Round 1 - Waratahs vs Hurricanes @ Brookvale - Saturday 16 February 2019

[Derpus]

I thought the Tahs problems in the pack were largely at scrum time though.

We faltered on some of our own lineout ball but our defensive lineout was strong and we were clearly the better of the two teams at the lineout.

Ardie Savea beasted us all night but that's what he does. Overall I don't think our pack really struggled in general play.

We protected our own ball pretty well.

I could barely see much of the game to be honest, from my corner of Brookie.

To me it seemed like they just didn't compete heavily for our ball. We had no go forward all night, summed up at the end when we had to throw it around and ended up on our own try-line.

We never replaced players like Taf and Palu who could actually get over the advantage line. We always rely on our backs to create space and gain ground. Without Beale on the field we looked utterly devoid of creativity.

Also, Folau was pretty average. He attacked well and kicked okay a few times, and then followed it up with plenty of dud plays like getting isolated and throwing it straight out. Beale to fullback sounds like a good idea to me.

Edit: Hunt looks good in defence but there isn't a team in the world that would be concerned seeing him line-up at 12 for the Wallabies. If you want a hard crash-ball typed player who is going to shoot out for a hit and miss as many as he makes, Kerevi is much better.

 

[Blackadder]

I could barely see much of the game to be honest, from my corner of Brookie.



To me it seemed like they just didn't compete heavily for our ball. We had no go forward all night, summed up at the end when we had to throw it around and ended up on our own try-line.



We never replaced players like Taf and Palu who could actually get over the advantage line. We always rely on our backs to create space and gain ground. Without Beale on the field we looked utterly devoid of creativity.



Also, Folau was pretty average. He attacked well and kicked okay a few times, and then followed it up with plenty of dud plays like getting isolated and throwing it straight out. Beale to fullback sounds like a good idea to me.



Edit: Hunt looks good in defence but there isn't a team in the world that would be concerned seeing him line-up at 12 for the Wallabies. If you want a hard crash-ball typed player who is going to shoot out for a hit and miss as many as he makes, Kerevi is much better.

Yes we struggled for go forward. Gibson doesn't like big units.

When the Tahs won the grand final they had Douglas, Potegier, TPN, Kepu, Palu etc and they went forward. Gibson turned away from this and went towards light and mobile which doesn't work. Now with Big T gone there are less big go forward units to do the damage and make ground.

 

[Blackadder]

Wasn't that Hunt? The one I'm thinking of was in the second half and the kick went out just outside the 22 when we had turnover ball and a decent amount of space.



If the kick went out 10m out then it would have been a good option but it didn't gain nearly enough territory to make it worthwhile kicking the ball away.

Foley did one too

 

[dru]

Was I dreaming or at one point did Folau do a kick-return. By kicking. My memory tells me it was decent too.

Maybe too many beers.

 

[Derpus]

His first kick return. He binned it there after.

 

[Up the Guts]

Yes we struggled for go forward. Gibson doesn't like big units.

When the Tahs won the grand final they had Douglas, Potegier, TPN, Kepu, Palu etc and they went forward. Gibson turned away from this and went towards light and mobile which doesn't work. Now with Big T gone there are less big go forward units to do the damage and make ground.

Has anyone been tracking Taqele’s progress in the UK? I saw a highlights package last November but haven’t seen anything since.

 

[LifestyleSpecialist]

Player ratings. I put this on the match report news comments but thought i'd put here as well. 1-10 with 5 being an OK game for a pro footballer. Here goes.
HJH (Harry Johnson-Holmes) - 7 - his side of the scrum held up well and was busy around the park. Class was the tackle and turnover after a Canes bust upfield.
Fitzpatrick - 5 - set piece solid as usual but got bossed a little on goal line defence.
Kepu - 4 - clearly rusty. Gave away too many penalties. Highlight though was a massive rush up hit on Laumapi (I think).
Simmons - 5 - standard. Contributed at set piece and looks a few kegs heavier this year. No mistakes or stupid penalties. Couple of ok runs.
Holloway - 7 - got through a shit ton of work and looked keen. Seemed to be the primary one out ball carrier. Good in the lineout. Helped steal 1-2 off the Canes.
Ned - 5 - got through a lot of work as usual but stupid penalties!! Taken over from Simmons. He is the best lineout jumper though and stole a couple of Canes throws as well. That last lineout he was interfered with in the air plus the throw was shite so won't ping him for that. Looks to be slowly hardening up in contact.
Hooper - 7 - was everywhere as usual doing what he does best. Always being a pest and there in support. Hunt took some defensive workload off him thankfully. Highlight the try saver cover tackle on Ben Lam. Beat Rona to him and smashed him to touch. That play alone got him to 7 points.
Dempsey - 5 - still working back to form but played hard on ball with a ton of energy. Some silly penalties and poor body height at times though.
Gordon - 6 - passes early weren't in front of the man but slowly warmed up. Good kicking game but should have run more. Defended well and has an 80 min motor.
Foley - 6 - almost have him a 5 but he ran the backline pretty well with minimal ball and defended well at 10 in the line. Laumapi got through once which is not a bad return. Looks to have got a few more metres on his touch finders. Sure missed the winner but he has world class kicking numbers and slotted one from touch earlier off the Rona try.
Hunt - 7 - KB (Kurtley Beale) is riding the pine. That's my assessment. Along with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) sured up thr midfield playing again Laumapi and Aso who are two of the hardest runners in the game. Also two very incisive runs with serious metres. Reminded me of McMahon with post contact metres from leg drive. Bonus is his boot. Got a 50m touch finder when he caught a kick off. No setting up the play just caught it bang off a large punt. Good exit which is something the Tahs have been poor at.
AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) - 5 - bit slow but was defensively sound which if we are honest what he is in the team for. Played 80 mins and even passed the ball a few times. Took some solid hit ups when required.
Newsome - 5 - very limited opportunities but some good kick chase pressure and was in the right place to score standing outside Folau two time for Izzy to pass the ball behind him and then marginally kn front. Had space in front each time.
Rona - 5 - finished his try with Angie Savea hanging off him but made a couple of dud reads defensively allowing the Canes to get outside him. Generally ok though and again limited opportunities on the wings today.
Folau - 6 - was going to give him a 5 but was flawless under the high ball, made some good metres up the centre of the pitch breaking tackles, and had a few smart and good kicks. Hopefully he is improving here. Two dud passes to Newsome brought him down though and still has a tendency for a speculative offload.
Reserves
Talaki and O'Conner - 6 each - Good debut shifts. Busy around the park and ruck plus a good bustling run from Talaki in tight. That scrum penalty at the end was glories.
Latu - 4 - same old story with discipline and throws. When he is on he is outstanding. When he's off he is a dead set liability. Couple of trademark hits and strong scrum but not enough to make up for penalties at a time we needed discipline to get out of our half.
Miller - 6 - best on ball 7 in the country after Poey I reckon and a great player to have when Hooper is rested. Some great work in tight including foiling an ominous Canes maul.
The rest - not enough minutes to make a call on. Can't remember Clark even getting a tough. Roets looked massive but didnt do anything in the few mins he was on. Must have the biggest melon in the comp. Check it out sometime.
My Tah's MOTM is a draw between Hunt and Holloway then. Both bringing something the Tahs missed last year. If forced I'd give it to Hunt as I can't stress enough how relieved I am to not have a midfield with more holes in it than a game of connect four.

 

[wamberal]

Holloway really surprised me. He is starting to play like he means it.

 

[Braveheart81]

Was I dreaming or at one point did Folau do a kick-return. By kicking. My memory tells me it was decent too.

Folau had two good kicks in the first half.

Foley did one too

Was the Foley one under penalty advantage though? I.e. it was the hail mary attempt to put the winger in for a try knowing that it was coming back for a penalty. Hunt's one just gave the ball away without much of a territory gain.

Yes we struggled for go forward. Gibson doesn't like big units.

When the Tahs won the grand final they had Douglas, Potegier, TPN, Kepu, Palu etc and they went forward. Gibson turned away from this and went towards light and mobile which doesn't work. Now with Big T gone there are less big go forward units to do the damage and make ground.

I think a big part of it is who we have available. I really don't think it has been an active recruitment option rather than working with what they have.

When Douglas, Potgieter, Slekton and Palu left there were not obvious players to replace them. At the same time we had a small group of quality backrowers develop alongside Hooper in Hanigan and Demspey who are now both Wallabies.

Clearly the area where we have missed out was in a big ball carrying lock when the former Force players went to the Rebels. If we hadn't already signed Simmons, would we have got one of Coleman or Philip or were they always going to follow Wessels?

Naisarani would have been an excellent recruit but he would have cost a lot of money and probably would have only signed for a year and it would have meant offloading one of our Wallabies. The timing of contracts probably also meant that was difficult without over-committing dollars on our backrow and missing out on recruiting in other positions.

The rest - not enough minutes to make a call on. Can't remember Clark even getting a tough. Roets looked massive but didnt do anything in the few mins he was on. Must have the biggest melon in the comp. Check it out sometime.

Clark came on at the very end for AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

Roets wasn't in the 23. Lachie Swinton was the replacement 6/lock who came on for Dempsey.

 

[LifestyleSpecialist]

Cheers for the clarifications BH! Swinton look like a big unit too I guess!

 

[Blackadder]

Folau had two good kicks in the first half.









Was the Foley one under penalty advantage though? I.e. it was the hail mary attempt to put the winger in for a try knowing that it was coming back for a penalty. Hunt's one just gave the ball away without much of a territory gain.









I think a big part of it is who we have available. I really don't think it has been an active recruitment option rather than working with what they have.



When Douglas, Potgieter, Slekton and Palu left there were not obvious players to replace them. At the same time we had a small group of quality backrowers develop alongside Hooper in Hanigan and Demspey who are now both Wallabies.



Clearly the area where we have missed out was in a big ball carrying lock when the former Force players went to the Rebels. If we hadn't already signed Simmons, would we have got one of Coleman or Philip or were they always going to follow Wessels?



Naisarani would have been an excellent recruit but he would have cost a lot of money and probably would have only signed for a year and it would have meant offloading one of our Wallabies. The timing of contracts probably also meant that was difficult without over-committing dollars on our backrow and missing out on recruiting in other positions.







Clark came on at the very end for AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).



Roets wasn't in the 23. Lachie Swinton was the replacement 6/lock who came on for Dempsey.

The problem is Gibson has had several years to try to replace the players and hasn't and has repeatedly stated he wants light and mobile which shows his recruitment strategy. There are big units out there which can be seen by the other teams recruitment.

Philip was at the Tahs and they let him go. He was there when Gibson was made head coach.

I fear that there will be repeats of last year when the Tahs meet teams with big packs

But oh well

I am hoping for a good season and a finals appearance.

 

[Derpus]

How bad was Hanigan last weekend. Even from the sideline i saw some pretty obvious penalties given away, as weak in contact as always. Lost the last lineout (thought the throw was fine).

 

[Braveheart81]

Even from the sideline i saw some pretty obvious penalties given away, as weak in contact as always.

The discipline by Hanigan, Kepu and others was very disappointing last weekend.

Half the penalties we gave away were just silly rubbish that provided no benefit.