Reds vs Crusaders Super Rugby Rd11 2012

[ACT Crusader]

I think the Reds played with great eagerness and spirit. Diggers involvement and i also think the work in the tight by the front row were excellent. Gill and Higgers were also good. I can't say if they're back, but IMO they were a lot more active in contact, there was better alignment in phase play which helped immensely when they got quick ball.

But they lacked that finishing touch today and for whatever reason they could only get only 11 points today.

I was very disappointed with my team. The Saders error rate was exceptionally high and I fully expected the Reds to capitalise but for whatever reason they were unable to today.

What was concerning from our game was Fruen was ineffectual, Ellis looked buggered and in need of a rest, our back 3 was sketchy, G Whitelock and Todd were largely nonexistent.

Our forward/back linking didn't click and I think the Reds pressure was very good in breaking us down. Read has been in sensational form the last 5 games, but was quiet. Guildford was the best I've seen him play - all round effort - that is.

Didn't mind the work of our front row in general play and Whitelock was also good.

All in all it was a scrappy affair, but it was pretty intense and exciting I thought.

 

[Riptide]

I haven't seen it mentioned (correct me if I'm wrong), but the Reds' recent spate of good form really has come from Digby's return. His work rate and defence are phenomenal, but his mere presence on the park is a massive threat in attack. Some players are said to have this quality (SBW and Freuan are the first two that come to mind), but only Digby lives up to the reputation of being a game changer, week in, week out. If he develops a boot for a good return kick he'll be the ultimate winger, but I wouldn't want that to be at the expense of his dangerous return game.

5 Reds really impressed me today - Higginbotham, Gill, Lucas, Harris (apart from his off day with the boot) and, scrumming aside, Hanson. Hanson's work rate in the first half was exceptional and his try was a nice early reward for the hard work that would follow. Shipperley also looked solid, and Genia is returning to form.

With the injuries to Lilo and O'Connor, would seeing Lucas in a gold 10 jumper really be that much of a stretch? Credit where credit's due, he's played very well at 10 this year. While nowhere near the player JOC (James O'Connor) is, Lucas is a solid option - rarely gets beaten in defence, a solid, if not overwhelming, kicking game, and makes 95% of the right options in attack.

I liked much about this post and found myself nodding away like a bobble head doll while reading it.

I think it may be premature to promote Lucas on the back of a few outings but there aren't many alternatives.

 

[Athilnaur]

Without saying the reds were ripped off, I'd say most everyone would agree that:

- reds are back (where were you?), far from perfect but at least recognisable as the Reds who won in 2011;
- saders dead lucky to squeeze out that win, their cage got well and truly rattled; and
- we all know BL is a Random.Number.Generator. Awful. A disgrace that renders what should be thrilling encounters all too often into a spectacle where we wonder what he was thinking.

A poster boy for what non rugby fans hate about union.

 

[Bruwheresmycar]

If the reds blame the ref they'll ignore the real issues from tonight and lose by 6 points next week at the expense of a few scrum (and silly ruck infringement) penalties.

 

[Dan54]

I thought the Reds played bloody well, perhaps didn't have the killer edge to finish things, but looks like it's coming. I was real impressed with Higgers who is making me eat a few words, and boy isn't Gill looking the goods. Oh and FFS boys about the ref isn,t it deja-vu, only last year it was Crusaders saying bloody Stu Dickinson!!

 

[Scotty]

If the reds blame the ref they'll ignore the real issues from tonight and lose by 6 points next week at the expense of a few scrum (and silly ruck infringement) penalties.

You really love being contrary don't you?

Do you think the reds players are now all sitting around whinging about Lawrence. Maybe the the odd comment or two but most of their talk would be about their inconsistent scrum, handling errors and inability to catch a high ball (higginbotham was the only one that caught one all game).

 

[Schadenfreude]

I don't understand why it's unacceptable to point out a completely incompetent referee, who has been terrible for quite some time, if you lose a game.

He may not have caused the Reds lose, but if the laws aren't applied fairly, evenly, and consistently, then rugby loses.

You may say "play the referee" but if he isn't consistent that's impossible.

 

[Scotty]

I was watching the game with a mate and he commented early on one Lawrence penalty 'gee he is pedantic'. He had missed a few other penalties along similar lines and then blew another pedantic one about 10 later. I said 'it is ok to be pedantic, but he has to be consistent'.

Sure enough 5 minutes later a similar thing happens and the kiwi commentators say the same thing 'he is applying law 18a, part 2, but he doesn't do it consistently' or something similar.

This is the two main issues with him:
1. He isn't consistent (see mccaw winning a penalty despite coming in from the side and not supporting his own weight, or the saders getting several penalties at the scrum when they popped our scrum, yet when Flynn was the first to pop he didn't give a penalty to the reds)

2. He blows penalties that are overly pedantic and greatly affect the flow of the game.

 

[suckerforred]

OK. I bitched about the ref yesterday too, and will have a little bitch here. Random number generator - love the comment but I think a random number generator will be more predictable than one BL. Random penality generator - Yes, yes yes yes yes yes yes no yes yes yes yes. For those people who are chuckling at us Aussies for bitching about BL... Can I please remind you that the most common response I heard from Aussie supporters after the RWC Semi was - "Yep he is crap and we have been telling you that for years and you have been telling us to suck it up and get over. How about you do the same? Bloody hard to do when you loose because of his dodgy calls hey?" Now some of his calls were fine, but you know he is having a bad game when Kiwi commentators are saying that he got calls against the reds wrong. And I love the times when neither team pick up the ball after the whistle as neither of them know who the penality was against let alone what it was for. Anyway that is enough about him....
It was a bloody exciting game! There were errors on both sides that could have cost them the game, and in the Reds case did. But you can see the improvement in the Reds and hopefully they are on their way home. Having left their run a bit late though I think that they are going to have a tough time to reach the finals, and if they do, a tough time in the finals. But I will be there shouting and screaming all the way!!!!

All was not lost. I tipped the Saders and had Tom Taylor, Higgers and Shipperly in my Fantsay side.

 

[spectator]

Crusaders got lucky. Weren't at their best and got the better of the bounce regarding the ref's calls, but that's what good teams do, grind away and find a way to win.

That was a much, much, much better effort from the Redsand one that will have supporters a lot more buoyant. To keep the Saders tryless is no mean feat. Defense has been improving every week since the Force debacle and arguably tighter than anyone elses now. Ant Fainga'a makes an enormous difference to the team. Apart from his great defence and straight running, he brings great direction to the young backline. Love hearing his incessant high pitched yapping!

Apart from Harris' radar boot gone missing, I thought we missed a really good opportunity to seal the deal when Shipperley failed to give the inside ball to a motoring Morahan. And Davies' indecision at the end of the game killed things off completely. As others have said, Gill's penalty was 50/50 but a little inconsistent with earlier calls.

Good performances across the park from the Reds. If they can bring that intensity to Suncorp next week it could be an enormous game.

 

[RedsHappy]

Just a btw: I have a number of rugby friends who know Harris right through his NZ history, and unfortunately they believe that the Harris we are seeing now is the one they saw then: not a great player, not a greater passer or worker of the ball, and a 70-ish% good but not outstanding kicker over time.

Just saying as you cannot kick as he did yesterday and expect to win very close games v top teams that have kickers like Taylor and Steyn and Grant.

There is also a school of thought that "Chook" Fowler (let go by Reds after Rnd 4) as Reds' kicking coach played a big role in further improving Harris' place kicking. Interesting that the Harris kicking miss in Durban against the Sharks (pre Harris' injury that game) was where the downward kicking % trend started for Harris, statistically speaking.

What I think we can say is that if his place % and kicking from hand accuracy don't improve back to something near our early Rounds standards, we'll have zero chance of catching the Brums to head the Aus Conf, a tough enough task already when you look at the games we play from now on.

 

[fatprop]

I thought the Reds played bloody well, perhaps didn't have the killer edge to finish things, but looks like it's coming. I was real impressed with Higgers who is making me eat a few words, and boy isn't Gill looking the goods. Oh and FFS boys about the ref isn,t it deja-vu, only last year it was Crusaders saying bloody Stu Dickinson!!

Yeah, Higgers ran well out wide, Gill looks be in a "Phil Waugh" style of 7, combative and pugnacious but not great ball in hand.

I thought the ref was equally crap to both sides

 

[Scotty]

I thought Harris worked pretty hard off the ball and was very good in defence. Pretty sure he also won a few turnovers at the ruck. He will keep his spot anyway, since taps is out for an extended period.

 

[Sully]

You really love being contrary don't you?

Do you think the reds players are now all sitting around whinging about Lawrence. Maybe the the odd comment or two but most of their talk would be about their inconsistent scrum, handling errors and inability to catch a high ball (higginbotham was the only one that caught one all game).

They may be wondering how the fuck Ben Franks got away with propping with one hand on the ground.

 

[fatprop]

They may be wondering how the fuck Ben Franks got away with propping with one hand on the ground.

That was an issue that the assistant referee should have been all over, Lawrence was on the other side

 

[Sully]

That was an issue that the assistant referee should have been all over, Lawrence was on the other side

Agreed. But they will still be wondering.

 

[tigerland12]

That performance in front of Deans by Hanson, Shipperely, Higginbotham, Gill, Fainga'a and Lucas must surley make them serious squad contenders for the Wallabies.

 

[Bruwheresmycar]

Do you think the reds players are now all sitting around whinging about Lawrence. Maybe the the odd comment or two but most of their talk would be about their inconsistent scrum, handling errors and inability to catch a high ball (higginbotham was the only one that caught one all game).

Exactly, that's what I'd expect. On here though no one wants to talk about that, easier to pass the blame off. (I was basically saying that if the Reds took the advice from here, they'd lose next week) Which is contrary to usual threads with great advice.

 

[Ruggo]

I thought the Reds played bloody well, perhaps didn't have the killer edge to finish things, but looks like it's coming. I was real impressed with Higgers who is making me eat a few words, and boy isn't Gill looking the goods. Oh and FFS boys about the ref isn,t it deja-vu, only last year it was Crusaders saying bloody Stu Dickinson!!

Totally agree Dan. Reds starting to put all the pieces of their game together. The halves are coherant finally and it is showing in how they are directing their forwards around the park. Players like Simmons are playing better with a bit more direction from the leaders within the team. Ant Fainga'a is making a huge difference to our defence also.

 

[Braveheart81]

One thing I thought was interesting was Wyatt Crockett's sin binning for no arms in the tackle on Will Genia.

Whilst I completely agree that he used no arms, I don't think the hit was exactly late. I think he was committed. If he'd gone through with it and used his arms and made a proper tackle I don't think it would have even been a penalty. It looked to me like he aborted his tackle because of the kick but momentum meant he was going to collide with Genia anyway.

Looking at the way he hit him, it was far more of a mutual collision than a shoulder charge. It was about as innocuous as you could get for a player running across to make a tackle against an attacker with nowhere to go.

Whilst I agree with the penalty and the sin bin due to no arms, I think if he'd just completed a proper tackle nothing would have happened. It's interesting because I feel like he tried to not tackle him but there was no way he could avoid running into Genia.