Went down to the Vikings V Wests game today - nothing much to report really - Vikings were consistent, structured - most of their points came against the run of play - which I don't know if concerning or not. No real standout's for Vikings - the new 10 played well - Fred - Ah Wong played ok at 13 but I can see why the Brumbies didn't take him to South Africa and can now agree with some of the statements made on here about him looking abit lazy/uninterested - maybe he is over playing in Canberra?
Wests were good - their forward pack was great - if they had a bit more strike power in the backs they would be a really dangers side.
For me 'Man of the Match' was Kaino - the number 8 from Wests (Jerome Kaino's younger brother) - he is a gun - he will have to be in the mix come NRC time.
Vikings were missing Sione and Henry in the front row but if there was anything I could pick up on was the Scrum was a big weakness for the Vikings today and also the lineout - both may be sorted once Sione and Henry are back though.
All in all a solid game of footy.
Looks like Easts stepped up a gear or Uni decided not to show up? Anyone watch this game?
Standard 2017 Royals - racking up the points - their for and against must be great at the moment.
After this round I don't think the ladder will really change at all.
Agree with all re Vikings vs Wests. Scrum was very inconsistent from the Vikings they had periods where the scrum was solid (even forcing a tight head) but then periods where it was very ordinary (losing a couple of feeds). It was a shame as the Vikings scrum was pretty solid last week. Right hand side of Vikings scrum looked to be under a lot of pressure. I think Wagner and Thomas are going to be good players but you have to remember they're only 19 years old and wests probably have one of the best and more experienced front rows in the competition (at least in the 1 and 3 jumpers). I think once Taula and Henry come back it fixes the issues at the scrum and lineout. Taula, Henry and Mcgrath upfront is a fairly formidle front row.
Outside of that it was great to see Jake knight bag a double in his 100th first grade game. Dorro was good at 10 and the O.Hs seem to be starting to find some form.
Was good to see Giltrap get an opportunity but he made some questionable decisions throughout the game which lead to turnovers and probably cost the Vikings some points.
Was interesting to see Leber playing in the Centres. Could this be a directive from Aussie 7s?
Kaino was tireless and got through a tone of work. He just needs some help around him.
All in all though a great game of footy.