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Desmond Connor (43)
Yeah, what TSR said.
My mistake, Paisame not Petaia. IMO Petaia is a winger/fullback.Can I just ask - do you mean that the 13 Wallabies role is between Paisami & Perese?
I otherwise agree with your post, but it was only one game.
only Frost stood out in the tight 5 for Brumbies
The big surprise for me was the working over Hoopert gave Ala'alatoa! It makes me wonder if Hoopert has taken a step forward, or they had a specific plan for 7A'sFinally got to watch, and the big surprise was the dominance of the Reds scrum. Didn't see that coming and the Brumbies backs struggled behind a losing pack. It's been a while since that has been the case. All the Reds pigs were very good and IMHO only Frost stood out in the tight 5 for Brumbies, but both Reds locks were also good. Nullifying the rolling maul was also key to the win. Well done Reds
Very good to see him stepping up, I've been unimpressed with Zander this year so I'd love to see Hoopert make the spot his own.The big surprise for me was the working over Hoopert gave Ala'alatoa! It makes me wonder if Hoopert has taken a step forward, or they had a specific plan for 7A's
Got to give some credit to the locks there, but yes the Reds’ front row definitely got the better of the Brumbies. Which probably puts a question mark over how good the Brumbies’ locks go come scrum time .The big surprise for me was the working over Hoopert gave Ala'alatoa! It makes me wonder if Hoopert has taken a step forward, or they had a specific plan for 7A's
Yeah, early on Ala'alatoa seemed to give Hoopert a bit of a touchup, but the Reds scrum really came back hard. I think Pfitzy's call on the locks is on the money but credit to Hoopert.Got to give some credit to the locks there, but yes the Reds’ front row definitely got the better of the Brumbies. Which probably puts a question mark over how good the Brumbies’ locks go come scrum time .
Definitely a penalty..I suppose it is better to err on the side of the team in possession? BTW I thought a penalty would have been enough for Clarke's offense.
There's a little bit of recency bias here - Ikitau has been strong all season and would have earnt plenty of credit from his breakout Wallaby season last year.I thought Paisami was awesome - he really was on a search and destroy mission.
I’d still have Ikitau in the Wallaby 13 as his left boot is mighty and he actually can set up his outside man. Hunter is a little blinkered at times.
And we're getting closer to the point of not having to consider Hodge - which is very positive.*Given England's reliance on their kick chase game, Petaia must be hot favourite for Wallaby 15 jersey despite his frustrating inability to put together a complete performance.
Great win by the reds. Last couple of years have proven that they play a style of game that the Brumbies really struggle to deal with - high pressure through aggressive d and sweating on errors, coupled with a dominant scrum. Big question remains if they have developed from last year where they struggled to land many punches on kiwi opponents, who are better equipped (higher skilled and more athletic x-factor) to deal with it. Reds attack still very dependant on McDermott, though the aerial development of Petaia* will give opponents something to think about. They will need to show a bit more more in attack vs the kiwis though.
*Given England's reliance on their kick chase game, Petaia must be hot favourite for Wallaby 15 jersey despite his frustrating inability to put together a complete performance.
No huge issues with most of this, but Wilson made a lot of errors and got flattened by Valetini at least once. To his credit, he was less chirpy after that, though potentially due to being concussed.McReight and Wilson were the best backrowers on the park by a handy margin. Over the season Valetini has been excellent but he was clearly behind last night.
And we're getting closer to the point of not having to consider Hodge - which is very positive.
From the stands it looked like he was reasonably involved offensively all night, and the ESPN stats seem to back that up. 7 runs for 63m (only beaten by Petaia (90m) and Daugunu (67m) across both teams), 1 clean break, 3 defenders beaten, 2 tackles. From memory, ran a few great decoy lines that obviously aren't captured in the stats as wellAlso re Paisami - one great shot but I'm not sure he had a lot of other involvements? Wasn't really a game for the midfielders, lots of errors and stoppages.
Yeah, stats ignore those efforts off the ball which are just so importantFrom the stands it looked like he was reasonably involved offensively all night, and the ESPN stats seem to back that up. 7 runs for 63m (only beaten by Petaia (90m) and Daugunu (67m) across both teams), 1 clean break, 3 defenders beaten, 2 tackles. From memory, ran a few great decoy lines that obviously aren't captured in the stats as well