Phippriani worked very well together.
:lmao: :lmao:
Gold that.
I usually watch the Super games a couple of hours delayed which is particularly useful when an Oz team is having a bit of a shocker, or SAffer teams are swapping penalties and the rugby is poor, and I can fast forward a bit.
I had just started that method when the Rebels came back. Oh ye of little faith said I to myself.
Who would want to be a coach? Macqueen must have feared a repeat of the Reds result at one point. As at Suncorp his mob were hanging back waiting for attackers which is a recipe to generate missed tackles because reaction, mostly too late, is required when you wait.
Then when the Rebels started to play he must have thought: "Why didn't they play like that from the kick off, and last week?"
Hammet must have been appalled when the Blues put three tries on the Canes last week when Hore was in the bin at the end of the game; so he wouldn't have been completely at ease even 17-0 ahead last night. But even he would have been surprised at their lack of skill and especially their poor handling.
Even in their pomp, in the first 15 minutes, they dropped the ball a lot. I hope the Canes bought the beers for Conrad Smith and Victor Vito after the game. Jane was very poor and should have opened his wallet.
There were, mainly, two schools of thought on whether or not the advent of the Rebels was a good or bad thing for Oz rugby.
On the one hand some folks were saying that manning the new team would detract from the effect of the existing four teams and it was better to have 4 competitive teams than 5 weakened ones.
On the other hand some folks said that SANZAR was financing a defacto Oz domestic competition and that 25% more Aussies would be playing pro rugby every weekend (at least after the excess foreigners left). This would see the return of a few players from overseas and, more importantly, stop some wannabies going in the first place.
Despite squads being weakened somewhat in depth only Mortlock of the 16 Aussies in the Rebels 22 last night was likely to have started this weekend in the old S14 format. Also, fellows like Phipps and Vuna are becoming valid candidates for the Wallaby squad, yet they would likely not be starting for the other 4 teams had the Rebels not been added. Vuna would probably still be running around for the Knights (and Saffy for the Dragons) in the NRL.
And you never know: the scrummaging of Blake could attract attention too.
But I digress.