Trial: Waratahs v Highlanders, Hunter Stadium, Newcastle, 14 Feb, Fri, 7:30 PM (EST)

[hawktrain]

Few thoughts from the stands on this one:

- great to see a S15 game back in Newcastle, last time the Waratahs played a game here was either 2004 or 2005 iirc, against Fiji Warriors. Last other S15 team to come here was the Blues in 2003 I think. Crowd was about the same as the Knights trial the week before.

- TPN is scary to watch, the way he plays he always looks like he's about to get injured.

- Beale had a shocker. Shovelled shit a number of times and was generally a liability. Had a couple of kicks partially charged down, wasn't standing deep enough and the wet conditions didn't help the halfbacks passing.

- Tahs will have a big selection problem at 9. All 3 are worthy of starting IMO. Phipps will presumably get the first chance but he was probably the least impressive in this game.

- Foley's chat is exceptional, right from the warmup. He has other areas to work on but his communication is top notch.

- AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) must play 13 for NSW. He was excellent and did it with ease.

- Tahs set piece was much better than the Highlanders', definitely something the Highlanders will need to work on, they're missing Hore badly. That said, their best hooker IMO, Liam Coltman, didn't play.

- the Smiths were both a class above for the Highlanders.

- the refereeing was godawful.

- the scrums were a mess, not helped by the wet conditions but the new calls don't appear to be doing much good.

- Hayden Parker was very impressive at 10 when he came on, he will challenge Sopoaga for that jersey.

 

[Pete King]

Yep Beale to start from the bench for mine. Foley set for a big year, have never had a big wrap on crawford and if Beale were to start think the only option would be from the wing with a licence to roam.

 

[Lindommer]

A match best described as a curate's egg: good in parts. I'll set out my thoughts on the two halves.

First half: The Tahs played very well, except for the breakdown. Their attacking play was lovely to watch, many desperate, sweeping moves advancing towards the Clan's goal line, only for those pesky South Islanders to pinch the ball at the breakdown and run the ball out of danger. There were about five turnovers at the breakdown within 15m of the Clan's line, too many. Now I know I rabbit on about "competition at the breakdown defines New Z.....", etc, but it couldn't've been more apt on Friday night. Something for Cheika to work on. Another facet to improve is penalties at the breakdown, far too many. Last week it was coming in the side, this week something else.

On a positive note, the two tries scored were beautifully structured and done at pace with no dropped balls. The tries that is, there was plenty of dropped pill elsewhere. Alofa, Beale, Betham and Folau are going to cause other sides' defences plenty of problems this year, Betham (finally) looks as if he's grown into his body as a fully mature adult man. Makes me think the Brumbies and Rebels were a bit impatient letting him go.

Second half: Whatever Cheika said in the sheds should be instantly discarded, the Tahs were very disappointing. The old habit of letting others do the work was there in spades; a couple of times the halfback grabbed the ball after a turnover, looked to pass to the open side AND THERE WAS NO ONE THERE! All right, a player or two. One instance I counted nine Tahs players on the short (15m) side, not enough effort keeping an attacking structure going, not nearly enough. Having few players on the open side on third or fourth phase happened at least four times the second half. Not good enough. Luckily for the Tahs Hooper's class pinching a ball at a lineout and Foley's timely backing up led to a try under the posts midway through the second half. It was very encouraging and lovely to watch.

General observations.

Halfbacks: Lucas had by far the best pass, he'd start next week for mine. I noticed last week Phipps has half a windup every pass, he should work to eradicate this from his game. And he takes a step a few too many times before passing as well. On the last few weeks' performances I'd say Lucas>Phipps>McKibbin. McKibbin's kicking will probably save him, he got a conversion over from the touch line on a wet night which was impressive.

Five-eighths: Both Beale and Foley did some good things, and some bad things. Bernard's try was excellent, but his catching and kicking late in the game were crap. Kurtley tried hard to make something happen every time he had the ball, sometimes too hard. His backing up and looping is straight out of the Randwick playbook, this might get him the starting spot next week. Beale got a knock with about 15 minutes to go, from that point on he was largely ineffective.

Skelton: coming along nicely, goes looking for work and likes banging the ball up. A word from the wise, Willie, lower your running height, you're far too upright.

Douglas: another abrasive, physical performance. When he went off in the first half my heart sank, our season's seriously buggered if Kane gets injured. However, a word from St Sharon and he trotted back on.

Potgieter: watched him closely in the second half when he played most of his minutes. I suspect Jacques may've got his codes confused at the temple of rugby league in Newcastle: many times he put on a solid tackle, or a good run, and then WALKED BACK INTO POSITION AND HAD A BLUDGE. Maybe he's not fit enough, maybe he's used to the gentle pace of Japanese rugby. Whatever. I'm sure Cheika'll require much more urgency from Potgieter in the near future.

Hookers: TPN's throwing was poor, got pinged a few times for not straight. Very worrying. Latu played well, threw straight. My earlier concerns about depth at hooker are somewhat relieved.

Highlanders: typical New Zealand side which competes ferociously at the breakdown, Vic Kavanagh would've been proud of them. They also worked quite hard keeping their field structure intact, in both attack and defence. The Clan'll cause quite a few problems for other sides this year.

Overall, the Tahs didn't play well, but still won. I spose we don't want our sides playing their best rugby in preseason trials, and I always think it's good for coaches to have something to work on early in the season.

 

[Lindommer]

I should've commented on the Tahs' set pieces, they were very good.

 

[fatprop]

Five-eighths: Both Beale and Foley did some good things, and some bad things. Bernard's try was excellent, but his catching and kicking late in the game was crap. Kurtley tried hard to make something happen every time he had the ball, sometimes too hard. His backing up and looping is straight out of the Randwick playbook, this might get him the starting spot next week. Beale got a knock with about 15 minutes to go, from that point on he was largely ineffective.

Sums up my thoughts on the differences between the two, Beale tries too hard to make things happen when he is given the main playmaker role, while Foley will facilitate those around him and underplay his hand

 

[hawktrain]

Potgieter looked like a liability IMO. Came in from the side a number of times, just being lazy. Luckily he was only penalised once iirc. He might be a bit short of a gallop but it wasn't his best game.

The other thing is that the Waratahs backs must've dropped the ball 5 or 6 times doing set plays in the warmup, when they were only opposed by a couple of teammates slowly jogging up in defence. But then in the game, I don't recall them knocking on once, their only mistakes were some forced passes. Very strange.

 

[Hawko]

Yep Beale to start from the bench for mine. Foley set for a big year, have never had a big wrap on crawford and if Beale were to start think the only option would be from the wing with a licence to roam.

Never had a big wrap on Crawford? Man close to top tryscorer last year after only playing half the games! You are a hard taskmaster. Crawford's value is that he knows how to finish off a break. Looking at the number of linebreaks we made last year and in the trials this year that didn't end up as tries, that skill is in very short supply. He will be a star this year if his form remains the same, Peter Betham only got a Wallaby start because Crawford was in rehab.

 

[fatprop]

Never had a big wrap on Crawford? Man close to top tryscorer last year after only playing half the games! You are a hard taskmaster. Crawford's value is that he knows how to finish off a break. Looking at the number of linebreaks we made last year and in the trials this year that didn't end up as tries, that skill is in very short supply. He will be a star this year if his form remains the same, Peter Betham only got a Wallaby start because Crawford was in rehab.

He is also very safe under the high ball and can kick the shit out of the ball

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[Pete King]

Never had a big wrap on Crawford? Man close to top tryscorer last year after only playing half the games! You are a hard taskmaster. Crawford's value is that he knows how to finish off a break. Looking at the number of linebreaks we made last year and in the trials this year that didn't end up as tries, that skill is in very short supply. He will be a star this year if his form remains the same, Peter Betham only got a Wallaby start because Crawford was in rehab.

Seen a bit of him over the years and he definately made the most of his opportunities last year when given a sniff to his credit. All mind u on the back of a pretty decent backline featuring a comfortable Folau.

"he knows how to finish off a break" I think youll find this is a pretty big prerequisite for any winger at super rugby level. My reference is that Betham, Beale, Alofa all have this ability as well as offering a better ability to 'make' the break and pose a bigger threat to the defences.

He is a good back up and will definately feature through the year but I cant see him barring huge injury tolls ever pushing for wallaby selection.

 

[fatprop]

Seen a bit of him over the years and he definately made the most of his opportunities last year when given a sniff to his credit. All mind u on the back of a pretty decent backline featuring a comfortable Folau.

"he knows how to finish off a break" I think youll find this is a pretty big prerequisite for any winger at super rugby level. My reference is that Betham, Beale, Alofa all have this ability as well as offering a better ability to 'make' the break and pose a bigger threat to the defences.

He is a good back up and will definately feature through the year but I cant see him barring huge injury tolls ever pushing for wallaby selection.

We can agree to disagree, I rate him much higher as a winger/15 than Betham or Alofa

I see him as a true 14, that second 15, very safe under the high ball, strong kick and great positional/support play

 

[Braveheart81]

I rate all three of the wingers being discussed but for different reasons.

Crawford is the most classical of the three. He's big, fast and has good all round skills, particularly under the high ball. He has an excellent long kick which would be amongst the best of the Australian wingers.

Betham has more x-factor and I would guess better acceleration than Crawford. He's good at doing the things you can't teach like making breaks and scoring tries that he has no right to. On the other hand, he's not very good at some of the things you can teach like catching the ball. I think it is fair to say that when he has a bad handling day, it is an absolute shocker.

Alofa is the new kid on the block and has been super impressive so far. He is smaller than the other two and has more agility and excellent acceleration and top speed. From the limited information we have, his handling appears to be really good (notable in his pickup during the passage of play leading up to his try against the Blues.

Of the three, Betham and Alofa are out and out wingers. Crawford has a more complete game and can easily play fullback as well. Crawford is probably the strongest defender of the three, but Betham is adequate and we are yet to see much of Alofa's defence.

 

[Pete King]

I rate all three of the wingers being discussed but for different reasons.

Crawford is the most classical of the three. He's big, fast and has good all round skills, particularly under the high ball. He has an excellent long kick which would be amongst the best of the Australian wingers.

Betham has more x-factor and I would guess better acceleration than Crawford. He's good at doing the things you can't teach like making breaks and scoring tries that he has no right to. On the other hand, he's not very good at some of the things you can teach like catching the ball. I think it is fair to say that when he has a bad handling day, it is an absolute shocker.

Alofa is the new kid on the block and has been super impressive so far. He is smaller than the other two and has more agility and excellent acceleration and top speed. From the limited information we have, his handling appears to be really good (notable in his pickup during the passage of play leading up to his try against the Blues.

Of the three, Betham and Alofa are out and out wingers. Crawford has a more complete game and can easily play fullback as well. Crawford is probably the strongest defender of the three, but Betham is adequate and we are yet to see much of Alofa's defence.

I would say this is a good summation of the three.

I think that the more often Aus Rugby can steer away from the 'safer' option the better. Im also of the opinion that there is some responsibility on the franchises to entertain the crowd (whole other debate) and promote the game.

Cheik has picked a backline of gamebreakers in his starting lineup beale/alofa/betham/folau with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) the only one really left to straighten things up. Critical to how this comes off will be Foley and to a lesser degree Phipps' game management. I think that Foley will have a load of confidence being backed as the chief playmaker and may pull it off.

I personally would have started with Lance at inside if he wasnt injured and injected KB (Kurtley Beale) later in the game.

 

[fatprop]

I would say this is a good summation of the three.

I think that the more often Aus Rugby can steer away from the 'safer' option the better. Im also of the opinion that there is some responsibility on the franchises to entertain the crowd (whole other debate) and promote the game.

Cheik has picked a backline of gamebreakers in his starting lineup beale/alofa/betham/folau with AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) the only one really left to straighten things up. Critical to how this comes off will be Foley and to a lesser degree Phipps' game management. I think that Foley will have a load of confidence being backed as the chief playmaker and may pull it off.

I personally would have started with Lance at inside if he wasnt injured and injected KB (Kurtley Beale) later in the game.

While it is nice to have running game breakers all over the park, you need some units that can catch, tackle and kick as well.

Personally, for balance, I like to see one of the wingers to be that 2nd 15 with the other as that "runner"