Round 5 : Reds v Force, Suncorp Stadium, 20 March 6.45

[Derpus]

I thought Robertson, TK and Stander put their hands up for a Wallabies squad spot. Timani looked promising too.

 

[dru]

I thought Robertson, TK and Stander put their hands up for a Wallabies squad spot. Timani looked promising too.

Yes mostly. You were waxing about TK, and I don't doubt his ability, but to me Petaia was way ahead.

Robertson definitely. Stander maybe.

 

[The Forcefield]

Good close contest. Force have plenty of ticker. However the use of the bench from Thorn was very strange, basically significantly weakened the team with the decisions made

Bringing BPA on at half time saved the scrum though. The Force had a couple of scrum penalties and were winning scrums at will at the end of the first half. Turned the game around in my opinion.

 

[D-Box]

Are there yellows for repeat high tackles? I was thinking the same but unsure.

The second row from the reds who did two was warned personally. There is no actual rule but its the vibe man

 

[PhilClinton]

Force did well to hold the Reds out a few times. Kuridrani was a passenger all game, Petaia had his best game for a while as well which kept him quiet.

 

[The Forcefield]

The second row from the reds who did two was warned personally. There is no actual rule but its the vibe man

The Reds second rower - formerly known as Lukhan Tui - was lucky not to get an early shower.

 

[Easy from the Stands]

Jesus, reading some of the cr*p on here about the Force is frustrating.

I get it, you're from Queensland or NSW where you're lucky enough to have a 150 odd year tradition of rugby and the production line of players and schools talent that comes with that.

Instead of being negative and slandering fledgling teams maybe you'd prefer to just got back to playing NSW v QLD a few times a year and jerking yourselves off over your school ties.

The game needs to be succesful nationally. AFL and NRL are accelerating fast away from Union and we're in real danger of the game failing here in Australia and all our best players buggering off overseas.

The ONLY way to fix this is to have viable alternatives to QLD and NSW and to develop talent from states outside these two. This is ultimately good.

What the Force have achieved despite the obstacles should be applauded not sneered at.

I had a reality check last week with the performance against the Rebels and yes we've got a load of over 30's and overseas imports. We're going to take a while to get there.

But you know what? We have a fully professional team in the West. We're relatively competitive. We have a plan for the future. We have huge passionate membership. We fill our stadium. The players care about the team.

Twiggy could buy up half the young talent in QLD and NSW and we could have a squad of young Australian talent but we learnt lessons from last time.

Give us a break. Back the team. Super Rugby AU would be less interesting with just four teams.

We are so goddamn delighted to have a team here in the west. We know it's not perfect but we're working hard to make the best of a difficult situation.

Show some respect for the effort and passion.

Bloody well said from a NSW supporter

 

[Forcefield]

I remember a time when TK was the Wallabies best back. He hasn't been terrible for the Force, but he is a shadow of what he once was. Sad but true. I don't think being in his first year in a team that has had a fair bit of chopping and changing has helped, but I wouldn't be distraught if he left for Europe at the end of the year.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

I thought Robertson, TK and Stander put their hands up for a Wallabies squad spot. Timani looked promising too.

Timani I thought was immense and keep playing like they would be in line for wallabies squad spot. The battle of the piggies was fun also thought Henry at 12 made force a lot more settled and had a good combo with tk

 

[Rugbynutter39]

I remember a time when TK was the Wallabies best back. He hasn't been terrible for the Force, but he is a shadow of what he once was. Sad but true. I don't think being in his first year in a team that has had a fair bit of chopping and changing has helped, but I wouldn't be distraught if he left for Europe at the end of the year.

TK playing ok but yes a shadow of his former self. Definitely still super rugby quality.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Scrum dominance clear for the Reds, nearly had a tight head earlier as well.

Just my take on it, but the Reds scrum in the lead up to Tate's try had stepped to the left before pushing round. The Force scrum actually held its form except for the LHP who had no-one to bind onto after Tupou went left wards. Should have been a Force penalty imo, but Tate deserved his try on the back of abysmal defence by McIntyre.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Timani looking good

I remember now why I didn't rate Sitaleki at the Brumbies/Wallabies. He is always static when he takes the ball. Strong defender and in other aspects, but with ball in hand is pretty ineffective.

 

[PhilClinton]

Timani I thought was immense and keep playing like they would be in line for wallabies squad spot. The battle of the piggies was fun also thought Henry at 12 made force a lot more settled and had a good combo with tk

Agree Timani was good, but the bloke is 35 this year. I know second row stocks are low in Aus rugby but I’d like to think we’ve got enough young blokes to pick from and build towards our future. I don’t think Timani factors into things much in terms of that.

 

[Derpus]

Force did well to hold the Reds out a few times. Kuridrani was a passenger all game, Petaia had his best game for a while as well which kept him quiet.

He was less effective towards the end but i thought TK was good.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Agree Timani was good, but the bloke is 35 this year. I know second row stocks are low in Aus rugby but I’d like to think we’ve got enough young blokes to pick from and build towards our future. I don’t think Timani factors into things much in terms of that.

If we want to win bledisloe short term I think he does..I keep thinking of South African lock who played test rugby till 38.

Sure Timani has to really be head and shoulders above next player given age otherwise agree you choose the next (much younger) player ...early days but he has looked good and improving week on week but yeh still very much outside chance and would need form to be very good to get a guernesy in view of age

 

[Slim 293]

I thought Robertson, TK and Stander put their hands up for a Wallabies squad spot. Timani looked promising too.

Does TK stand for Tevita Kuridrani?

We must've been watching different games.........

 

[PhilClinton]

I think you’re thinking of Victor Matfield, one of the greatest to play the game.

Timani is in 5th grade compared to him.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Force played amazing, really upset the Reds in attack.

Taniela is head and shoulders the best prop in Australia, AAA may be a better scrummager, but Nela's work rate across the 80 constantly impresses me.

Have to say this but Tupou is playing very close to the wind with his charging into rucks and penchant for going (almost) high in the tackle. Thought he should have been pinged for his no arms entry to the ruck that turned the ball over in the lead up to Paisami's try.

He was also second man into a tackle (on Kahui?), and pretty much got him around the neck, that took the force ball carrier into touch.

 

[Brumby Runner]

I thought Robertson, TK and Stander put their hands up for a Wallabies squad spot. Timani looked promising too.

Stander definitely got the better of Wilson. Two weeks running now after Samu was better last week. I like Wilson but think he's a 6 rather than an 8.

 

[RugbyReg]

4 tries to 1 bonus point victory against a team that have challenged us big time previously. I’ll take that absolutely. Left a couple of tries out there and the Force didn’t really look like scoring other than their one.

Backrow was fantastic as was the 3/4 line. Tupou amazing.

Well done Reds.