Tahs Vs Farce

[fatprop]

Waratahs drop Burgess to bench
April 15, 2009 - 4:54PM

Regular Wallabies halfback Luke Burgess has been dropped to the NSW Waratahs bench for the Super 14 clash with the Western Force on Saturday.

Coach Chris Hickey promoted feisty fellow Wallaby Brett Sheehan on Wednesday to start the match in place of Burgess in the only unforced change to his starting team beaten by the Bulls last Saturday.

The other change sees Timana Tahu promoted from the bench to outside centre in place of the injured Rob Horne for the Sydney Football Stadium match.

"Sheeno (Sheen) has been doing a really good job for us with relatively little game this season, so we thought we'd give him the chance to rip in from the start this week," said Hickey.

"It's great to have two Wallaby No.9s at your disposal."

Hard-working lock Will Caldwell will become NSW's most capped lock as he plays his 64th match for the Waratahs, surpassing former Test players Tom Bowman and John Welborn (63).

Caldwell made his state debut against Scotland in 2004, and played his first Super 14 match two years later against the Queensland Reds.

Since then he has missed just three Super Rugby matches and will earn his 49th Super Rugby cap against the Force.

"Will's progression is a testament to hard work, commitment and a thirst to improve his game over a long period of time," said Hickey.

"With Dan Vickerman moving on, Will was given a real opportunity to become a leader in the pack this year and he's certainly done that."

Sydney University's Peter Playford moves onto the bench for the first time this season, having earned the last of his four NSW caps in 2005.

NSW Waratahs: Sam Norton-Knight, Lachie Turner, Timana Tahu, Tom Carter, Lote Tuqiri, Daniel Halangahu, Brett Sheehan, Wycliff Palu, Phil Waugh (capt), Ben Mowen, Will Caldwell, Dean Mumm, Dan Palmer, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Benn Robinson. Res: Damien Fitzpatrick, Sekope Kepu, Chris Thomson, Luke Doherty, Luke Burgess, Kurtley Beale, Peter Playford.

Still no pace on the bench for the breakdown

Tahs will be trying to annoy Valentine with Sheehan I guess.

It looks like the second half will have Burgess for Sheehan, Beale for Hangers & Playford for SNK I think.

 

[fatprop]

Tom Carter,
Daniel Halangahu,
Brett Sheehan

Ain't that a dynamic unit ...............................

 

[RugbyReg]

And Sheehan gets a trial against the team trying to sign him next year. Perhaps that's why they picked him? He has a lot to play for.

 

[naza]

Burgess has been their best performing back by a mile. Some reward...

 

[Scarfman]

Hickey brain fart.

 

[steiner]

Surprising decision!

You've gotta expect the Tahs will be keeping it pretty tight in this match. Perhaps Hickey thinks Sheehan will be suited to that.

 

[Cutter]

Surprising decision!

You've gotta expect the Tahs will be keeping it pretty tight in this match. Perhaps Hickey thinks Sheehan will be suited to that.

As opposed to their usual free flowing ad lib style?

 

[Gagger]

Preview on the front page: http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/tahs-vs-force-preview

Scarfie, echoed (stole) your brainfart comment.

 

[Spook]

I can't understand the selection of Sheehan. ??? FFS, Sheehan can't even tackle.

 

[RugbyReg]

Hard-working lock Will Caldwell will become NSW's most capped lock as he plays his 64th match for the Waratahs, surpassing former Test players Tom Bowman and John Welborn (63).

Caldwell made his state debut against Scotland in 2004, and played his first Super 14 match two years later against the Queensland Reds.

astounding!

 

[fatprop]

Hard-working lock Will Caldwell will become NSW's most capped lock as he plays his 64th match for the Waratahs, surpassing former Test players Tom Bowman and John Welborn (63).

Caldwell made his state debut against Scotland in 2004, and played his first Super 14 match two years later against the Queensland Reds.

astounding!

A third have been off the bench, but the guy is very durable.

 

[Scarfman]

He's always been very dependable at this level. Does his job well, and no more. We ought to pay him more for how much better he is than our next option.

 

[Scarfman]

Where are all the Force guys? Turbs, en_force_er, hatchie, brokendown? Bring the pain, boys, or I'll have to get CHISELNUTS back.

 

[hatchie]

A loss after the siren tends to keep supporters pretty quiet the following week.

But that aside, triple crown, here we come!

While the rest of the competition are too focussed on finishing in the top four, the Force has bigger fish to fry: beating those in powder-blue to be top of the Aussie sides in 2009. Don't pay any attention to the ladder, everyone knows the aussie derbies are the most important matches.

We've shown pretty decent form the last few weeks, so hopefully we can maintain it and give the Tahs the pasting they deserve. Lets be honest, no ones likes watching their boring-as-batshit rugby, and no one likes seeing them win.

Shepherd is back and hungry to catch up on the Aussie outside-back stakes. Pocock's time has come to usurp Waugh, and Brownie and Hodgson have provided great backup fetching whenever required. And just as importantly, the backs have just started to click ever since Gits has stopped his crabbing and now playing like a genuine 10 - and we've started scoring tries.

We've played our best rugby in Australia against Australian sides. I hope it continues on saturday.

Force 22 (3t 2c 1p) to defeat the Waratahs 18 (5p 1dg)

1. Pek Cowan
2. Tai McIsaac
3. Ben Castle
4. Sam Wykes
5. Nathan Sharpe (c)
6. Matt Hodgson
7. David Pocock
8. Richard Brown
9. Josh Valentine
10. Matt Giteau
11. Cameron Shepherd
12. James O?Connor
13. Ryan Cross
14. Scott Staniforth
15. Drew Mitchell

Reserves
16. Ben Whittaker
17. AJ Whalley
18. Tom Hockings
19. Tamaiti Horua
20. Chris O?Young
21. Josh Tatupu
22. Haig Sare

 

[RugbyReg]

Is Josh Holmes injured?

 

[Spook]

Is Josh Holmes injured?

You mean Luke?

 

[Gagger]

Good call on the front page; who's got the nuts to tip a draw?

 

[Ash]

Hatchie; the big problem I have with your post is that you said the Tahs would get 18 points. No way that they have that many points in them.

 

[RugbyReg]

Is Josh Holmes injured?

You mean Luke?

why yes, yes I do.

Here he is playing for the Rats this week.

Warringah: 1. Pingi Talaapitaga, 2. Luke Holmes, 3. Dan Barnard;

 

[Ash]

Ben Whittaker is the highly rated hooker from the Force academy. Not sure if he is developed enough for S14, but I think the Force will be relying on him heavily if they can't get TPN, which is likely. Don't think Luke Holmes is a starting S14 hooker, and I think that the Force dropping Holmes for Whittaker reflects this.