rod skellet
Desmond Connor (43)
Will Kennedy and Hamish MacDonald (Barker outside backs) both unavailable due to injury. Katoa unavailable due to Tonga national League selection. All 3 played in Barkers win over Joeys.
CAS Rugby 2022
- Thread starter rod skellet
- Start date
Running_rugby_1954
Ron Walden (29)
So more Barker Players?
What about Hooper as captain instead of Saunders Rod? I imagine you can justify it.
rod skellet
Desmond Connor (43)
As my previous post suggests, no CAS players can match the speed and accuracy of the GPS lads. That was not a school specific comment. Bottom line was CAS was not good enough. And stating who was out injured does not mean they would have done better. I was just pointing out that the Barker lads were injured and not available for selection. and they defended brillantly against Joeys whose backs carved us up.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
It has to be said, CAS selected the wrong players. Teams like Barker, Waverley and Knox continue to beat GPS teams convincingly, but they get their teams so wrong at this level.
Some really obvious examples from today:
Ekanayake needs to be in the firsts instead of Van Wyke. He is far more dynamic and involved.
Preketes needs to be in the firsts instead of Goddard. He offers so much go forward and the scrums were no different between the two.
I also felt particularly sorry for the Barker 15. He cost CAS 3 tries today and Towns clearly should have been there instead. Kid was out of his depth and should have stayed in the 16’s program.
Nosa is a must instead of Edwards. He actually Carries the ball hard into contact.
The Waverley winger in the firsts looked disinterested as well. I think the 15 who played in the seconds would have been a better pick.
The 10 that came on for the firsts in the second half, was the best of the bunch, we looked much cleaner in attack when he came on. I think he had Aloys socks, but I don’t know his name.
The seconds 8, 13 and 14 were just passengers.
The best on ground for CAS:
I thought Sayoun was the best in a soft pack and Jarrah offered so much in attack - just has to get rid of some of those drop balls(is he running onto the ball to hard?) and he will be a superstar.
Some really obvious examples from today:
Ekanayake needs to be in the firsts instead of Van Wyke. He is far more dynamic and involved.
Preketes needs to be in the firsts instead of Goddard. He offers so much go forward and the scrums were no different between the two.
I also felt particularly sorry for the Barker 15. He cost CAS 3 tries today and Towns clearly should have been there instead. Kid was out of his depth and should have stayed in the 16’s program.
Nosa is a must instead of Edwards. He actually Carries the ball hard into contact.
The Waverley winger in the firsts looked disinterested as well. I think the 15 who played in the seconds would have been a better pick.
The 10 that came on for the firsts in the second half, was the best of the bunch, we looked much cleaner in attack when he came on. I think he had Aloys socks, but I don’t know his name.
The seconds 8, 13 and 14 were just passengers.
The best on ground for CAS:
I thought Sayoun was the best in a soft pack and Jarrah offered so much in attack - just has to get rid of some of those drop balls(is he running onto the ball to hard?) and he will be a superstar.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
I also want to highlight Phillipson’s passing as a CAS highlight. It was almost the best pass I have seen at schoolboy level.
A great product of the Barker program.
A great product of the Barker program.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
Sayoun, Preketes, Ekanayake, Halakatoa, Hooper, Phillipson, Jarrah, Saunders.
Running_rugby_1954
Ron Walden (29)
He is a Kinross product.
Eyes and Ears
Bob Davidson (42)
Preketes may offer more around the field but I thought he had a tough day at scrum today and I would have given Goddard the points at scrum over Barrett. However Barrett was outstanding around the field. CAS were gun shy here as they lost the game at scrum last year.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
Goddard did do well. It’s just adds so much more to your team when someone will get you over that advantage line with the ball in hand.
The issue last year was picking a loose head prop at tight head. The difference in the scrum was negligible when Preketes came on, compared to the difference he offers around the field.
We needed someone else to be able to carry the ball I think is the main issue. Even Hooper kept getting pushed back and even dropped the ball with the pressure from the GPS pack. I wonder if there is a ball carrying 6 anywhere? Maybe Ekanayake for 6? He offered so much go forward with the ball.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
Hooper is a good choice for captain. It’s better having someone close to the play than out wide. I understand why some may want Saunders though, he does have a very high level of experience.
When watching the CAS school teams play I don't see much cohesion. Maybe they have had some key players out? There is a lot of potential improvement in each of Knox, Wav and Barker (i havent seen the other teams). There is plenty of talent in CAS teams but its like watching teams at the beginning of the season. The GPS school teams and today, the GPS team appear like they have been playing together much longer. Something I also notice when watching the GPS school teams, is that they are increasingly playing similar styles of rugby which makes it easier when the best players come together for the GPS teams. Anyway, its just the beginning of representative honours for many of these boys who I'm sure will do great.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
The 7 (Halatakoa) did better with the ball than most the other forwards (would be close to second best with close carries), but he looked out of place in the backline. What he will get picked for gen blue was his breakdown work in defense. He was the best in slowing down the ball and stole it 4 or 5 times.
The 11 (Jahnke-Tavana) looked disinterested in defense. Let in an easy try without even trying. He was classy on kick returns and with the ball in hand.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
WLF3
Billy Sheehan (19)
It's a good observation Albi,
Both Rep associations have exactly the same preparation time so no excuses there.
IMO there is a difference in style between the CAS schools, Knox normally play a more pick and drive forward style, Waves are more like Randwick ie ball runners, and Barker are probably somewhere in between. I am not in a position to comment on the other 3 schools, although Cranbrook can play an expansive game depending on the year.
I would guess that the GPS schools also don't all play the same style, eg Joeys are runners, all over the ball and expansive, other schools are different.
So that attempts to answer your question about styles, happy to be corrected.
Now, the stronger CAS schools are competitive with the GPS schools, in fact, the CAS school frequently win.
So the talent pool isn't a complete mismatch.
The REAL difference IMO, which happens every single year, is that the strongest CAS team isn't ever picked.
Happened last year, via the wrong props, and many of us expected the CAS to win comfortably, as the CAS schools did v the GPS schools they played, with some big margins.
I also believe the GPS don't always pick their strongest team, there were a few notable cases last year. But I do believe the GPS gets it more correct. Politics has always been, and will always probably be, ever present, this year it was most notable IMO.
Some very strange selections between the CAS 1s and 2s.
Interested to see if I am dreaming, or others agree!
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
This is the issue.
Easily seen by the fact Barker beat Cranbrook 40-7. Yet there were the same amount of players from each team in CAS. No wonder the kids looked out of place.
Waverley lost to Knox by 4, yet Knox have double the players involved.
Some glaring ones as well. Playing the Barker 15 in the opens pathway was a disaster. How many kids have played opens CAS from u16’s? Not even Pollard did that. It’s just a poor choice.
The question is then, how do we fix it?
rod skellet
Desmond Connor (43)
My 2 cents on the game was that the forwards battle was pretty even. Neither team was dominant at scrum time, and other than 1 lineout loss to each team meant the set piece was square. Both halves had excellent games with crisp accurate passing. The difference in teams started from 5/8th outwards. To be honest there was no one in the CAS 2nds backline that would have made any significant difference. The speed differential of GPS backs v CAS was clear, plus they had almost no handling errors. Sadly for this year CAS side the selectors just did not have the players available to match GPS especially in the backs. I know I will get clobbered for this but of the 5 Barker players unavailable 4 were backs. (Macdonald, Biet, Kennedy & Katoa). That fact hurt the depth of talent pool available to selectors for both CAS teams. They went with the best players available and lost fair and square. I know Macdonald is gone for the season but the others may make an appearance later in the year.
Jumping_jack
Ward Prentice (10)
The CAS forwards were belted. The 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 were man handled each time they ran the ball.
The number 8 and 6 in particular, who should be the dominant ball carriers, did not bring that for the team as they should have.
They started to tip pass in the end with better outcomes over carrying the ball.
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Running_rugby_1954
Ron Walden (29)
How unexpected Rod.
We needed more Barker players?
Just suit up 15 of them for CAS firsts next year!