Reds vs Brumbies, Lang Park, 2nd March 2018 @ 7:00pm AEST

[wamberal]

Gee this is amazing. I actually thought it was a good game to watch, admittedly, from the comfort of our living room, and on record so that I could fast forward the many lengthy stoppages.


But it is an inescapable fact that at this level the cuzzy boys are playing a totally different game to us.


How many of our teams will snag a win against the buggers? Less than one would still be my pick. Once upon a time the Auckblues were a gimme, now they are a got ya.

 

[Scoey]

A brave call to replace Paia’aua so early with Daugunu. What was the logic?

Im only guessing but I was horrified last night when Duncan was subbed seemingly uninjured.
My only thought was that Thorn thought our best option to close the game out was to switch to a big pair of centres. I think (could be wrong) that when Daugunu came on, Kerevi went to 12, CFS went to 13 and Daugunu took the wing spot.

 

[Gnostic]

I'm not having a go at you by any means, but I think we need to look at the scrum as a whole and not a component part. Maybe, when paired with different front rowers, second rowers etc, he might be just fine. Scrum struggles are seldom the fault of a single player, although they often seem to get attributed thus. But it highlights even more than ever, the benefit of the Kiwi centralised model with scrum coaching they adopted years back. We are still seeing front rowers at provincial level being swapped this way and that from year to year, and sometimes level to level which seems counter-intuitive to me.

Got to agree Cyclo, and the key if the front rows are equal is the locks. I really don't rate Carter that highly and despite the flaws in many aspects of his game Douglas is a rock in the scrum. I have been reliably informed that Simmons, as derisive as I have been about his play is also one of the better scrummaging locks in Australia. Then add in the backrows and coaching and it appeared that the Reds kept focus and tight while the Brumbies lost some shape.

Last week I commented how Tupou was exposed at TH and it is telling that when Alexander was totally unable to exert any sort of dominance of a prop many years his junior and very inexperienced.

 

[liquor box]

Got to agree Cyclo, and the key if the front rows are equal is the locks. I really don't rate Carter that highly and despite the flaws in many aspects of his game Douglas is a rock in the scrum. I have been reliably informed that Simmons, as derisive as I have been about his play is also one of the better scrummaging locks in Australia. Then add in the backrows and coaching and it appeared that the Reds kept focus and tight while the Brumbies lost some shape.

Last week I commented how Tupou was exposed at TH and it is telling that when Alexander was totally unable to exert any sort of dominance of a prop many years his junior and very inexperienced.

Last week Tupou only had a second rower to offer assistance as most of the game CFS was used on the loose side of the scrum, when he did have CFS behind him he was not really in great body position (still better than Hoopers assistance to his props).

 

[Scrubber2050]

I went to the game and thoroughly enjoyed it,. It was close and MY team won.

It certainly was far from a perfect game of rugby but all actually are.

Those "rusted on supporters" whether at the game or not got some return on investment.
Great to see.

The team seemed a team.

Keep it going lads !

 

[Hawko]

So the skills were down on the NZ teams! So what? This is round 2 and there is a long way to go. The skill levels should improve by round 5/6 with more time together.

What I did see last night was great intensity, from both teams. If you carried, you knew you were going to get hit; hard. I thought Naisarani was below par last night because he was put under immense pressure. Occasionally I thought the linespeed was a bit below what it could be, but not always.

The Brumbies play a style that makes other teams look bad. Watch any Brumbies - Tahs game to see what I mean. If Foley, Beale and Izzy are going to be made to look pedestrian then a team of Reds youngsters will struggle to shine. What the Reds did was just to dig in and resort to trench warfare and it worked. My theory is that if you use trench warfare back on the Brumbies they don't like it very much and can easily lose as they did against the Reds.

Reds didn't score a try but were clearly the better team.

Those thinking Stewart and Lance are pretty equal need to think again. Lance was immense, one of the stars. I'd list the QLD best five in no particular order as Lance, CFS, Tupou, Douglas and Smith. And Toua surprised me.

For the Brumbies, Arnold was good but a stricter ref will card him for missiling into the ruck, Powell, McCaffrey, Godwin and Banks were best. But for a team with their backline to think the only way to score is rolling mauls and forward charges is pretty dire.

 

[Zero_Cool]

S
Those thinking Stewart and Lance are pretty equal need to think again. Lance was immense, one of the stars. I'd list the QLD best five in no particular order as Lance, CFS, Tupou, Douglas and Smith. And Toua surprised me.

Re Stewart, he looked very good in the trial games and Brisbane 10's. It's tough to really say how much distance there is between Stewart and Lance. For me it isn't so much that Stewart is the outright better player, but I think he is going to enhance the backline better linking between Tuttle, and Paia'aua, Kerevi, CFS etc.

I think Lance would do better at 15 with Toua moving into 14 (playing an Israel Dagg type role, as a second fullback). To my mind most of the time when the backs tried to do anything the attack would stall while it was in the hands of Lance. We had Paia'aua play first receiver a few times and that didn't appear to suffer from that stall. I think Lance to 15 would be a brilliant move allowing him to keep to his strengths and at least trying someone else to fill the role of distributor.

My backline would be some think like: Tuttle, Stewart, Toua, Paia'aua, Kerevi, CFS, Lance.

 

[Brumby Runner]

It may be fruitless, but from a Wallabies' perspective I hope the Reds keep Lance at 10. I have long believed he is a similar but better 10 than Foley, and I hope he can prove the point this year. Especially if Christian L is moved to 12 by the Brumbies which I suspect is on the cards.

 

[TOCC]

I never expected Stewart to start at 10 in the first few rounds this season, it’s a position which requires maturity and experience..and whilst I agree he is a very talented kid, I think he he better served learning his trade off the bench rather then being thrown into running the backline, and more broadly the teams gameplay. Perhaps if the Reds had a Genia or similar st scrumhalf it would be a different story, but Tuttle is also still learning his game management and isn’t quite yet the commanding Super Rugby scrumhalf.

 

[liquor box]

So the skills were down on the NZ teams! So what? This is round 2 and there is a long way to go. The skill levels should improve by round 5/6 with more time together.

You only have to beat a team from another conference three time to win the competition, winning the conference is the first obstacle.

We have moths to unleash a win against SA or NZ opponants

 

[Scrubber2050]

Re Stewart, he looked very good in the trial games and Brisbane 10's. It's tough to really say how much distance there is between Stewart and Lance. For me it isn't so much that Stewart is the outright better player, but I think he is going to enhance the backline better linking between Tuttle, and Paia'aua, Kerevi, CFS etc.

I think Lance would do better at 15 with Toua moving into 14 (playing an Israel Dagg type role, as a second fullback). To my mind most of the time when the backs tried to do anything the attack would stall while it was in the hands of Lance. We had Paia'aua play first receiver a few times and that didn't appear to suffer from that stall. I think Lance to 15 would be a brilliant move allowing him to keep to his strengths and at least trying someone else to fill the role of distributor.

My backline would be some think like: Tuttle, Stewart, Toua, Paia'aua, Kerevi, CFS, Lance.

Old story of why change something that ain't broke.

Lance is doing very well over the past 2 games/ Stewart will get his shot as a starter and hopefully grabs it with both hands.
Bring the kid on gently. He will be the starter next year forsure.

 

[Zero_Cool]

He will be the starter next year forsure.

I hope so! I think we literally won't have an alternative next year.

 

[glass half full]

Your eggs are obviously all in one basket ZC, but trust me, Stewart will get his chances this season, and if he is the messiah that you make him out to be then fantastic. I do hope he gets some game time soon but don’t think the circumstances in either game so far have lent themselves to that opportunity.

At present the preference on blooding the young forwards to add some real depth where it is needed most seems an appropriate one.

 

[Ruggo]

Reds defense, set piece and sense of urgency were outstanding. The sad part was the inability to really have a crack in attack. Watching live was a bit melancholy because you could see where Quade would of made the most of our dominance in other areas of the game. We were mediocre with a lot of front foot ball.

Time to bury the hatchet Brad. The bloke has a valuable place in the side, like it or not.

 

[bloodred]

We lost all momentum when Joe Powell went off.

You must have watched a different game, although I thought Powell had a good game

 

[Sully]

The penalty count was 13 to 5. It's hard to score tries when the other team would rather give away penalties than play rugby.

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[glass half full]

The penalty count was 13 to 5. It's hard to score tries when the other team would rather give away penalties than play rugby.

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Agreed. Taking three points each time created a buffer that was good enough in the end. They may have scored tries if they had kicked for the corners or packed a scrum but whose to know, and how often does that strategy come undone.

I can’t imagine the high octane bleating that would be going on now if the kicks weren’t taken and tries hadn’t resulted.

 

[wamberal]

I actually thought that the Reds were pretty lethal in attack in the first period of the game. Got over the line, woulda coulda shoulda.


The thing about Quade is that he cannot fit into any kind of structured environment. Wonderful player, in the right team, with the right coach.


This is not the right team, and Thorn is most assuredly not the right coach.

 

[liquor box]

Agreed. Taking three points each time created a buffer that was good enough in the end. They may have scored tries if they had kicked for the corners or packed a scrum but whose to know, and how often does that strategy come undone.

I can’t imagine the high octane bleating that would be going on now if the kicks weren’t taken and tries hadn’t resulted.

I have long thought that Australian Rugby should take more field goal attempts to win games (I hate seeing though).

I think if you took 3 points every time you got within 25 meters of the try line you would get more points than going for tries. I dont think the SA or NZ teams ruin chances as often as the Australian teams either through dropping the ball or being held up.

I dont want to watch rugby played this way but I am surprised it does not happen to get wins

 

[Wilson]

I have long thought that Australian Rugby should take more field goal attempts to win games (I hate seeing though).

I've always held this opinion and think it can actually help in unlocking defences for tries aswell.

When teams become aware of the threat, particularly of you're taking shots often and early, the adjust the way they defend to counter the threat. This leads to openings elsewhere.

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