd was just in the right place at the right time, I thought Lote had a much more well rounded game and had to work for his try.
George Smith won’t get another vote from me til he actually plays a game at 7, stop thinking you’re a first reciever mate.
Apart from that pretty solid team. The less Force players in the front 8 the better.
Sagerian’s last blog post..Ireland start 6 Nations on a massive high.
shephard doesnt deserve his spot, three trys is three trys but he didnt do half as much around the park as lote did!
palu deserves aussie of the round, the guy is a machine! he makes brown look like a trainee!
I voted for Shep above but I take it back – you’re right. Palu made men look like boys.
Too right.
Just watched the replay of the try he scored. He made 4 runs in the movement leading up to it. All from standing starts one out, and all breaking the adv line.
+1 Tuqiri ahead of Shepherd…
surprised u were so kind to the tahs, though i agree. Not even rugbyheaven gave them more than 2.
Liking the look of Digby Ioane at outside. AC inside DI outside for wallabies.
AC inside??
What about Valentine/(Cooper-Barnes)/Gits/Ioane??
That would be good, but their not going to move Giteau, though I think they should. He just keeps getting better
Sagerian, Maybe George Smith wouldn’t need to be playing anything other than 7 if some others were doing their own jobs!!! Personally I thought he was awesome this week
This is why he’s always trying to play centre for the Wallabies too? Surely we can put 14 other people decent enough at that level?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm? :p
Sagerian’s last blog post..6 Nations wrap (well, sort of… it’s very biased)
g.smith was doing that to give them some go forward. and most times it can really work.
Agreed
was it just me or was Frier having a go as an outside back?
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/cooper-lambasts-waratahs/2009/03/02/1235842328904.html
haha here here
i’m really starting to like this cooper fellow
Wayne Smith from the Oz also reckons George Smith won the battle of the 7s…..remembering, he’s from the national broadsheet…the only decent fuckin’ newspaper around….can’t belive how bad my local rag is (Courier Mail)…worse than the Tele, and that’s saying something! The rugby writer, Jim Tucker, is a hack!
agreed. Tucker gives new meaning and a face to the phrase partisan journalism.
The Waratahs should sign Chris Jack as their marquee player for next season now that will be leaving Saracens mid-year. Pretty handy replacement for Vickers? He’s still a quality player and only 30.