Interesting afternoon of Rugby.
Conditions were absolutely perfect and some wonderful rugby was played, however it was also very surprising to me how much dropped ball & basic errors there were. Particularly by CAS.
CAS were so dominant in the first half, and GPS completely rattled, that it felt like GPS were in for an absolute flogging. At about the 20min mark in the first half CAS lead 24-0. Then the CAS boys relaxed (in my view). Instead of building phases and working the opposition, they started trying to score off first phase and push the pass. This was the "foot off the accelerator" moment that the GPS boys needed, and it allowed them to get back into the game.
For the entire second half, CAS very rarely managed to hold onto the ball for more than 3 phases & t
o GPS's credit, they made a real game of it in the end and nearly snatched it.
In the end the better side definitely won, but if I was a selector, the amount of basic handling error's in perfect conditions would be a bit puzzling.
To the players:
GPS props too strong and controlled the scrum (noticeable when Bell came off)
Hooker - Battle easily won by Pollard
Second Row - Pretty even.
Back Row - CAS clearly dominant
Half Back - Points to Tejcek
5/8 - Edmed clearly outplayed Savala, although more even in second half (Minogue in GPS 2nd's better IMO)
Centres - Points to the CAS lads
Wingers - Brydon & Sua'ali'i
Fullback - Neither player had much influence (Connolly from GPS 2nd's better than both IMO)
Will be interesting to see how they go on Friday with such a short turn around. Will be a very tough game against ISA.