2020 Super Rugby Round 3 - Waratahs v Brumbies @ ANZ Stadium - Saturday 18 July

[molman]

Was out so had to catch the reply. What a heartbreak that one was, we really should have closed that one out. Agree that mentally it did look like that we were playing to maintain the lead towards the end. Maddocks having a very off night which wasn't what we needed. I thought the defence overall is much improved. There was a nice sequence where the Brumbies proceeded to be marched back around twenty as the failed to make the gainline.

Brumbies looked well off their best. I think Sio was lucky not to be pinged more in the scrum. Agree that Simmons had a great game.

 

[molman]

As an aside, I was happy to hear Gardner instruct the Brumbies to keep it up when trying to run the clock out.. The coming in at right angles and the borderline pre-latching that occurs is a bit of a bugbear of mine.

 

[Hawko]

Waratah scrum will be in reverse. They have a massive problem. They have young backs with potential but their basic platform from scrums, lineouts and quick ruck ball is way off pace.

Compared to some of the Kiwi games recently the opposition has time to huddle, have a chat and then reset before the ball comes out.

Long way to go for this squad.

Didn't quite turn out that way.

 

[KOB1987]

Simone MOTM? He had one good carry but he made a few errors.

I particularly liked the backwards kick pass, unique.

 

[Blackadder]

Stop the aimless, pointless kicking of the ball away Tahs.

It was the same last year with Whitaker's attack plan, pointless kicking possession away.

Kick for territory.

Kick to get yourself out of trouble.

But for the love of god stop kicking it when you are on a roll and it's time to bloody run it.

 

[Dan54]

Stop the aimless, pointless kicking of the ball away Tahs.

It was the same last year with Whitaker's attack plan, pointless kicking possession away.

Kick for territory.

Kick to get yourself out of trouble.

But for the love of god stop kicking it when you are on a roll and it's time to bloody run it.

Overdid it a couple of times Blackadder, but in general I think you should be pleased the way the Tahs are heading, I thought the Brums would beat them by more than they did. I get the impression they on the up, they looking a fairly well coached team.

 

[Blackadder]

Overdid it a couple of times Blackadder, but in general I think you should be pleased the way the Tahs are heading, I thought the Brums would beat them by more than they did. I get the impression they on the up, they looking a fairly well coached team.

I am happy they played a lot better but the game was lost with the attack game plan that Whitaker tried last year which didn't work then either. Hopefully he goes next.

 

[Blackadder]

I was very pleased with a lot of things last night. The forwards started to muscle up and the defence has improved. Simmons had his best game and HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) is starting to improve at 3.

The Tahs have come back from the break a more focused team so far. A lot more heart that was lacking earlier in the year has come to the side.

The negatives are the pointless attack of kicking the ball away and trying to defend a lead. That was implemented last year by Whitaker and has been carried into this year. Time to go.

A loss where an unexpected win was there for the taking is frustrating and hopefully the team learns from it

 

[fatprop]

Benches won the game

Very disappointed with Hunt in the back end, he needed to step up, lead and close out the game And he didn't

 

[cyclopath]

Braveheart probably just threw his beer at Cyclo's telly.

It doesn't get let out near the TV on weekends. It stays in its room.

 

[TSR]

I think you’re harsh on him FP. He’s been generally poor this year, but I thought he was great last night and certainly worked hard. At the end of the game he seemed to be getting more involved and trying to influence the game the right way. From my perspective anyway.

I watched the game again this morning. I really think this game came down to a mature team that is used to winning and a much younger team who isn’t. Normally I would place a lot of blame at the feet of the senior players, but I thought Hunt, Simmons and Dempsey were three of the Tahs best (which hasn’t at all been the case this year) - although Simmons did give away a critical penalty when he really had to be more disciplined.

On the flip side the Brumbies were far from their best, but they had enough good passages and they took their opportunities when they came and, to me, it is a really good sign when a team can be below their best but still get the job done. Other then their line outs, I always thought the Brumbies looked more assured.

I thought Cusack was outstanding and probably my MOTM simply because I don’t think the Brumbies win without his contribution through the game. I also thought Muirhead was bloody good, apart from copping the team yellow.

Whichever side people are supporting, it’s great the Aussie Super has been so competitive and this weekends games were both very good viewing.

 

[drewprint]

Speaking of the bench, I also thought Will Harris looked really lethargic when he came on late. His carries really lacked any kind of impact.

 

[TSR]

And, unfortunately, missed the critical tackle on Fines.

 

[TSR]

And I guess when you talk about the stuff between the ears I can appreciate where FP is coming from - or at least my take on it.
Harrison - who I thought generally was very good, needed someone next to him to tell him just play possession, work down field and try to either earn a penalty or set for a field goal. But I still think, on balance, Hunt was good in the last 20 and seemed clearly trying to inject himself more.

The interesting thing for me is that if the Tahs can continue to step up in their scrum then they’ll have close to the best set piece unit in the comp. that makes them pretty tough opposition. There are no short cuts to learning composure so I don’t think they’ll threaten to win it, but they’ll be very capable of rolling any given opposition on any day.

 

[Derpus]

Random thoughts:

The set piece was very pleasing. Simmons is currently the form lock and i would not be at all surprised to see Simmons/LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) lining up for the Wallabies at 4/5.

It looks like Penney knows how to coach a team.

Some of these young blokes are already looking better than the previous stock that came through after the 2015/16 exodus. Last night of the new blokes Ramm impressed again and Horton had a belter. Said my piece on Harrison - he'll have better games.

I thought Maddocks was pretty average last night, but his kicking game is exceptional. Gets lots of distance and is fairly accurate, finding touch or grass more often than a player, and even if he finds a player it's very deep. Having Maddocks and the left footed Harrison in the side also gives good exit options on either side of the ruck.

 

[fatprop]

I think you’re harsh on him FP. He’s been generally poor this year, but I thought he was great last night and certainly worked hard. At the end of the game he seemed to be getting more involved and trying to influence the game the right way. From my perspective anyway.

I watched the game again this morning. I really think this game came down to a mature team that is used to winning and a much younger team who isn’t. Normally I would place a lot of blame at the feet of the senior players, but I thought Hunt, Simmons and Dempsey were three of the Tahs best (which hasn’t at all been the case this year) - although Simmons did give away a critical penalty when he really had to be more disciplined.

Maybe, but he was there the be that experienced cool head and he was one of the units doing a 5% options

 

[Dismal Pillock]

It doesn't get let out near the TV on weekends. It stays in its room.

 

[Up the Guts]

Maddocks drop ball was very uncharacteristic and not something I’m particularly worried about. His kicking is exceptional and I think he’s a chance to leapfrog both DHP and Banks for the gold 15 jersey on the back of it. He looks to be able to kick it as far as Hodge but doesn’t have the huge windup.

 

[qwerty51]

It's Banks or Maddocks for me. I don't want Hodge or DHP near the team currently.

 

[molman]

Curious what people thought of the scrum calls?.. Penney inferred after the game that he wasn't entirely happy. Was never a forward so can't say I know the dark arts, but there was one or two calls I was a little questioning about.


I think Rugby needs to do better with the whole area of the product around scrums. Kearns saying good, just make a call and move on is not what I want. I'd like some actual analysis, detailed explanation as to what really happened and the related call. Really looks too much of a flip a coin at times.