Super Rugby Rnd 3: Rebels vs Waratahs

[formerflanker]

I'm pretty sure it was Simmons who pushed the ref to the ground.
That could be looked at in the cold light of day by a disciplinary panel.
It seemed to me that he had a long time to stop going forward before he made contact with the ref and the shove in the back could easily have been avoided.

 

[Equalizer]

As a long time Force supporter, watching this, i think where is the ROI. The game is in dire straits in OZ.

 

[Scooter]

Happy Fucking Friday.

Was ugly but I'll take it,

Phillip needs to wear gold this year, completely schooled Simmons tonight.

Hodge looks out for a few weeks the way he was moving after, DHP was awesome at the back. Finally dropped a ball in the last 10 but had been taking everything all night in tough conditions.

Was a bit of hate for Maddocks from a few of the boys, really don't think it was all as smooth as the media mentioned with his departure.

KevinO, Hodge looked cactus as soon as he put that kick into touch.

 

[KevinO]

Highlander35 how bad was that Wallabies France test? I remember going to Wallabies England match at AAMI two or three years ago. On the way home my wife said that is the worst game of rugby I have seen. I said you have a short memory because nothing beats that match v France.

Was horrible, should have been at AAMI too. At least I had alot of pints that night cause a mate announced he was having a kid.

 

[Dctarget]

Yee-fucking-haw - all aboard the Rebels train, destination: finals. Crème de la crème rugby right there boys lap it up. Put the Rebels in Gold and the Bledisloe will be ours, sublime.

Lomani must be feeling foolish after watching Louwrens actually provide a threat tonight. DHP so boring but safe as houses. Poor Harrison had an absolute 'mare.

To give everyone their credit it was absolutely pelting down and the ball would've been miserable to catch but shite the skills were abysmal.

The Rebels genuinely left some points out there which was impressive. Misa did well for himself. Feels good man.

 

[TSR]

I'm pretty sure it was Simmons who pushed the ref to the ground.
That could be looked at in the cold light of day by a disciplinary panel.
It seemed to me that he had a long time to stop going forward before he made contact with the ref and the shove in the back could easily have been avoided.

Give him a break.

At least he put a shot on someone.

 

[Viking]

Naisa was beast all game. Naisa and Pete Samu the stand-out performers for me so far this season.

 

[dru]

KOB, MT kicked the ball away far to much in the first 60 minutes for my liking, but was probably the right tactic in the conditions. In the final 20 minutes he took control of the game and led the Rebels to a bonus point win. He will be in the running for the Wallabies No 10 spot.

I thought Will Harrison was especially disappointing tonight. He has one bow to his apron, being not a bad kicker in general play, but was well and truly bested by MT tonight. Will doesn't seem to have much else to offer the Tahs' attack.

Harrison Was disappointing tonight that is your take? A kid in a pivotal role plays a solid game in super Rugby underage and with a piss weak team around himAnd you are happy to write off Harrison.

 

[Viking]

To'omua is an interesting player. Can really stifle the attack at times and look limited, and then other times looks very sharp. Takes the ball going forward, runs simple, flat attacking shapes and puts some good kick options in.

Well done to Bell. A long way to go but an incredible achievement to be selected to start as a Super Rugby prop at such a young age.

I can’t believe that the commentators have even raised the prospect of Beale being moved to 10.
On his performance tonight Beale will be lucky not to get moved out of the 23. Missing tackles is bad enough but he might as well have put a sign around his neck tonight marked ‘I’m not tackling’. If I was Penney I’d be very disappointed in that performance from on if his most senior players.

Has Beale taken a ball into contact and not lost it this season? Absolutely terrible for a player with his amount of caps.

The sad thing is, he is still so threatening with ball in hand, but it's completely undone with poor ball security, missed tackles, throwing 50/50 passes, poor decisions. Really disappointing.

I thought Maddocks was solid with the boot and under the high ball, would love to see him at fullback.

Think Harrison is getting judged a bit early, he has been fairly solid without being outstanding. It is nice seeing a flyhalf with a decent boot though, I just hope he has a running game and distribution game to bring to the table.

 

[Slim 293]

I could not have sat through that game live.........

I really hope nobody from Optus was watching it.

 

[KOB1987]

KOB, MT kicked the ball away far to much in the first 60 minutes for my liking, but was probably the right tactic in the conditions. In the final 20 minutes he took control of the game and led the Rebels to a bonus point win. He will be in the running for the Wallabies No 10 spot.

He definitely had a better second half of the game and I reflected on my post as I watched. However it wasn't kicking too much that was the issue, it was the inaccuracy/decision making, which is a bit of a trademark of his, as bad as Beale was is still not a great idea to kick the ball straight to him. He will be in the running due to dearth of options, but I'd still rather have him bracketed at 12 right now.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

No, not great but at least I felt like they were trying this week.

I thought he (Bell) was a little hard done by on occasion against Smith and in general open play he put in a good shift. He has a promising future. Watching the earlier Crusaders game what I wouldn't give to have Mike Ala'alatoa still at the Tah's - though it'd be doubtful that'd he'd have been developed to the same standard without jumping the ditch.

The Tah's were well in that game until around the 63min mark and came out the gate for the second half in a positive fashion. They just didn't convert their opportunities and some key players made way too many mistakes. Harrison is not up to speed yet and Nawaqanitawase was poor in defence again. It's just hard to have the young players step up when the quality around them is not good enough. You see the different experience Noah Lolesio is having with a more settled and established squad around him. I just hope we don't kill their (Tah's U20's players) confidence by throwing them in the deep end.

I thought brumby runner was harsh on saying tahs should get rid of Beale and Simmons but on last nights shift their performances probably supported BR’s case. Agree senior players not stepping up.

 

[Up the Guts]

Hard to see where the Tahs win is going to come from. Backs not offering a lot, no power in the pack. I’d be tipping the Sunwolves at this point.

Time to roll the dice on Tepai and make some hard decisions about some senior players.

 

[Running_rugby_1954]

I imagine Simmons will be cited for the push in the back of the ref last night, obviously he meant no malice, but they judge those incidents fairly harshly.

The big question will be trying to find a lock to be able to fill the second row position. There aren’t a lot running around at the moment. Might be a chance for Pat Tafa though who has been a strong player over the last few seasons.

 

[fatprop]

So I had a really good night last night (great bands at a great venue) should I spoil my Saturday and watch the replay?

Or just ignore the thing?

 

[Adam84]

Only caught the last 10mins, Waratahs defence looked pretty poor, the forwards as a whole looked pretty unfit and/or lacking interest. There were glaring overlaps, players were calling for support and the forwards were just waddling about the ruck like muppets.

Marky Mark (Nawaqanitawase) made a few poor defensive reads, going for the intercept instead of marking his man.. but, wasn’t helped by the inside defenders not realigning fast enough, caused indecisiveness in the outside defenders.

 

[Ulrich]

I don't know what is wrong, but the lack of intensity is really disconcerting.

• Do the players not value their coaches?
• Do they not value Rugby Union, if so, why not?
• Do they not believe in ARU?
• Are they entitled?
• Are they underpaid?
• Are they overpaid?

It is really extremely baffling, because while the rest of the world has managed to improve in athlete capability only Australian players seem like they do not care. Why is that and why so sudden given they were a powerhouse for decades now.
2015 Australia were RWC finalists. Dave Wessels did a decent job at the Force not too long ago. The Waratahs if I am not mistaken won Super Rugby in 2014 or 2015.
These are questions I ask as an outsider because it is depressing for me to see Australian rugby in this state. Perhaps I will be surprised later in the season, but given the last 2-3 seasons I don't know how realistic that is.
The Brumbies are the only team really in this competition from where I am standing.

 

[TSR]

So I had a really good night last night (great bands at a great venue) should I spoil my Saturday and watch the replay?

Or just ignore the thing?

I actually didn’t mind the game. It was in tough conditions and it isn’t open, free flowing footy but I thought the contest was willing enough. There were a few disappointing individual performances but there were also a few very good ones I thought.

I’d watch it - but then if I had a choice of watching rugby or not watching rugby I choose to watch pretty much every time.

It’ll be more fun then mowing in 90% humidity.

 

[John S]

Well that game was poo

 

[wamberal]

So I had a really good night last night (great bands at a great venue) should I spoil my Saturday and watch the replay?

Or just ignore the thing?

Fast forward is your friend. There are a few moments worth watching. It is going to be a long season for Tahs fans, the few of us who are left.