Rebels vs. Waratahs - 2011R01

[BRIX]

All good posts. Can't really add too much from what has been said, however, I will say that last night is no real gauge on where this new franchise is headed. The waratahs played a clinical brand of rugby that was arguably good enough to beat the Bulls or Crusaders with.

Fret not fellas. These proud rebels will boast a few prized scalps by seasons end :thumb

 

[fatprop]

The positive things for the tahs for me were

Defense - they didn't panic, made some seriously aggressive hits gave no space to the rebels backs

Smarts - I haven't seen a Tahs side work over a side so well, they see a compressed defense, Mitchell takes the tram tracks, Beale joins the line to bring the winger in and Barnes kicks to the corner. Lipman taken off, Burgess runs the right line into the gap that no Lipman left

Unselfishness - great to see backs getting the ball to players in better positions instead of that final show boat

Strong set piece - shit the Rebels were on roller skates by the end at scrum time and never worried the Tahs lineout

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Have to applaud the Tahs coaching group here. Not necessarily for the performance on field as that's entirely down the players but for their planning and preparation in the off season. The bulking up policy and the speed and explosive power work with Matt Shirvington has given the Tahs pack in particular a level of confidence to really go after there opposition. I was watching via a SuperSport stream and got to see the analysis of the game from a SA POV. One thing that stuck was that they described the Tahs forward performance was Bulls-esque.

Let's hope they can build on the first game. The Link would have been watching last night and I dare say would be feeling decidingly less comfortable knowing the Tahs will be better for the hitout come next weekend.

 

[aussie1st]

The wheels really did fall off for the Rebels after the first 15 minutes. Interesting enough once James Hilgendorf went off the Rebels attack fell to pieces, they started dropping the ball and they weren't running the attacking lines that we saw earlier. Now I'm not blaming Cipriani for this but I don't see how a team can go from what the Rebels played in the first 15 minutes to how they finished, if anything it should be the other way around.

You could see the writing on the wall for the Rebels defence when the Waratahs scored the first opportunity they got in the Rebels half. This is one of the problems with the league converts as being thrust straight into the side, it'll take them awhile to adjust to the defence required for Union.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

The wheels really did fall off for the Rebels after the first 15 minutes. Interesting enough once James Hilgendorf went off the Rebels attack fell to pieces, they started dropping the ball and they weren't running the attacking lines that we saw earlier. Now I'm not blaming Cipriani for this but I don't see how a team can go from what the Rebels played in the first 15 minutes to how they finished, if anything it should be the other way around.

You could see the writing on the wall for the Rebels defence when the Waratahs scored the first opportunity they got in the Rebels half. This is one of the problems with the league converts as being thrust straight into the side, it'll take them awhile to adjust to the defence required for Union.

For Vuna maybe but Rooney has been playing Rugby for a few seasons now and should be familar with what he has to do in defence. I think he's quickly learning he's not in the Top14 anymore.

 

[Scarfman]

No, Burgess was not good. We don't need another loose forward, we already have 3! We need a haflback to throw the ball in front (rather than behind and above the head) of his fly-half. Barnes doesn't help things by not running onto the ball.

As I said on the blog page, I worry that the 9-10-12 combination is not going to have the go forward to win the competition.

Full credit to piggies and back 3. The new Tah game plan is the old Tah game plan PLUS score a couple of long range tries from the best back 3 in the competition. It's not a bad plan, actually.

 

[Scotty]

It is a winning game plan with the players they have. Could be a competition winning game plan, provided there limited injuries.

 

[en_force_er]

The Rebels were ok on attack but just terrible on defense, overlaps everywhere. Not 1 man overlaps that can be shut down with pressure either but 2 or 3 man overlaps.

Due to the poor defense the Rebels rarely got to show their decent attack and that's why they got thumped. The passion in D was their but the finesse was not.

Pluses were the Rebs dominated the scrum for periods over a very good scrummaging pack and Mortlock played his best game since 2008.

I'm not sour, good show from the Tahs and they made the Rebels look like a new professional side playing against title competitors.

 

[DPK]

No, Burgess was not good. We don't need another loose forward, we already have 3! We need a haflback to throw the ball in front (rather than behind and above the head) of his fly-half. Barnes doesn't help things by not running onto the ball.

So you mean there was nothing good about Burgess' game last night? Pretty cynical comment, Scarfie.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

The Rebels were ok on attack but just terrible on defense, overlaps everywhere. Not 1 man overlaps that can be shut down with pressure either but 2 or 3 man overlaps.

Due to the poor defense the Rebels rarely got to show their decent attack and that's why they got thumped. The passion in D was their but the finesse was not.

Pluses were the Rebs dominated the scrum for periods over a very good scrummaging pack and Mortlock played his best game since 2008.

I'd say largely ineffective. However, at the same time I would say the Tahs defensive effort was well structured and aggressive. Difficult to gauge exactly how potent the Rebs will be in attack from last night.

I'm not sour, good show from the Tahs and they made the Rebels look like a new professional side playing against title competitors.

I'd say largely ineffective in attack to be honest. I will note that the Tahs defensive efforts was well structured and aggressive, so it a hard one to gauge exactly how potentially dangerous in attack the Rebs are/will be. Still apart from a charge down they never looked threatening imo.

 

[fatprop]

No, Burgess was not good. We don't need another loose forward, we already have 3! We need a haflback to throw the ball in front (rather than behind and above the head) of his fly-half. Barnes doesn't help things by not running onto the ball.

As I said on the blog page, I worry that the 9-10-12 combination is not going to have the go forward to win the competition.

Full credit to piggies and back 3. The new Tah game plan is the old Tah game plan PLUS score a couple of long range tries from the best back 3 in the competition. It's not a bad plan, actually.

Disagree scarfie, you can find a better pass, but you lose the speed to the breakdown, the shattering defense and the clean out when needed.

The was a moment in the game when a forward was nearly isolated, Burgess instead of standing back and whinging, smashed the defenders and protected the ball until the forwards got there, his phsical pressense allows him to do that

Burgess also managed the tempo very well, fast when it was needed and slowed when they had to

Carter was also very good, he provided some neat short passes to supports, made good straightening yards and didn't pass to players not in a better position.

I thought Barnes played very well and controlled the game like a pro, probably his best game at 10 for the Tahs. But he is a unselfish unit who makes the players around him look good. I think he didn't play too flat because they wanted to go around the solid defense of Vuna and Mortlock, not through those channels.

 

[qwerty51]

Tom Carter is back to his 2008 self.

 

[Finsbury Girl]

Credit where credit's due, the 'Tahs were very impressive, albeit the Rebels seemingly gave up after half time. The first try (I think it was Mitchell) really seemed to knock the wind out of them. They showed plenty of endeavour for the 1st 30 mins but the tahs soaked up the pressure extremely well.

NSW defence very good and with the ball in hand (when they eventually got it) looked threatening. Rebels defence needs some work and they clearly need game time to gel as a team. Their forwards were good I thought, backs less so.

 

[RugbyFuture]

albeit the Rebels seemingly gave up after half time.

Half time? it was after the first quarter they started giving up, at the point of the first try.

 

[TOCC]

I personally wouldn't get overexcited with that win if i were a Tahs fan, it cant be ignored that this was the Rebels first time playing together in Super Rugby, it was the first time many of the players had played super rugby and there were even players making there professional rugby debut's..

The NSW deference was good, but it was against a very poor and confused attack, the NSW attack was decent but it was also at the expense of some players who aren't obviously up to the speed of the game(yet).

IMO, the best thing to come out of the game for the Tahs, was that it was quite physical up front, they got plenty of rucking and scrummaging experience out of that match.

 

[waratahjesus]

I personally wouldn't get overexcited with that win if i were a Tahs fan, it cant be ignored that this was the Rebels first time playing together in Super Rugby, it was the first time many of the players had played super rugby and there were even players making there professional rugby debut's..

The NSW deference was good, but it was against a very poor and confused attack, the NSW attack was decent but it was also at the expense of some players who aren't obviously up to the speed of the game(yet).

IMO, the best thing to come out of the game for the Tahs, was that it was quite physical up front, they got plenty of rucking and scrummaging experience out of that match.

not getting carried away, but i think the main thing as a tahs fan to take out of it was the composure and structure that they kept throughout. the tahs have traditionally taken a few weeks to get it together the past few years and they hit the ground running last night, that is worth getting excited about.

Barnes was fantastic last night and was clearly in charge of the direction the team was going in, i thought his decision making was fantastic and with waugh ripping it to shreds it was fantastic to watch.

next week will be the litmis test of the aussie conference, but we will wait to see if the reds have inproved on last year or if there going in with the same plan as last year cos the tahs have clearly worked hard with the strength/sprint aspect to be something better than they were

 

[qwerty51]

The best thing that came out of the match is that there were no serious injuries.

That match somewhat gave me positive feelings about the loss of Cliffy. Dennis, Mowen and Douglas all carried well.

 

[#1 Tah]

The best thing that came out of the match is that there were no serious injuries.

That match somewhat gave me positive feelings about the loss of Cliffy. Dennis, Mowen and Douglas all carried well.

I was at the hotel after the game, cliffy says he is starting to run this week, then will asses where he is at.

 

[Groucho]

The Rebels were ok on attack but just terrible on defense, overlaps everywhere. Not 1 man overlaps that can be shut down with pressure either but 2 or 3 man overlaps.

Due to the poor defense the Rebels rarely got to show their decent attack and that's why they got thumped. The passion in D was their but the finesse was not.

Pluses were the Rebs dominated the scrum for periods over a very good scrummaging pack and Mortlock played his best game since 2008.

I'm not sour, good show from the Tahs and they made the Rebels look like a new professional side playing against title competitors.

I thought Morty was badly out of touch.

 

[Spewn]

Burgess is good at slapping guys on the back, yelling positive crap into their ears, tackling, throwing poor passes, making good decisions and bad decisions at equal frequency, and growing a longer curly mop top than usual. Do all these positives make a good player? I don't know. I'll leave it to the rest.
PS he is nothing like an extra loose forward. Backrowers play nothing like that and shouldn't.