Super Rugby Rnd 4 Reds v Drua, Suncorp Satdium 12/3 @ 6:45pm AEST

[Dismal Pillock]

Photos from the game

Reds hold on again Fast Finishing Fijians

The Queensland Reds let a big lead (28-9) slip against the Fijian Drua, but hung on for a tight win in a thriller at Suncorp Stadium. The Drua staged a spectacular fightback in the second half to level the scores at 28-all, but Seru Uru dived over for the match winning try with a few minutes...

www.tremainfocused.com

Great pic:

 

[MungoMan]

It was deemed a fair contest as they were both going for the ball...

Haven't seen a replay, but at the ground it looked a genuine contest for the ball (which what I told Ms MungoSpouse when she half-shrieked 'Penalty!').

 

[Sully]

Uru had a belter and was MOTM in my view. And as Reg said, the senior players all had impressive games (TT aside perhaps), but there looks to be a big drop off to the replacements.

Not to rain on the fans here, but I reckon Uru's try should have been disallowed on at least 4 grounds:

(I) Fiji defender adjacent to the ruck cleaned out by Reds player offside at the ruck;

(Ii) clean out went well beyond the ruck;

(Iii) clean out constituted a tackle on player not in possession of the ball;

(iv) the try was scored at the spot the defender had been positioned.

Early replacements reminded me of the same issue at the Brumbies.

Besides your four points being just one point, I agree, it was a no try. Just one of the many head scratchers I saw last night.

 

[liquor box]

It was a lifting tackle (hence yellow) not a spear tackle (in that he wasn't driven into the ground). The protocols are quite explicit, even if we don't agree with them.

Is there a protocol for reducing the penalty if two players are involved? This is what stumped me, it sounded like because two players are involved then it only deserved a yellow instead of a red card. I had never heard of that before.

 

[TSR]

Besides your four points being just one point, I agree, it was a no try. Just one of the many head scratchers I saw last night.

Can I ask why Sully? I’ve watches the replay numerous times and, to me, the player is clearly part of the ruck, and Smith comes from behind the last feet. On what basis is it a no

I’ve attached some screen shots below. To me they show Smith coming from behind last feet, show the Drua player leaning over the ruck, show Smith engages from on-side and the last one shows he has released the player and it is actually the Drua player who holds on to him after the clean out.

 

[BDA]

my overall thoughts on the game
- super entertaining. To me this game demonstrated why the addition of this drua side is such a positive for australia rugby. Not only do they bring a style of rugby that is entertaining but i think its generally beneficial to have team in the australian conference that plays a less structured ball in hand game to provide that variety of opposition
-i realise im viewing the game from a biased perspective but i honestly thought the referee was giving the drua much more leeway than the reds for most of the game. The referee seems to completely nullify the difference in quality of the set piece. The druas lineout throw was consistently not straight but not called once. The reds scrum was clearly superior but somehow they got zero pay from it (in fact i think they were penalised at scrum more than the drua). Reds consistently penalised with ball in hand, a lot of which were fair calls but i felt the same keen eye was definitely not shown when the drua were in possession.
- the mass changes at the end probably cost reds a bonus point which could end up being crucial at the end of the season.
- some excellent stand out performances from some reds players. Uru had his best game in red imo. Wilson, petaia, and cambell all stood out to me

 

[Confucius Say]

Still need to rewatch the game to really dig into how we performed, but my view from the stadium is that Flook, Paisami and Uru were superb and our discipline is a real worry. We're playing like last years Brumbies, asking the ref to blow us off the park as soon as someone steps up and challenges us. It's somewhat understandable that we were a bit off the pace this week - it has been an intense few weeks for anyone in Brisbane, players included and theirs naturally going to be a come down after the effort to get up for last weeks game, particularly coming into a game where the expectation is a bonus point win. Hopefully that was the kick up the arse we needed to get right for the brumbies game next week.

Just on Flook, I've been a bit unsure about his shift to wing when there are out and out wingers in the squad who could be playing there, but now I don't know what I was worried about. He's very quickly changing my opinion with two excellent games really looking like a winger. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but there were shades of Ben Tune out there last night and it was a beautiful thing to see.

Flook is fast. On foot and between the ears. He has good feet on that left side of the field knowing when to come back in or go for the line. His try saving tackle was class.

 

[HJ Nelson]

I think it's fair enough. The Drua player is a genuine threat that needs to be cleaned out and Smith comes from behind last feet.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Whilst I don’t disagree that the Drua will get better year on year, how are they planning to retain or claw back their top line players in Europe?

Hasnt that been the biggest downfall of Fijian rugby for the last 20 years? They can’t afford to have their best players available when they need them because they’re tied up in France.

I’m not sure the Drua side will have funding to compete with those European teams - but maybe I’m wrong.

This Drua side might just be another showcase of talent to be fished by the guys with big chequebooks.

The drua will always lose players to Europe but I think if paying decent money which is small fortune and you get to stay at home in Fiji that would be a lure for many young Fijians. Might be wrong but guess we will see.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

I agree. I watched a Kiwi game a couple of weeks ago that people were raving about - and it was a cracker. But there was also lots of dropped ball and forced turnovers. Because of this it was end to end and the game momentum kept changing and that was what made the game so good. I admit I got frustrated with some of the blown chances last night, but I thought the game was a good spectacle.

if I was not (rightly) nervous about kiwi games I would just say this was a good game. Anyhow we will soon have the kiwi games and confirm whether something changed from the last TT last season.

 

[PhilClinton]

I’m glad the game was able to go ahead at Suncorp, there was a big Brisbane Fiji representation there.

If the Drua are able to keep building year on year, I can see that game attracting some of the largest crowds of the season.

 

[Sully]

my overall thoughts on the game
- super entertaining. To me this game demonstrated why the addition of this drua side is such a positive for australia rugby. Not only do they bring a style of rugby that is entertaining but i think its generally beneficial to have team in the australian conference that plays a less structured ball in hand game to provide that variety of opposition
-i realise im viewing the game from a biased perspective but i honestly thought the referee was giving the drua much more leeway than the reds for most of the game. The referee seems to completely nullify the difference in quality of the set piece. The druas lineout throw was consistently not straight but not called once. The reds scrum was clearly superior but somehow they got zero pay from it (in fact i think they were penalised at scrum more than the drua). Reds consistently penalised with ball in hand, a lot of which were fair calls but i felt the same keen eye was definitely not shown when the drua were in possession.
- the mass changes at the end probably cost reds a bonus point which could end up being crucial at the end of the season.
- some excellent stand out performances from some reds players. Uru had his best game in red imo. Wilson, petaia, and cambell all stood out to me

It's the feeling... the vibe...

Have to admit, I hadn't looked since last night at the game. I'm changing my opinion.

 

[Cancelled Account]

Great player Horan.
Dud commentator.

Horan gets under my skin as much as Kearns. He really needs to think before he opens his mouth.

 

[Tomikin]

Watch the highlights then. That’s what I did. And he didn’t come from the side.

I'll trust your red tinted glasses lol

 

[Tomikin]

Can I ask why Sully? I’ve watches the replay numerous times and, to me, the player is clearly part of the ruck, and Smith comes from behind the last feet. On what basis is it a no

I’ve attached some screen shots below. To me they show Smith coming from behind last feet, show the Drua player leaning over the ruck, show Smith engages from on-side and the last one shows he has released the player and it is actually the Drua player who holds on to him after the clean out.

View attachment 13158View attachment 13159View attachment 13160View attachment 13161

I'm looking at that and he doesn't join the tick till his half way past it.. does that mean the last feet... I dunno .. but try stands and we move on

 

[Lightblue]

Horan gets under my skin as much as Kearns. He really needs to think before he opens his mouth.

Couldn’t agree more!

 

[Happy]

I think it's fair enough. The Drua player is a genuine threat that needs to be cleaned out and Smith comes from behind last feet.

The law is “through the gate”. He went up the side of the ruck

 

[gel]

Gee, you're hard to please. It had just about everything.

Fair enough - I just got frustrated coz it seemed really scrappy.

 

[wamberal]

Horan gets under my skin as much as Kearns. He really needs to think before he opens his mouth.

For one of our greatest Wallabies, he sounds like a dill.

 

[Penguin]

Geez the commentators said ‘Uru chasing his second try’ or at the end ‘two tries tonight for Uru!’ A number of times.

I thought it was going crazy as I swore one was taken off him, and it was.

It was Timmy Horan on every occasion. ‍