Tahs V Rebels, SFS, April 30 - 2011R11
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James Buchanan
Trevor Allan (34)
Reba have looked much more fluent in attack with Cips on.
Victorian Reds Fan
Bob Loudon (25)
Really? I would be playing Huxley at 10 and Gerrard at fullback and Cipriani off the bench. Huxley was very good.
minorbird
Tom Lawton (22)
All in all, it was about what I expected from the Tahs.
About 20 minutes of really good rugby, and a frustrating 60 minutes of aimless kicking, simple errors and wasted opportunities.
However, the defense was really good, and the Rebels really didn't ever look like scoring.
The best the Tahs looked was when they held onto the ball and worked it through the middle and down the blind side through the forwards with offloads and pop balls. It would be a perfect platform to work from to spin it wide, alas injuries have robbed of us the necessary backs to take that path frequently.
Turner had a great game IMO, ran hard, tackled well, kicked well, and worked hard off the ball as always. The Tahs backrow worked pretty well, Timani had a strong showing, and Barnes looked sharp in parts.
Anesi, as predicted, did not make a line break. Cross has one move: the sideways shuffle and palm, and never looked like breaking the line. Burgess was frustrating with his kicking and running options.
I can't help but feeling that the Tahs are going to look back and regret not chancing their arm for the 4 try bonus point come the end of this season.
About 20 minutes of really good rugby, and a frustrating 60 minutes of aimless kicking, simple errors and wasted opportunities.
However, the defense was really good, and the Rebels really didn't ever look like scoring.
The best the Tahs looked was when they held onto the ball and worked it through the middle and down the blind side through the forwards with offloads and pop balls. It would be a perfect platform to work from to spin it wide, alas injuries have robbed of us the necessary backs to take that path frequently.
Turner had a great game IMO, ran hard, tackled well, kicked well, and worked hard off the ball as always. The Tahs backrow worked pretty well, Timani had a strong showing, and Barnes looked sharp in parts.
Anesi, as predicted, did not make a line break. Cross has one move: the sideways shuffle and palm, and never looked like breaking the line. Burgess was frustrating with his kicking and running options.
I can't help but feeling that the Tahs are going to look back and regret not chancing their arm for the 4 try bonus point come the end of this season.
Victorian Reds Fan
Bob Loudon (25)
Turner was very good.
Totally agree with your comments on Cross. Has he beaten his man at least once this season? He looks so pedestrian; I cannot see what he adds to the team. At least Carter works hard off the ball. He was the first man down the field chasing kicks all night.
Anesi - wide, open space in front of him and he thinks about going for the kick. What has happened to the [Tahs] game that the first instinct of a winger is to go for a kick instead of making off like a gazelle.
rugbysmartarse
Alan Cameron (40)
What happened to our our continuity game, holding the ball through the big loose forwards? We killed it through the middle of last season doing it, but this year the first phase option is to kick. It's fucking crazy (and makes for shut viewing)
R
RuckinGoodStats
Guest
Just a couple of numbers
20% of the game and 21% of the 2nd half the Waratahs spent inside the Rebels 22. Only 10% of the game and 8% of the 2nd half the Rebels spent inside the Waratahs 22.
Missed tackles. Waratahs missed 8, Rebels missed 12, and 10 of these were when Cipriani was on the bench.
Rebels made 24 lost possessions/turoners (Ruck/Mauls=2; Pens=2; F/Kicks=1; Lineouts=2; Handling errors=7; Scrums=1; Forced into touch=3; Other=6) to the Tahs 20 (Ruck/Mauls=3; Lineouts=2; Handling errors=11; Scrums=0; Forced into touch=3; Other=1)
20% of the game and 21% of the 2nd half the Waratahs spent inside the Rebels 22. Only 10% of the game and 8% of the 2nd half the Rebels spent inside the Waratahs 22.
Missed tackles. Waratahs missed 8, Rebels missed 12, and 10 of these were when Cipriani was on the bench.
Rebels made 24 lost possessions/turoners (Ruck/Mauls=2; Pens=2; F/Kicks=1; Lineouts=2; Handling errors=7; Scrums=1; Forced into touch=3; Other=6) to the Tahs 20 (Ruck/Mauls=3; Lineouts=2; Handling errors=11; Scrums=0; Forced into touch=3; Other=1)
Langthorne
Phil Hardcastle (33)
It is a shame they didn't get the fourth try, but I'll take the win thanks.
The frustrating thing is that it is clear the ingredients are there for the Waratahs to do so much better. The defence was strong throughout, and pretty much every player made some good contributions. The main things that undid the good work were occassional lack of direction, aimless kicks, poorly executed kicks with a worthy aim, Burgess' box kicks, some poor handling.
Tha forwards looked pretty good at most of the time, with the lineout being a bit dodgy early on. Tne rolling maul and work around the ruck was often great, and then there would be the crap kick or the waiting for an eternity to clear the ball. Early on Burgess would just pick and go himself which I always prefer over the 'Meercatting'.
Barnes added alot to the backilne - first of all it looked like a backline, and with Beale back at 15 the two lines option came back.
There is definitely something to build on there.
The frustrating thing is that it is clear the ingredients are there for the Waratahs to do so much better. The defence was strong throughout, and pretty much every player made some good contributions. The main things that undid the good work were occassional lack of direction, aimless kicks, poorly executed kicks with a worthy aim, Burgess' box kicks, some poor handling.
Tha forwards looked pretty good at most of the time, with the lineout being a bit dodgy early on. Tne rolling maul and work around the ruck was often great, and then there would be the crap kick or the waiting for an eternity to clear the ball. Early on Burgess would just pick and go himself which I always prefer over the 'Meercatting'.
Barnes added alot to the backilne - first of all it looked like a backline, and with Beale back at 15 the two lines option came back.
There is definitely something to build on there.
Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
The fundamental problem was the gameplan. The coaching team decided since it was wet then you must kick early and kick often. There were a couple of problems with this:
Against one of the bottom four teams in the comp we had no clear strategy based on the team we had selected and the team we had selected was a bitsa anyway. It begs the question: "Do you select the team and then develop the right gameplan or the reverse?"
If you select the team first, then the gameplan would have involved a lot of running of the ball back from kicks with backrow support (the Rebels love to kick and their players are good at it) and a lot of forward driving and short passing. If you develop the gameplan that was on show last night then McKibben should have played halfback because Burgess is a terrible kicker, Hangers should have played 10 because although every one loves him Barnes is a poor kicker too and we should have played some young, fast outside backs who could have chased better than Cross and Anesi.
Based on the coaching acumen on display last night you would not select Hickey and Bowen to coach a subbies side. And some idiot last week suggested Bowen was a future Wallaby coach....it passes all understanding.
- The designated kicker for much of this was Burgess, who must be the worst kicking halfback in the country. If they wanted to boxkick they needed to rest Burgess and play McKibben.
- Entering a kicking duel with a team that has Mark Gerrard in it is dumb. Gerrard can kick at least 25 metres longer than any of the Tahs kickers.
Against one of the bottom four teams in the comp we had no clear strategy based on the team we had selected and the team we had selected was a bitsa anyway. It begs the question: "Do you select the team and then develop the right gameplan or the reverse?"
If you select the team first, then the gameplan would have involved a lot of running of the ball back from kicks with backrow support (the Rebels love to kick and their players are good at it) and a lot of forward driving and short passing. If you develop the gameplan that was on show last night then McKibben should have played halfback because Burgess is a terrible kicker, Hangers should have played 10 because although every one loves him Barnes is a poor kicker too and we should have played some young, fast outside backs who could have chased better than Cross and Anesi.
Based on the coaching acumen on display last night you would not select Hickey and Bowen to coach a subbies side. And some idiot last week suggested Bowen was a future Wallaby coach....it passes all understanding.
gee the Tahs looked uninterested with Burgess leading the way
The game plan just didn't work because the execution was dire, lack of pressure was evident
If they wanted to play field position they should have started McCibbon who can kick effectively, when he did get on he was working at a different speed/enthusiasm level than the rest of the team
I could cope with the Anesi kick and chase if the prick had backed himself and put decent pressure on Gerrard
positives?
the effort from Dennis, Turner & Mumm was good
The game plan just didn't work because the execution was dire, lack of pressure was evident
If they wanted to play field position they should have started McCibbon who can kick effectively, when he did get on he was working at a different speed/enthusiasm level than the rest of the team
I could cope with the Anesi kick and chase if the prick had backed himself and put decent pressure on Gerrard
positives?
the effort from Dennis, Turner & Mumm was good
DPK
Peter Sullivan (51)
Has it been confirmed as a concussion? The impact occured on the neck, so it is very very likely that it is a concussion, but it could have as likely been a neck injury.
waratahjesus
Greg Davis (50)
surely this is for the medical staff. he didnt have a second concussion til last night. so why are they letting him "continue like this"? this is now.
They have specific tests a player has to complete before he is deemed available (all players do a series of tests in the off season and they have to get back to that standard), one has to assume he was cleared before the game
Hawko
Tony Shaw (54)
I don't care whether he was concussed or not, he played most of the game at about 60% of his capability [Actually I do care, he's a hero, but the point is mute]. He is way down on his dynamic early season form. The only time he looked like his former self was when he ran in to score.
It looks very much to me like he's trying to stay on the park till we get Fitzpatrick back, which I think is week 14 or 15. Its a tough call because if he does major damage now he won't be right for the finals but if he doesn't play now we won't make the finals. Looks to me like week 16 vs the Bulls and week 17 vs the Highlanders will decide whether we get 6th spot or not. No word on Horne yet? He's crucial to our hopes.
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