Reds v. Crusaders, May 29th, Suncorp - 2011R15

[Jets]

If the Reds had everyone available I would still have Lucas at 15 at the moment. His form is great. Tackles like a demon and has some good touches with the ball. Don't think he will be in the RWC squad but if he made it I wouldn't complain. Is better value than some big names going around.

 

[saulih]

So much BS about one friggin penalty... I rewatched the 2nd half and this is the way I saw it.

58:18 Fruen gets away with a cheap late shoulder barge on Tapuai
60:19 Whitelock gets away with a dangerous swinging arm, high on S. Fainga'a. Saia leaves field two minutes later - did that tackle effect him?
65:19 Knock-on by Guildford is missed by ref and TJ, gives way to the Saders throw-in - leads to pressure at Reds line - leads to penalty goal
69:13 Crusaders get away with forward pass

I have yet to understand the reason for the penalty against the Reds in the 73rd minute. The Saders hooker popped up, and the Reds overpowered the Saders from that point. The referee made some signal that I need someone to interpret for me...

The Saders should be thankful Dickinson gave them as much leeway as he did.

The above is said with tongue firmly in cheek.

There was a cleanout on Cooper at 70:38 by Carter that looked very much like the one put on the Highlanders player. It wasn't around the neck, but surely throwing someone in a judo style throw is risky?

Also at 66:16 there was a clean separation of the Saders maul that in other games I have seen pinged for obstruction ie truck and trailer. Why would this have not have been the case here? Just trying to understand.

 

[biggsy]

Keep them coming bigsy, Act 2 is running a little behind schedule....

He wasn't "warned all game". The team got a warning at the end of the 1st half after Whitelock went in on the side and McCaw infringed in an earlier ruck. So one penalty to McCaw at that point. Nothing unusual.

When the 2nd half started again it is not unusual for a ref to allow a clean slate for both teams.

I suggest you watch the game again, and also check out the 21st min in the 1st half, just have a look what happens with Richie mate. (should have been sent off) Then the Reds scored the next phase..So he lost the game twice for the Crusaders. Dickonson had enough of his shit.

Simple as that.

 

[Joe Mac]

I love it that the Kiwi's on this site that usually taunt the Australian's for always blaming the ref are well... Blaming the ref.

 

[hatman]

LOL. Kiwi's not only talk funny, they have a funny interpretation of the rules of rugby. Hope all other refs have a closer look at the antics of the loose fowards from over the dutch paticularly the no 7. McCaw is getting what he deserved - he plays to the limit of the rules & finally it is catching up with him because he is slowing down.

 

[Victorian Reds Fan]

If the Reds had everyone available I would still have Lucas at 15 at the moment. His form is great. Tackles like a demon and has some good touches with the ball. Don't think he will be in the RWC squad but if he made it I wouldn't complain. Is better value than some big names going around.

Completely agree.

 

[Victorian Reds Fan]

So much BS about one friggin penalty... I rewatched the 2nd half and this is the way I saw it.

58:18 Fruen gets away with a cheap late shoulder barge on Tapuai
60:19 Whitelock gets away with a dangerous swinging arm, high on S. Fainga'a. Saia leaves field two minutes later - did that tackle effect him?
65:19 Knock-on by Guildford is missed by ref and TJ, gives way to the Saders throw-in - leads to pressure at Reds line - leads to penalty goal
69:13 Crusaders get away with forward pass

I have yet to understand the reason for the penalty against the Reds in the 73rd minute. The Saders hooker popped up, and the Reds overpowered the Saders from that point. The referee made some signal that I need someone to interpret for me...

The Saders should be thankful Dickinson gave them as much leeway as he did.

The above is said with tongue firmly in cheek.

There was a cleanout on Cooper at 70:38 by Carter that looked very much like the one put on the Highlanders player. It wasn't around the neck, but surely throwing someone in a judo style throw is risky?

Also at 66:16 there was a clean separation of the Saders maul that in other games I have seen pinged for obstruction ie truck and trailer. Why would this have not have been the case here? Just trying to understand.

I thought the truck and trailer incident was blatantly obvious and said so at the time.

 

[biggsy]

LOL. Kiwi's not only talk funny, they have a funny interpretation of the rules of rugby. Hope all other refs have a closer look at the antics of the loose fowards from over the dutch paticularly the no 7. McCaw is getting what he deserved - he plays to the limit of the rules & finally it is catching up with him because he is slowing down.

Thats funny, good chuckle there. (Dutch)

 

[PaarlBok]

Hell the Reds were lucky to get a win out of this one. They can thank their lucky stars DickHeadSon had his one eye closed in this match. It was one of the most biased reffing I saw in this whole competition thus far and the Saders sure had the bad end of his desicions all game. All you can ask from a ref is to be consystant, in this match all his desintions at the breakdowns went the Reds way. If he want to ref in the final this way, only one team that can win this competition. This from a neutral in this match.

 

[saulih]

A Reds v Saders final would be a fun watch methinks. I wonder if there is any possibility...

 

[MajorlyRagerly]

LOL. Kiwi's not only talk funny, they have a funny interpretation of the rules of rugby. Hope all other refs have a closer look at the antics of the loose fowards from over the dutch paticularly the no 7. McCaw is getting what he deserved - he plays to the limit of the rules & finally it is catching up with him because he is slowing down.

Awesome post, adds a new dimension to the discussion! Perhaps McCaw plays the way he does as he doesn't understand when the ref is warning him due to the way the perfectly accented Stu Dickinson speaks. Yeah, that must be it!

 

[biggsy]

A Reds v Saders final would be a fun watch methinks. I wonder if there is any possibility...

If we dont see them in the semis, but Im not to sure how its going to work out yet. I still pumped we made the Finals. And won last night against the Saders again,
Home semi will top it off and G.F will be even better.

 

[Ruggo]

Hell the Reds were lucky to get a win out of this one. They can thank their lucky stars DickHeadSon had his one eye closed in this match. It was one of the most biased reffing I saw in this whole competition thus far and the Saders sure had the bad end of his desicions all game. All you can ask from a ref is to be consystant, in this match all his desintions at the breakdowns went the Reds way. If he want to ref in the final this way, only one team that can win this competition. This from a neutral in this match.

The only refs I want let anywhere near the final are Mark Lawrence, Jaco Peyper or Vinnie Munro. Glen Jackson was good in the Force vs Canes match also. That former players perspective will help him become a bloody dood ref over time. The young fella who reffed the Brumbies vs Force game the other week was also very good.

I am not buying into all this mumble about the ref. It is very clear the Reds did enough to win it. Cooper's off day with the boot masked that a bit.

 

[PaarlBok]

The only refs I want let anywhere near the final are Mark Lawrence, Jaco Peyper or Vinnie Munro. Glen Jackson was good in the Force vs Canes match also. That former players perspective will help him become a bloody dood ref over time. The young fella who reffed the Brumbies vs Force game the other week was also very good.

I am not buying into all this mumble about the ref. It is very clear the Reds did enough to win it. Cooper's off day with the boot masked that a bit.

Ian Smith. He impressed me in the CC last year I think? Look the Reds win help the Stormers , like I said I am a neutral but the constant complaining here about SA refs on here, I thought I'll strick into DickHeadSon who was pretty poor yesterday.

 

[spectator]

It was a pleasure to be at Suncorp yesterday. Massive crowd, great atmosphere and a thrilling game to be a spectator at. Haven't read all the posts on here but my observations were:

- Genia is the absolute man. The ground he covered cleaning up was incredible. He is absolutely crucial to the Reds championship hopes.
- Carter is absolute class. Reads the game brilliantly and has the skillset to execute what he is thinking.
- Cooper got the Reds out of jail with displays of audacious talent that only he posesses.
- If Samo ain't in the picture as a contender for the Wallaby 8. position then something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
- The defence of the Reds centre pairing yesterday was outstanding. How big was the Crusader pairing?

Two great teams who will feature strongly at the business end.

 

[Bowside]

The only refs I want let anywhere near the final are Mark Lawrence, Jaco Peyper or Vinnie Munro. Glen Jackson was good in the Force vs Canes match also. That former players perspective will help him become a bloody dood ref over time. The young fella who reffed the Brumbies vs Force game the other week was also very good.

I am not buying into all this mumble about the ref. It is very clear the Reds did enough to win it. Cooper's off day with the boot masked that a bit.

Please no Munro.

Mark Lawrence best ref in the world should get the gig. He does his country proud every time he blows the whistle.

 

[Ali's Choice]

Okay, time for me to share my thoughts on the game. I am not going to discuss Stu Dickenson, that has been done ad nauseam across the interweb over the past 24 hours.

I thought that was a fantastic game of Rugby. Both teams played with 100% commitment, and IMO the contest lived up to the hype and expectation. The Reds proved to their few remaining doubters that they are the real deal, and the Crusaders showed that they are once again in the top few teams of the comp.

I think the Crusaders will greatly rue their inability to capitalise on a couple of genuine try scoring opportunities. Sure they were missing Maitland and Dagg, but the way they squandered the Willie Heinz break in particular was inexcusable. I counted three support players as well as Heinz against a solitary Reds defender only metres from the tryline. You'd expect most under 12s teams to have scored the try. Overall, I thought the Crusaders attack was as poor as it has been all season. How many times did SBW or Carter recieve a pass, only to almost come to a complete stop before ambling a few steps for a pass, or deciding late that they would run the ball but struggle to make headway because they were starting flat-footed? Tom Marshall is a honest trier, but made several poor decisions at key moments. That's not to blame him completely, he wasn't in our main squad this season and is only getting game time because Dagg and 2nd choice fullback Maitland are both out. Ward is another solid but limited player. The slowest winger in S15 replacing the fastest (Maitland).

The Reds will be concerned about how badly their set piece fell away. Their scrum was expected to struggle, but what surpised me was their lineout. Saia Fainga'a seemed to lose all confidence in his throwing, and this had a flow on effect through the entire lineout.

I thought both teams contested well at the breakdown. Both teams defended well and both teams were arguably below their best in attack. The much discussed match up between Cooper and Carter provided no surpises. QC (Quade Cooper) displayed moments of sheer brilliance, bordering on rugby-genius, whereas Carter was the more solid of the two, and was by far the better kicker.

As a Crusaders fan, I was absolutely gutted last night. But I have recovered. TBH, finishing in the top 3 is not a big issue for us. We can't play at AMI stadium anyway, so we were always going to be playing an 'away' final. Equally, our horrendus season of weekly out of flights out of Christchurch means we are arguably better prepared to travel for a final than any other team in SANZAR. Moreover, I think the Crusaders players will be gutted after that loss, and if these two teams do meet again I expect them to lift their intensity levels even more.

Prior to the match, I predicted that the key and match determining match up could be Genia vs Heinz. I don't want to pretend to be a Nostradamus, but IMO that prediction came to fruition. Will Genia is arguably the form no.9 in world rugby, and his leadership and all round skillset were vitally important to QLD's effort. In contrast Willie Heinz is an honest but limited club player, who is our 3rd ranker halfback but arguably should be our 4th choice given that quality player Steve Alfeld was on the bench on Sunday. Heinz crumbled under the pressure, blew a certain try and overall his service was as bad as I've seen at pro level in a very long time.

 

[Ignoto]

Well put Ali and I agree on nearly all your points.

I completely think our line outs fell to pieces, with the Crusaders putting so much pressure on our ball, why didn't the Reds opt for a very short line out?

One thing I think is the Reds were a bit hard done by in the scrums, the Crusaders No 1 was either not binding and resting an arm on the ground or starting on an angle before engaging. Stu did pick up on the bind every now and then, but it was clear that there was boring going on (credit to him).

The Crusaders had a dominate scrum, but it wasn't as dominate as most try and claim.

 

[Ali's Choice]

The Crusaders had a dominate scrum, but it wasn't as dominate as most try and claim.

I agree. It was dominant without being match definingly(is that a word??) dominant. In saying that, the final scrum penalty Carter kicked could have cost the Reds the game.

 

[Victorian Reds Fan]

Okay, time for me to share my thoughts on the game. I am not going to discuss Stu Dickenson, that has been done ad nauseam across the interweb over the past 24 hours.

I thought that was a fantastic game of Rugby. Both teams played with 100% commitment, and IMO the contest lived up to the hype and expectation. The Reds proved to their few remaining doubters that they are the real deal, and the Crusaders showed that they are once again in the top few teams of the comp.

I think the Crusaders will greatly rue their inability to capitalise on a couple of genuine try scoring opportunities. Sure they were missing Maitland and Dagg, but the way they squandered the Willie Heinz break in particular was inexcusable. I counted three support players as well as Heinz against a solitary Reds defender only metres from the tryline. You'd expect most under 12s teams to have scored the try. Overall, I thought the Crusaders attack was as poor as it has been all season. How many times did SBW or Carter recieve a pass, only to almost come to a complete stop before ambling a few steps for a pass, or deciding late that they would run the ball but struggle to make headway because they were starting flat-footed? Tom Marshall is a honest trier, but made several poor decisions at key moments. That's not to blame him completely, he wasn't in our main squad this season and is only getting game time because Dagg and 2nd choice fullback Maitland are both out. Ward is another solid but limited player. The slowest winger in S15 replacing the fastest (Maitland).

The Reds will be concerned about how badly their set piece fell away. Their scrum was expected to struggle, but what surpised me was their lineout. Saia Fainga'a seemed to lose all confidence in his throwing, and this had a flow on effect through the entire lineout.

I thought both teams contested well at the breakdown. Both teams defended well and both teams were arguably below their best in attack. The much discussed match up between Cooper and Carter provided no surpises. QC (Quade Cooper) displayed moments of sheer brilliance, bordering on rugby-genius, whereas Carter was the more solid of the two, and was by far the better kicker.

As a Crusaders fan, I was absolutely gutted last night. But I have recovered. TBH, finishing in the top 3 is not a big issue for us. We can't play at AMI stadium anyway, so we were always going to be playing an 'away' final. Equally, our horrendus season of weekly out of flights out of Christchurch means we are arguably better prepared to travel for a final than any other team in SANZAR. Moreover, I think the Crusaders players will be gutted after that loss, and if these two teams do meet again I expect them to lift their intensity levels even more.

Prior to the match, I predicted that the key and match determining match up could be Genia vs Heinz. I don't want to pretend to be a Nostradamus, but IMO that prediction came to fruition. Will Genia is arguably the form no.9 in world rugby, and his leadership and all round skillset were vitally important to QLD's effort. In contrast Willie Heinz is an honest but limited club player, who is our 3rd ranker halfback but arguably should be our 4th choice given that quality player Steve Alfeld was on the bench on Sunday. Heinz crumbled under the pressure, blew a certain try and overall his service was as bad as I've seen at pro level in a very long time.

Top post. I think with someone more accomplished at 9 you would have won.