Tahs v Canes @ SFS - Round 12

[mark_s]

Great game for the tahs. A comeback to remember. Hooper excellent. Skelton made an impact. The backline looked slick. Only izzy and tpn looked out of sorts. Crowd 17,000, poor really. On beer queues, for the first time ever, I was the only one at the bar when stocking up mid game. It was bloody freezing though.

 

[Moono75]

Good stuff tahs and cheers for not letting the canes get a losing bonus point there at the end kept the force in the top 6!

got a game in hand

 

[GaffaCHinO]

got a game in hand

That's what make it so good

 

[Moono75]

Great game for the tahs. A comeback to remember. Hooper excellent. Skelton made an impact. The backline looked slick. Only izzy and tpn looked out of sorts. Crowd 17,000, poor really. On beer queues, for the first time ever, I was the only one at the bar when stocking up mid game. It was bloody freezing though.

no beer queue.....how un-australian. Lift your game NSW!

 

[It is what it is]

I thought the pressing defensive efforts by the Tahs in the last 20 mins were real signs that this is a serious team with a strong will to win.

 

[cyclopath]

Really good win by the Tahs. Possibly their best of the season. The Canes weren't bad and had won four in a row.

We were well and truly at fault for letting them get out to a 24-7 lead but the comeback was superb.

The Tahs remain right in the mix.

Interestingly, if the Highlanders beat the last placed Stormers tonight, I'm pretty sure the Canes go from 1st to 5th in the NZ conference in the space of a weekend.

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

Go to 4th if Highlanders win - Blues will be 5th by a point in NZ conference.

 

[Braveheart81]

Go to 4th if Highlanders win - Blues will be 5th by a point in NZ conference.

True story.

Amazing how close Super Rugby is this year. The gap from the top couple of teams to the bottom has never been closer.

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

 

[A mutterer]

well there was no beer queue at home. in fact i had the mrs running ragged with orders.

 

[Hawko]

We're back on track. Probably can't afford another loss if we want top two, but the way we played tonight restored faith in what we are doing. Oh how I wish we had turned it around last weekend!
We still have some very serious weaknesses to address:

• Georgina Robinson reported that Phipps played well tonight. She must have been watching a game in another dimension. I am coming to the view that we have to start McKibbin or Lucas if we are to have a chance of winning this year. We cannot start a halfback who does not hit the target with his passes and is subject to regular brain explosions.
• Our lineout needs a lot of work. We only need to get parity, we don't need to win everything, but right now we have to have the worst lineout in the comp.
• Our scrum is not good enough. If we get to the finals against the Bulls, Crusaders, Brumbies or Sharks that scrum will lose us the game. We need to do a lot more scrummaging at training. Douglas and Skelton at 4 & 5 would help.
• TPN looked off the pace tonight, even before the injury. That said, I thought Tolu Latu did not look out of place. I would start him and give Tilse 30+ off the bench against the Lions.
• We have lost the devastating moves off first phase, particularly with Foley looping around 12 to make the extra man. We need to get that back.
• Dennis was seriously better tonight, but he should still only make the back five due to injury. Douglas, Skelton, Potgieter, Hooper, Palu are our best back five. Its a major worry with our lineout as bad as it is and he is our best exponent. But, we would be stronger overall without him.

That said, all these things are fixable if we keep working on them. We can still make top two from here as long as we keep on the improvement trajectory. Complacency is the big enemy.

 

[Tomikin]

What a week can change in sport .. Tahs looked good.. Nice win guys no helter skelter tonight..Well deserved

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Phipps did some great things but they were not necessarily things you would pick a half back for.
He did throw a couple of very deft little passes.
Subject to one thing I thought it was his best game for weeks.
The one thing is how long it took him to get to the breakdown. I'm reserving judgment until I see the replay because that's not one of his usual problems: I'm working on the assumption that he was being hit after passing or held. Maybe he was crook - he was blowing hard at times and he's supposedly the fittest in the squad.
Fact is he was so slow to the breakdown there has to be an explanation other than lack of speed or anticipation.
I just can't come at McKibbin but I can't say why.

 

[Dan54]

Geez,now even allowing for Canes losing that was a bloody good game of rugby, have to give the Tahs credit they sure came back bloosy well, and the cross eyed one had a stunner of a game!
I have to go with IS, I just can't come McKibbin, mind you probably because he usually comes back to Qld at end of season and plays in a lower grade for the Filth, instead of playing prems!!

 

[Pete King]

Hooper was absolutely outstanding. AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) never gets the wraps he deserves and was all class. Big Will is improving with every game.

Probably best sign for the tahs is they scored 39 points with Izzy having a very quiet match. I agree also that TPN looks out of form and I really like the look of latu.

Dennis marginally better but I still reckon he was diving at the ground going into contact.

 

[fatprop]

Phipps did OK, but how many times was he slow to the break down?

Not all his fault, but ...................

Tahs looked OK because they were against a side that doesn't chuck heavy numbers at the breakdown and we didn't get much disrupted ball

 

[#1 Tah]

Legendary performance from Michael Hooper. No doubt about it.

 

[Quick Hands]

Phipps did some great things but they were not necessarily things you would pick a half back for.
He did throw a couple of very deft little passes.
Subject to one thing I thought it was his best game for weeks.
The one thing is how long it took him to get to the breakdown. I'm reserving judgment until I see the replay because that's not one of his usual problems: I'm working on the assumption that he was being hit after passing or held. Maybe he was crook - he was blowing hard at times and he's supposedly the fittest in the squad.
Fact is he was so slow to the breakdown there has to be an explanation other than lack of speed or anticipation.
I just can't come at McKibbin but I can't say why.

He ran tonight for the first time all year. At least 3 times.

 

[nathan]

Best game of super rugby I've seen in ages. Not many penalties, scrum wasn't too much of a mess and great attacking displays from both sides.

Waratahs for the most part nailed the rush defence and that put huge pressure on the canes forcing errors across the park. Grey has made good progress with the team for sure.

 

[p.Tah]

I was unable to see the game because I was travelling. Looking forward to seeing it when I get home next week. Did Steve Walsh's officiating help make it an enjoyable game?

 

[CTPE]

Phipps did some great things but they were not necessarily things you would pick a half back for.
He did throw a couple of very deft little passes.
Subject to one thing I thought it was his best game for weeks.
The one thing is how long it took him to get to the breakdown. I'm reserving judgment until I see the replay because that's not one of his usual problems: I'm working on the assumption that he was being hit after passing or held. Maybe he was crook - he was blowing hard at times and he's supposedly the fittest in the squad.
Fact is he was so slow to the breakdown there has to be an explanation other than lack of speed or anticipation.
I just can't come at McKibbin but I can't say why.

Phipps played very well. When you watch the replay count the number of tackles and cleanup work he does throughout the game on behalf of a couple of lazy Tahs forwards.

 

[cyclopath]

Phipps played very well. When you watch the replay count the number of tackles and cleanup work he does throughout the game on behalf of a couple of lazy Tahs forwards.

He did those things, but he was sloppy in some of his core duties - as mentioned by a few, slow to breakdowns, his passing, as ever, was a mixed bag of good and some plain awful. Overall, good game, but really needs to sharpen his pick-up / delivery a fair bit.