Force v Reds, Round 3 HBF Park, Perth 7:35pm

[dru]

The loud (though possibly minority of posters) descent into aggressive posts seems as [edit:] unnecessary as is it predictable.

 

[molman]

lynagh was not equally solid. You're dreaming.

Yes, solid.

Lynagh made his clearings kicks, conversions (which weren't all easy, some under pressure), and put up a well weighted high ball which was contestable. He was solid in the defensive line, making 6 tackles and missing none. I recall one tackle on Sam Carter near the line where he contributed to Carter knocking on. Donaldson in comparison made 7 tackles but missed 3, which for the time Lynagh was on the field was almost twice the number of tackles for time as Donaldson, all successful. This game was won on the Reds defence and Lynagh played his part.

Lynagh made around 16m gain as compared to Donaldsons 17m gain (again with much less time on the field), including backing up to score a try. He looks to often sit flatter to the line than Donaldson who is generally deeper in the pocket. He took it to the line on a number of occasions and got a nice pass off a couple of times, including the one with the hit from Dolly. His pass back to Murray that ended up with Berry being taken out was good, as there was a hole to exploit there if Berry had moved back.

Was it perfect. No. His openning kickoff wasn't great and I recall a short outside pass early on to no one when he was obviously expecting someone to run a line. But he cleaned that up. Besides those incidents, I can't recall anything you'd be unhappy about.

Donaldson had a good game, but Lynagh was definitely solid.

So no, not dreaming, just watching the game.

 

[Mr Pilfer]

I thought Pasitoa was going to be a real threat all game and break the Reds open. But thankfully for the Reds he was gassed and didn’t have too many involvements late in the piece.

I hope he stays fit and gets that match fitness back because he looked very good.

Yep I think still building match fitness, being at the game could see he spent a lot of time out on the wing whilst potter and pietsch went in looking for work

 

[Heavyd]

Will await the odds but surely the Force start strong favourites over the Waratahs. In terms of attack & overall skill level there appears to be a significant gulf between the Waratahs & the rest of the Australian teams.

 

[TSR]

As an Aussie rugby supporter I was very happy with both 10s.

Reds post game review will be interesting. A lot of the errors they made were quite basic and not the sort they should be making, but maybe not completely out of character either.

The drop cold by Murray with all the hard work done was a killer as was his drop at the back with no pressure on him. Not sure if he just had an off day or if his hands can be suspect.

Wilson & McReight link up so well that it was odd to see them blow Wilson’s break but I feel like Wilson made the pass harder then it needed to be.

Add in the dropped kick off, the kick out on the full, HMP putting it dead, Blake & Daugunu giving away needless penalties and there was a pass to no one at one point when they seemed to have numbers to make the break. They also duffed a number of lineouts that they should have nailed.

Lots of credit to the Force who put a lot of pressure on but Reds can’t compound this issue with needless mistakes. As good as the Force were it isn’t going to get easier against teams like the Crusaders, Chiefs, Blues or Brumbies.

Edit: but we are also 2nd on the table now with a game in n hand over most teams, so there is that.

 

[emuarse]

the reds were lucky to not have 3 yellow cards. how dangunu (FFS it's Daugunu!) didn't get carded for throwing the ball out of the ruck off his feet after a line break was beyond me.not sure where any yellows were for the force. maybe the dolly one but he pulled out last second and there was nothing in it.

not to mention multiple forward passes that they missed by the reds.

@Shiggins You might want to go to OPSM, they"re offering a 25% discount for spectacles.

 

[TSR]

Yeah - claiming there is nothing in a clash where a player is forced off due to concussion is stretching credibility

 

[Adam84]

And likely to miss next week now as well

 

[molman]

Yeah - claiming there is nothing in a clash where a player is forced off due to concussion is stretching credibility

Upright, doesn't dip, pushes up into the tackle. It really didn't look good. Very odd it wasn't brought to the ref.

Am I recalling right that there is a protocol that means they have to look at the incidents that lead to HIA's? ie. a citing could occur?

And likely to miss next week now as well

Which is the last thing you want against a resurgent Crusaders.

 

[Yoda]

Touchy was calling the foward pass the whole way down the sideline

So why did Berry not act on that? Was that due to his comms issue? Touchy can still go old school and put his flag up to get refs attention? A bad miss and cost Force 50 m.. How does a blatant fu.k up like that happen now? Do like refs speeding up play though…

 

[Yoda]

Yes, solid.

Lynagh made his clearings kicks, conversions (which weren't all easy, some under pressure), and put up a well weighted high ball which was contestable. He was solid in the defensive line, making 6 tackles and missing none. I recall one tackle on Sam Carter near the line where he contributed to Carter knocking on. Donaldson in comparison made 7 tackles but missed 3, which for the time Lynagh was on the field was almost twice the number of tackles for time as Donaldson, all successful. This game was won on the Reds defence and Lynagh played his part.

Lynagh made around 16m gain as compared to Donaldsons 17m gain (again with much less time on the field), including backing up to score a try. He looks to often sit flatter to the line than Donaldson who is generally deeper in the pocket. He took it to the line on a number of occasions and got a nice pass off a couple of times, including the one with the hit from Dolly. His pass back to Murray that ended up with Berry being taken out was good, as there was a hole to exploit there if Berry had moved back.

Was it perfect. No. His openning kickoff wasn't great and I recall a short outside pass early on to no one when he was obviously expecting someone to run a line. But he cleaned that up. Besides those incidents, I can't recall anything you'd be unhappy about.

Donaldson had a good game, but Lynagh was definitely solid.

So no, not dreaming, just watching the game.

Will be interesting to see how Noah goes when he gets back?. Donaldson has been great and as you say Lynagh solid… yet to see Edmed offering much at this early stage.

 

[TSR]

So why did Berry not act on that? Was that due to his comms issue? Touchy can still go old school and put his flag up to get refs attention? A bad miss and cost Force 50 m.. How does a blatant fu.k up like that happen now? Do like refs speeding up play though…

Got to be honest, so many forward passes are let play on I rarely blink now. I thought the one back inside for Flook’s try was forward too. But Reds were on the end of bad decisions too so you have to ride your luck. Refs are human and Berry wasn’t helped by his comms breaking down.

I much prefer the game with less micro analysis so, personally I’ll live with it (yes - probably right up to the point where the Reds lose a game on a dodgy call then I’m sure my tolerance will go right out the window).

 

[Shiggins]

@Shiggins You might want to go to OPSM, they"re offering a 25% discount for spectacles.

dangunu (FFS it's Daugunu!) was touch and go. it was after a line break and cynical. In the first half the reds gave away a lot of continuous penalties on their line. I've seen cards for less this year . the reds improved that immensely in the second half and they stopped the force a few times inside their 22 after multiple phases without giving away a penalty. reds discipline in the second half was pretty good.

 

[Shiggins]

Yes, solid.

Lynagh made his clearings kicks, conversions (which weren't all easy, some under pressure), and put up a well weighted high ball which was contestable. He was solid in the defensive line, making 6 tackles and missing none. I recall one tackle on Sam Carter near the line where he contributed to Carter knocking on. Donaldson in comparison made 7 tackles but missed 3, which for the time Lynagh was on the field was almost twice the number of tackles for time as Donaldson, all successful. This game was won on the Reds defence and Lynagh played his part.

Lynagh made around 16m gain as compared to Donaldsons 17m gain (again with much less time on the field), including backing up to score a try. He looks to often sit flatter to the line than Donaldson who is generally deeper in the pocket. He took it to the line on a number of occasions and got a nice pass off a couple of times, including the one with the hit from Dolly. His pass back to Murray that ended up with Berry being taken out was good, as there was a hole to exploit there if Berry had moved back.

Was it perfect. No. His openning kickoff wasn't great and I recall a short outside pass early on to no one when he was obviously expecting someone to run a line. But he cleaned that up. Besides those incidents, I can't recall anything you'd be unhappy about.

Donaldson had a good game, but Lynagh was definitely solid.

So no, not dreaming, just watching the game.

fair play. I still don't think he was equally solid. donaldson had a better game imo

 

[Shiggins]

I agree with you and I think it’s an issue around the game. We are letting hookers off and it’s not good for their long term skill development.

When the hooker throws the ball, they don’t know the opponent aren’t going to contest and just happen to breathe a little sigh of relief when they don’t and they’ve thrown one totally crooked.

I thought the Drua and Tahs game was particularly shocking with both hookers throwing absolute pies and nothing being called.

It will be disappointing if the game is moving towards just using line outs as ways to start mauls or set plays with no real accountability on the hooker and a core skill of the game.

I think you're spot on. come international if our hookers are throwing like this the NH refs will call it

 

[Shiggins]

So why did Berry not act on that? Was that due to his comms issue? Touchy can still go old school and put his flag up to get refs attention? A bad miss and cost Force 50 m.. How does a blatant fu.k up like that happen now? Do like refs speeding up play though…

I was waiting for the touchie to raise the flag a couple of times. you could also see after the late hit on white the touchy was talking to him and pointing to his mic gear. it was a bit odd. I'm not reading into it any more than that. I've had enough of whinging about refs and am trying to stay away from it. I've whinged enough about refs for one lifetime. I couldn't help myself in the ceumvies chiefs thread

at the end of the day the force had a good few chances to ice the game and they didn't

 

[Shiggins]

as a force supporter I am happy with how they are playing however I wouldn't be surprised if they finished the year with 2 wins. our scrum is a massive issue and with a couple of injuries to selected players our depth will be tested hard. there is a good argument that the reds will be the Aus side to beat this year so it's still hard to read into where the force sit. even the win against Moana. Moana have proven they are a good side the last 2 weeks so it looks like this was a very good win. the Brumbies pushed the chiefs in NZ and gave away a soft try as they were throwing caution to the wind at the end to make the score look worse than it was.
this all points to the force being the real deal this year however Ill hold my hopes until round 6 to see if we can improve and win more games.

 

[TSR]

I hope they do well. Certainly I’m enjoying how they are playing. Very abrasive in the forwards and the backs are generally pretty cohesive.

 

[Yoda]

Reds by 30

Bit out there chap. Lucky to get the win for the strongest franchise in Australia depth wise and with the so called new Wallabies coach in waiting!

 

[Adam84]

Careful Yoda… they weren’t the only one making predictions;

If Tizzano or Williams is out it’s Reds easily.

FWIW, Williams was out…