SRAU RD 1 Western Force vs Brumbies, Perth Friday 19 Feb
- Thread starter D-Box
- Start date
Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
Nah. This year I'm egging the Tahs on, maybe not quite on the bandwagon but happy to see the youngsters reach their potential.
I did predict the Tahs to beat the Reds. My expectation was that the quicker pace of the game would suit their lighter pack and they would be able to spring a surprise. I was mistaken but I am not left without hope.
Jack Maddocks is still one of the top fullbacks and Jake Gordon was excellent before getting injured. Tizzano was way better than I had expected. The disappointments were the starting front row where I think Angus Bell again showed he is not yet a good or adequate scrummager. Horton had a poor game and was outplayed by his replacement. Harrison was very quiet and will have to learn to play with the pack backpedaling to further his career. Ramm was surprisingly quiet.
It will be now up to the coaching staff to ring some changes and get the team playing some good rugby.
I did predict the Tahs to beat the Reds. My expectation was that the quicker pace of the game would suit their lighter pack and they would be able to spring a surprise. I was mistaken but I am not left without hope.
Jack Maddocks is still one of the top fullbacks and Jake Gordon was excellent before getting injured. Tizzano was way better than I had expected. The disappointments were the starting front row where I think Angus Bell again showed he is not yet a good or adequate scrummager. Horton had a poor game and was outplayed by his replacement. Harrison was very quiet and will have to learn to play with the pack backpedaling to further his career. Ramm was surprisingly quiet.
It will be now up to the coaching staff to ring some changes and get the team playing some good rugby.
Kevin77
Fred Wood (13)
Well firstly it was great to have Super Rugby back in Perth after 1,300+ days of absence. This was a bit emotional for many and you could tell Perth was hungry for it in the build up with lots of people in the bars early and at the merchandise stands getting the newly delivered gear.
We’d been advised that there was to be a COVID reduced capacity of circa 11,000 and rumours swirled that this had sold out on Tuesday.
The game itself was an interesting beast. On paper the Force have added experience and top class internationals to a game but limited side. Interestingly two of last seasons best players Stowers and Ferris left in the off season and were replaced by Lezana the Argentinian and a plethora of lesser names. Sampson decided to reward loyalty and picked a team in line with last year with a handful of new imports in Kearney, Kuridrani, Robertson, Medrano and Lezana.
I’ve watched the game twice (once at the stadium) and then again yesterday on tv and I think the Force were better for the second viewing. As a Force fan you get used to hoping for moral victories, particularly after last season. As I walked to the ground I said to my Dad that this feels different. Yes I want a good performance but I’m also genuinely hoping for a win. I (wrongly) dismissed how difficult it would be to bed in new players. I thought it was as good a time as any to face the champions – I was wrong.
The Force started really well and Kahui (a late replacement for Godwin) particularly with a few intelligent passes. The Force forwards more than matched the vaunted Brumbies pack and the Force should have been 6-0 up however Prior unforgivably missed a complete ‘gimme’ penalty. This definitely drained a little bit of the early momentum before a systems error/clever play (depending on how you view it) gifted the Brumbies a try on only their second foray into he Force twenty two.
The Force battled manfully but still went in 13-6 down. The killer blow came shortly after half-time with a great try from the Brumbies. At 20-6 there was no coming back.
The introduction of substitutes saw the Force improve and saw each side score a try each in the last thirty minutes. The Force looked a little more potent with McIntyre injecting much needed direction to reward the forwards hard work.
The Negatives
Selection. I completely understand rewarding loyalty and the decision to reward Prior with the captaincy feels like a loyalty only decision. There are only 8 games in the Australian season and we’ve just wasted one by only giving 25 minutes to the undoubtedly superior Argentinian international Cubelli. Like his halfback partner Jono Lance, there is daylight between the starters and those that came off the bench. The Force might not have won but equally they looked their best with Cubelli and McIntyre guiding the ship.
Discipline. The Force weren’t alone here. There seemed to be a lot of penalties and in some ways this game had the feel of a pre-season trial game (with greater intensity). Both sides got caught by refereeing and their own mistakes. The Force will have to tidy up if they’re to improve.
The back row. Not wanting to pick on anyone in particular and on second viewing on tv you could see they got through a mountain of work however Lezana didn’t have the impact he had in the trial game the week before. You do however know he will get better. Stander had his moments without being dominant for the full 80 and Koteka tried to work hard but discipline/refereeing saw his impact nullified.
Our centres. They were good going forward early but defensively they got caught a couple of times and it was costly. It’s a lot to expect Kahui to cover so much ground for 80 minutes at his age and I think Godwin pulling out was probably a tough ask. Kahui coming in at 60 minutes in this game may have helped.
The Positives
It’s a first game. All of the negatives are fixable. Discipline, defensive malfunction, decision making.
Rob Kearney. An amazing player no doubt. But asking a very Northern Hemisphere full back to come to Super Rugby at nearly 35 years of age against mobile teams in the dry could potentially have been a bridge too far – WRONG! Aside from probably not having the top end gas he once had, his decision making, spectacular confidence under the highball and leadership were noticeable. And he lasted 80 minutes. As impressive a debut in Super Rugby as any 34 year old is ever likely to have.
The scrum. Against a very experienced international front row the Force held their own. The only shame was that there were so few scrums in the yellow card period where Holmes could have got after the Brumbies. In Medrano and Holmes (and Longbottom behind them) the Force have three excellent tight head scrummagers. They are going to cause carnage against lesser front rows. Robertson on the other side was very steady and Wagner was eye catching – particularly in the loose – when he came on.
That’s probably the toughest game out of the way. Queensland look very good but by then we’ll have a couple of games to iron out the creases. Brumbies away will be tough but the same will apply. Hopefully we can get a couple of wins before those games to boost confidence.
Last season players like Thrush and Stander got better as they got fitter. Thrush had to go off around fifty minutes on Friday. If last year is anything to go on game time will see his minutes increase. He’s an important option in the lineout and defensive maul so the more time they can get from him the better. MacCauley looked good when he came on and given his size, the Force may look to utilize him from the start with the impressive Lee-Warner at 6 to give them more lineout options.
General Comments
We were told that is was a COVID capacity reduced sellout in the region of 11,000. The stadium announcer told us there were circa 7,000 in the ground. It definitely felt a little sparse and at times the crowd was quiet. In the context of all that’s going on in the world and our recent lockdown 7k is amazing but hopefully we can get up to the 11k for the next game.
It’s great to be back. Yes it didn’t go perfectly to plan but the Force needs Super Rugby and hopefully Super Rugby now needs the Force. There’s lots of promises of academies and player pathways and I hope we can deliver some future Western Australian Wallabies. Please be patient with us.
We’d been advised that there was to be a COVID reduced capacity of circa 11,000 and rumours swirled that this had sold out on Tuesday.
The game itself was an interesting beast. On paper the Force have added experience and top class internationals to a game but limited side. Interestingly two of last seasons best players Stowers and Ferris left in the off season and were replaced by Lezana the Argentinian and a plethora of lesser names. Sampson decided to reward loyalty and picked a team in line with last year with a handful of new imports in Kearney, Kuridrani, Robertson, Medrano and Lezana.
I’ve watched the game twice (once at the stadium) and then again yesterday on tv and I think the Force were better for the second viewing. As a Force fan you get used to hoping for moral victories, particularly after last season. As I walked to the ground I said to my Dad that this feels different. Yes I want a good performance but I’m also genuinely hoping for a win. I (wrongly) dismissed how difficult it would be to bed in new players. I thought it was as good a time as any to face the champions – I was wrong.
The Force started really well and Kahui (a late replacement for Godwin) particularly with a few intelligent passes. The Force forwards more than matched the vaunted Brumbies pack and the Force should have been 6-0 up however Prior unforgivably missed a complete ‘gimme’ penalty. This definitely drained a little bit of the early momentum before a systems error/clever play (depending on how you view it) gifted the Brumbies a try on only their second foray into he Force twenty two.
The Force battled manfully but still went in 13-6 down. The killer blow came shortly after half-time with a great try from the Brumbies. At 20-6 there was no coming back.
The introduction of substitutes saw the Force improve and saw each side score a try each in the last thirty minutes. The Force looked a little more potent with McIntyre injecting much needed direction to reward the forwards hard work.
The Negatives
Selection. I completely understand rewarding loyalty and the decision to reward Prior with the captaincy feels like a loyalty only decision. There are only 8 games in the Australian season and we’ve just wasted one by only giving 25 minutes to the undoubtedly superior Argentinian international Cubelli. Like his halfback partner Jono Lance, there is daylight between the starters and those that came off the bench. The Force might not have won but equally they looked their best with Cubelli and McIntyre guiding the ship.
Discipline. The Force weren’t alone here. There seemed to be a lot of penalties and in some ways this game had the feel of a pre-season trial game (with greater intensity). Both sides got caught by refereeing and their own mistakes. The Force will have to tidy up if they’re to improve.
The back row. Not wanting to pick on anyone in particular and on second viewing on tv you could see they got through a mountain of work however Lezana didn’t have the impact he had in the trial game the week before. You do however know he will get better. Stander had his moments without being dominant for the full 80 and Koteka tried to work hard but discipline/refereeing saw his impact nullified.
Our centres. They were good going forward early but defensively they got caught a couple of times and it was costly. It’s a lot to expect Kahui to cover so much ground for 80 minutes at his age and I think Godwin pulling out was probably a tough ask. Kahui coming in at 60 minutes in this game may have helped.
The Positives
It’s a first game. All of the negatives are fixable. Discipline, defensive malfunction, decision making.
Rob Kearney. An amazing player no doubt. But asking a very Northern Hemisphere full back to come to Super Rugby at nearly 35 years of age against mobile teams in the dry could potentially have been a bridge too far – WRONG! Aside from probably not having the top end gas he once had, his decision making, spectacular confidence under the highball and leadership were noticeable. And he lasted 80 minutes. As impressive a debut in Super Rugby as any 34 year old is ever likely to have.
The scrum. Against a very experienced international front row the Force held their own. The only shame was that there were so few scrums in the yellow card period where Holmes could have got after the Brumbies. In Medrano and Holmes (and Longbottom behind them) the Force have three excellent tight head scrummagers. They are going to cause carnage against lesser front rows. Robertson on the other side was very steady and Wagner was eye catching – particularly in the loose – when he came on.
That’s probably the toughest game out of the way. Queensland look very good but by then we’ll have a couple of games to iron out the creases. Brumbies away will be tough but the same will apply. Hopefully we can get a couple of wins before those games to boost confidence.
Last season players like Thrush and Stander got better as they got fitter. Thrush had to go off around fifty minutes on Friday. If last year is anything to go on game time will see his minutes increase. He’s an important option in the lineout and defensive maul so the more time they can get from him the better. MacCauley looked good when he came on and given his size, the Force may look to utilize him from the start with the impressive Lee-Warner at 6 to give them more lineout options.
General Comments
We were told that is was a COVID capacity reduced sellout in the region of 11,000. The stadium announcer told us there were circa 7,000 in the ground. It definitely felt a little sparse and at times the crowd was quiet. In the context of all that’s going on in the world and our recent lockdown 7k is amazing but hopefully we can get up to the 11k for the next game.
It’s great to be back. Yes it didn’t go perfectly to plan but the Force needs Super Rugby and hopefully Super Rugby now needs the Force. There’s lots of promises of academies and player pathways and I hope we can deliver some future Western Australian Wallabies. Please be patient with us.
Tomikin
David Codey (61)
Godwin being pulled before the game couldnt have helped.. but yeah Simone and Ikitau played amazingly.
Viking
Mark Ella (57)
Valetini V Swinton this season for the 6 jersey is going to be a good one.
(although I think Swinton is injured? Hope he returns asap).
