Although they weren't at their best that was an efficient win by the Tahs. Significantly, it was the first victory by an Australian side in SAf this year.
The first sentence absolutely nails it!
Good win Tahs. Did what you needed to do to get the win. Skelton just keeps getting better.
That improvement is evident but he has got a long way to go. His physicality is improving but his accuracy at the breakdown is still poor and he is not hitting the defensive line at top pace. Time and coaching will fix that.
Beale's penalty kicking from distance was superb last night. Clearly we need to use that weapon more and only give the close kicks to Foley. I'd say anything over 30 metres should be Kurtley's.
The Stormer's scrum got nailed repeatedly on the second shove, I think there was a bit of pride on the line tonight. Good to see Tilse get some minutes tonight and he did not let the team down. (Mind you, when did he ever let the team down playing for the Tahs, he seems to grow an extra leg?)
Others have suggested that the Tahs play is too frantic. I don't think so. What I think Cheika is doing is to make the forwards play with that aggression all season so when finals come they will have learned to play well at that level. It is a sort of stress testing to improve the end outcome. There is a long way to go and the Stormers are not the toughest team in the world, unusual to see a SA team outgunned in the physicality. We just need to play better when we are at that intensity level, ie catching passes, ball security, realignment, breakdown accuracy.
I thought Lance was a bit invisible last night, if Folau's still out I'd put Horne at 12 this week. Carraro and Crawford to the wings - I want to see Crawford take over the penalty kicks for touch - Foley is like taking a knife to a gunfight.
Back on track after last week but the Force have got their tails up. Never thought I'd see the day. The biggest question will be how the Force handle the extra physicality. McCalman, Cottrell and Hodgson will be strong and we underestimate their front row at our peril. With all the travel it will be a real banana skin game.