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lou75
Ron Walden (29)
Are you suggesting a front of jersey sponsor?
I would think so, yes. Speculation level: Wild, but would seem a VERY good time to announce it. As for leads, I got nothing. I noticed Yakault signed in as a partner again the other day. So some positive signs.
lou75
Ron Walden (29)
Yes I saw that - that continues their sponsorship with post signage - so not a major sponsor
Still, better than a kick in the nuts.
D
daz
Guest
Have you tasted Yakult? I’ll take a boot in the nads every time.
James Pettifer
Jim Clark (26)
Well that seemed to be a pretty bad trial game from the Rebels. I remember the high hopes from last year which were dented by the poor performance in the trial games before being mercilessly crushed during the start of the season. Perhaps a little bit nervous that we will see a repeat.
Zero_Cool
Arch Winning (36)
I watched the first half quite closely, and quite a bit of the second half (I think it got out to 25-5 or something and watched the Reds). Thinking about the first hourish of that game. The scores were 5-all at half time. The discipline in the first half was truly awful from both sides. Scrum and Lineout were solid. Forwards in general were solid however had a few weaknesses, forward pods organisations was extremely poor, too many forward runners, forward runners were too narrow. The backs didn't get enough ball to really see too much but from what little they did get. Debreczeni is not a solution to a Super Rugby flyhalf question (maybe there is a quality fly half kicking around, having been discarded by another super team, maybe playing club rugby... who could slot into their backline). Otherwise maybe you'll have to play Hodge at 10 (still not ideal IMO). I don't know can Goddard play 10. Frankly I think unless Wessels can figure out some solution to the 10 situation, the rest of the backline (that should be very good) is going to be left languishing. Not super keen on how Ruru manages a game, he was probably a big part of the reason the Forwards were too narrow in attack. Then the guys we hardly saw in attack -- Tom English, Jack Maddocks, Dane Haylett-Petty. They were good on the counter attack but that's somewhat difficult to build your attack around. The biggest factor in the Rebels being, the Rebels was that they were very disjointed. First half they clearly had the better 15, there would have been maybe 5 positions the Waratahs would have had the clearly better player yet they were the opposite of the Force last year getting out of that tallent much less than they tallent would suggest is there.
Mr Wobbly
Alan Cameron (40)
Best of luck to him in Japan. Shame though, another guy that spent most of his contract injured or in team rehab.
Tex
Greg Davis (50)
This is probably why a probiotic might be good for you!
Rebels3
Jim Lenehan (48)
On last night......
Our 9-10 were playing completely different games and were equally at fault for how the team played. On saying that i don't think either of them were what you'd consider as 'bad'.
Ruru struggled to get his forwards hitting onto the ball and JD was over structured/premeditated at 10, which against an incredibly aggressive and quick defense was a recipe for disaster.
But at the end of the day it was a trial and trials are designed to work on structures, patterns and cohesion.
The other facet was the lack of link man between the forwards and backs. If the forwards aren't going to play off the 9 to generate front foot ball, i don't see the point in picking the back row make up that was picked. We need a forward that is capable of taking it to the line or throwing a pass out the back to the second man, just to mix things up abit and occassionally fix opposition defenders and make them hesitate/think a little more. It was all a little bit one dimensional and was relying on physicality over brains.
On the second stringers that came on between both teams, one set of players looked like they had a run out in a competitive environment and the others looked like they had returned to a game situation for the first time in 6 months. Or in other words we missed a trick not sending a bunch of players to the 10s. It might be just a preseason tournament but it gets the brain thinking in real rugby situations again.
Like i said it's only a trial, the team will be judged on next week.
Our 9-10 were playing completely different games and were equally at fault for how the team played. On saying that i don't think either of them were what you'd consider as 'bad'.
Ruru struggled to get his forwards hitting onto the ball and JD was over structured/premeditated at 10, which against an incredibly aggressive and quick defense was a recipe for disaster.
But at the end of the day it was a trial and trials are designed to work on structures, patterns and cohesion.
The other facet was the lack of link man between the forwards and backs. If the forwards aren't going to play off the 9 to generate front foot ball, i don't see the point in picking the back row make up that was picked. We need a forward that is capable of taking it to the line or throwing a pass out the back to the second man, just to mix things up abit and occassionally fix opposition defenders and make them hesitate/think a little more. It was all a little bit one dimensional and was relying on physicality over brains.
On the second stringers that came on between both teams, one set of players looked like they had a run out in a competitive environment and the others looked like they had returned to a game situation for the first time in 6 months. Or in other words we missed a trick not sending a bunch of players to the 10s. It might be just a preseason tournament but it gets the brain thinking in real rugby situations again.
Like i said it's only a trial, the team will be judged on next week.
Tex
Greg Davis (50)
Makes sense. Tahs were running us ragged at that stage.
D
daz
Guest
Trial game, wait for the real thing, etc, etc.
I absolutely agree with that.
But if I was to single out just one little thing from this trial, can I ask that this thought be filed away pending the season proper - Note that Ruru's first inclination in attack was to BOX-KICK THE FUCKING PILL AWAY. With the Rebels, it truly appears that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyway, let's wait for next week.
I absolutely agree with that.
But if I was to single out just one little thing from this trial, can I ask that this thought be filed away pending the season proper - Note that Ruru's first inclination in attack was to BOX-KICK THE FUCKING PILL AWAY. With the Rebels, it truly appears that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyway, let's wait for next week.
D
daz
Guest
Interesting point Tex. Having watched the trial, it did appear that the Rebels ran out of steam at around the 65 minute mark, give or take. I understand that they were scrambling to cover the loss of 2 players for 10 minutes which would have taken a toll, but there was a huge focus on fitness in the pre-season. The boys certainly looked like they were being thrashed in training. Is it possible that they are still massively under-cooked leading into round 1?
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