Can anyone fill me in on the first 20 minutes and what caused the 13-0 score line ie missed tackles, penalties etc?
Well, you know my thoughts on the overall game from the other thread, but specifically related to the first 25 minutes (the period where the reds were 13 up) or so:
The rebels did not have a lot of possession during the first quarter of the game. What possession they got was kicked away to get out of their danger zone. Both lineouts were reasonably solid so that just gave possession away just over half way.
The rebels were penalised often in their defensive zone which led to a couple of failed attempts at goal and a failed attempt at a 5m lineout setup. These penalties were for off feet at ruck time, offside play, hands in the ruck, scrum collapses on both feeds etc, so the rebels have a bit to work on here.
What ball they got was through turnover from dropped ball, or through rucks where the ball would squeeze out sideways instead of behind the reds line, however the rebels rarely ran the ball during this period.
I thought the rebels defensive line was quite narrow and didn't really rush up to seal off wider channel play and the reds often tried to go around the outside man, but nothing eventuated.
Given how little of the ball the rebels had, and how little territory the rebels had it is no surprise that the rebels didn't have any points. When the rebels got down the other end, they scored and the game for the remainder of the 55-60 minutes was different to that first period.
How's that? Give you a mental picture?