Tahs v Canes @ SFS - Round 12

[Pfitzy]

Canes are looking dangerous, though against a Reds side suffering a bad case of Grahams Necrosis you can't take too many indicators. What we do know is they are up to their gooch in All Blacks, and from there up to their armpits in terms of other international talent. They've got momentum, belief, a wicked counterattack, and they've shot their coach into the sun so they're dangerous as fuck. Languishing a month ago, now they're four on the trot and third on the table.

In terms of the Tahs: the last three weeks were about the same from us in terms of performance - basically dominated large stretches of the game but got let down by handling. The difference between no points and four was the ability of the opponent to make us pay, and only the Bulls couldn't.

As is only fair and correct, I blame the backs, because fuck those guys. A couple of forwards could sharpen their shit up, and I think our game plan needs to go back to just smashing the opposition to pulp and then running through the holes created. At present we're going wide too early, and getting picked off.

If I was picking the team I'd get back up on my soap box for dropping Beale to the bench, promoting Carraro to wing, and sticking Horne at 12. The Canes don't have the world's best lineout so we can put some pressure on there and rely on our kicking game to pin them back, then rumble through their forwards who prefer a looser game. Bash the shit out of them in channels 0 through 2, then let the zip-zip men into the holes.

But here is what WILL happen - fucking Beale and fucking twinkle toes and fucking dropped ball and fucking counter a-fucking-ttack leading to fucking standing under our fucking posts looking like fucking under fucking 7s.

Nevertheless, I'll be in attendance. Where are the pre-game beers?

 

[brokendown]

JB O'Reillys in perth

 

[Pfitzy]

Addit: I realise that I will cop some shit for saying:

rely on our kicking game

But with Crawford and Carraro there, we can make sure the ball is in touch for a change and not give it to that slick bugger Cory Jane. Jeez he's good; in fact, good enough for me to want him to try the blind wing move off a lineout and get clobbered by Rob Horne around the solar plexus.

 

[Ruggo]

I think the Tahs are a better chance at picking off the Canes scrum than their lineout. The Tahs are not a great lineout either.

Tahs just got to man up physically. If the canes get forward ball, the Tahs are rooted. Running the ball will be key to both sides.

Should be a good game.

 

[A mutterer]

Can't say I disagree with your points about beale but Dennis and fat cat should shoulder a fair bit of the blame as well. Add them to the list.

 

[#1 Tah]

Hold onto the ball. It's literally that simple.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Maybe the only chance the Waratahs have of nullifying Cory Jane, is a repeat of this..

 

[A mutterer]

W

Hold onto the ball. It's literally that simple.

We need to ban use of the word literally.

The tahs, especially beale, are hard of hearing and keep thinking we're saying laterally.

 

[swingpass]

C

i thought you of all people would know how to spell pfuck

 

[rugbysmartarse]

I'd love to have the ability to drop Robinson, but Tilse? Really? I don't think so, and neither does Robbo, so he gets away with general laziness. It'd be great to drop Dennis too, but that won't happen either - There'd be too much disruption stripping him of the captaincy mid season when there is still a good chance of a finals place - Cheika needs to keep the team together. In short, I'm guessing we will get the same team as last week - maybe with Skelton starting on the bench and Palu at 8.

What I really am hoping for is one of our wingers to regain fitness. Alofa, Betham or even Carraro would have scored that try at 2 minutes v the blues, whereas Horne didn't get there.

 

[GunnerDownUnder]

I would add Foley and Phipps to the list also.
McKibbon aint much better but we cant keep playing players that are not performing.
McKibbon to start and Lucas off the bench - give them a go and see if they take their chance.
I'd move Beale to stand-off, Horne to centre and play a winger on the wing.

 

[Hawko]

I would add Foley and Phipps to the list also.
McKibbon aint much better but we cant keep playing players that are not performing.
McKibbon to start and Lucas off the bench - give them a go and see if they take their chance.
I'd move Beale to stand-off, Horne to centre and play a winger on the wing.

I am inclined to agree with you. I would definitely agree with you except the first thing McKibbin did when he came on last Friday was that diabolical box kick that went straight up and put all our forwards offside. That was the play that buried our hopes completely. It was an absolute coach killer. I wonder that the stand remained intact that Chiek was in!

Still, playing McKibbin would do two things:

1. It would allow us to get rid of Phipps for a week so Foley can expect the ball coming to him in front and at the right height. Those people who are bagging Foley now forget what he is being delivered.
2. Foley could give up the kicking duties, which would stop me having heart palpitations when we get a penalty that's not straight in front inside the 22.

As an aside, I am absolutely mystified as to why Beale is not kicking. Most of his long range kicks have gone straight over the black dot. Foley's are always drifting left from the starting line (he seems to aim at the right post to adjust) and the successful ones always just seem to sneak in wherever he kicks them from.

 

[BDA]

Season defining game here. Any game against another finals contender at this stage of the comp will have a big outcome on the final log positioning.

I saw enough from the Tahs last week to think that they can win this game. They have the squad and a winning style, they just need to execute. If they execute well I think they'll get up. I saw enough from the Tahs this season to know they can pull it together. Even last week (when they were horrible in many ways) they appeared to dominate most of the game.

The Canes are executing brilliantly this season. Just about everything they did last year came off perfectly. shades of 2012 when they scored some of the best tries i can remember, but still didnt make the finals. The Canes finishing last week was flawless, but a close win against the reds, at home, in 2014 is not what you'd call an impressive feat.

The most exciting thing from a Tah fans' point of view is that I actually think the tahs are the best placed to top the log. If they win this game they'll be just behind the Brumbies, who are yet to SA, and the Sharks who havent toured at all. The tahs can still win the comp but they MUST win this game, no doubt about it.

 

[FrankLind]

The Canes finishing last week was flawless, but a close win against the reds, at home, in 2014 is not what you'd call an impressive feat.

No it wasn't. They knocked the ball on with the try line close several times.
They dominated the Reds, but just couldn't finish the bazliion chances they got.
However, they did finish enough of them to still win.

I think they are doing better, and this will not be easy for the Tahs, but I think home advantage counts for a hell of a lot and also the Tahs will go some way to rectifying last week's mistakes.

 

[A mutterer]

I don't know - the sound bites from today's quotes about "chieka's confronting style" lead me to believe a oit of the dressing room have become immune to his acerbic hissy fits.

Chieka needs to one up himself and go the old sir Alex Ferguson route of kicking a boot at someone's head I think.

 

[I like to watch]

Nope,
If you have heard his sprays,you wouldn't say that.
Confronting is an understatement.

 

[A mutterer]

Nope,
If you have heard his sprays,you wouldn't say that.
Confronting is an understatement.

Then how can we explain the increasingly poor execution going through the last few weeks?

 

[Braveheart81]

Then how can we explain the increasingly poor execution going through the last few weeks?

They had a really off day with their handling against the Blues, but saying it has something to do with the players becoming less scared of Cheika seems unlikely.

I hope the Tahs are doing a huge amount of skills work this week. They're playing a style of game that involves good skills execution and they're just not achieving that at the moment. The choices of when to throw a questionable pass need to improve as well, but it's hard to make those split second decisions every time. If you're playing a style where you want to keep the ball alive and throw offloads like the Tahs are doing, you've got to make the decision to do that quite often before you have had an opportunity to properly assess whether it is the right option and just go with your instincts.

As long as they continue to play with that mentality, they need to improve their handling. I don't even think the skill execution needs to be excellent to win with the opportunities they're creating. It only has to be good. Against the Blues it was absolutely terrible.

 

[Braveheart81]

1. Robinson
2. TPN
3. Ryan
4. Douglas
5. Potgieter
6. Dennis
7. Hooper
8. Palu
9. Phipps
10. Foley
11. Horne
12. Beale
13. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper)
14. Carraro
15. Folau

Bench hasn't been named, but Kepu, Skelton, Crawford are all on it apparently.

Alofa is a chance to appear on the bench if he passes a fitness test.

 

[fatprop]

Worlds slowest wingers and a 12 who gets stuck on the wing in defense