UC Vikings v Perth Spirit Saturday 23 August 2014

[Merrow]

Try to Perth. Converted. 23-21. Vikings lead with 4.30 to go.

 

[Sully]

 

[Sully]

Seems like a cracker of a game. Lead is ses sawing and three in the bin so far.

 

[Merrow]

Try to Perth 26-23. Kick to come. Not converted.

 

[Merrow]

Perth wins 26-23.

 

[Sully]

 

[Forcefield]

Hurrah. Well done both sides. Sounded like a great game. I'm pretty impressed with the Spirit given the team we rolled out.

 

[Happy]

Very disappointed in the Vikings, especially with the team they had. Lots of dropped ball, and numerous penalties when on attack. Lilo's kicking hasn't improved from Super rugby, with 3 missed conversions.

On the up-side, Vikings dominated the scrums, though they didn't get the reward for it. The two locks, Staniforth and Crews were immense, as was Lam when he came on at hooker in the second half. Fotu really started to stand up in the second half as well.

Ultimately the lack of combinations and poor defence in the backs lost them the game, together with the superior goal kicking of Zac Holmes. The ground looked a treat, and I thought it was quite a good crowd. I suspect his competition will be like Super rugby, where you can't afford to drop home games.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Hurrah. Well done both sides. Sounded like a great game. I'm pretty impressed with the Spirit given the team we rolled out.

No. Spirit were on the boil. Clearly won the breakdown and the tactics. Vikings were very poor, electing to kick whenever they held the ball for more than one phase. Mogg's kick with about 4 minutes to go that went dead in goal lost the game. Quite impressed with the Spirit's team of no-names.

 

[Charlie Brown]

Congrats to the Spirit. They really came to play footie. Vikings out classed at the breakdown. Spirit kept Vikings in their half well in the first half. Vikings set piece was better but we didn't capitalise. Staniforth, Fotu, Coleman were my picks for the Vikings. Lots of work to do before facing Sydney Rams next Thursday night, especially in defence. Great to see a good crowd though. Plenty more rugby to be played, so lets hope Vikings switch on.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Can anyone shed any light on how some of the wa club players play any real standouts?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

What a fantastic result for WA rugby. There were a lot of local boys in that 23 and I'm stoked that they were able to compete at the next level up from Perth first grade. The investment is starting to pay off I feel and it'll be great for the Force in the long run.

 

[Brumby Jack]

Can anyone shed any light on how some of the wa club players play any real standouts?

My vantage point was at ground level so hard to get a good look but the forwards more than held their own and I thought Corey Thomas played well.

In the backs, outside centre Ammon Matuauto scored a great try at the end and the wingers put in a good showing too.

 

[qwerty51]

What side of the scrum did Alalaatoa scrummage on BJ?

 

[Brumby Jack]

I can't remember, to be honest, maybe loosehead?

But here are the highlights:

 

[Bairdy]

Are the ARU uploading NRC games in full?
The first half of this match is uploaded

 

[Brumby Jack]

It appears so.

For all games too.

 

[Dctarget]

I haven't watched the entire game, just the highlights, but it looks like christian lealiifano was found out in defense for I think two of Perth's tries.

 

[Shiggins]

I watched the whole game. Spirit did really well. I thought the Vikings would be going into this comps as one of the favourites as well. The footage is a bit far away compared to footage of the other games but it beats not seeing the game! Awesome

 

[Lee Grant]

What side of the scrum did Alalaatoa scrummage on BJ?

Allan A scrummed at THP when he came on.

Agree with Shiggins about the TV shots not being zoomed in enough though I suppose that's the zoom level that the local coaches wanted to review the game with.

I found the single camera coverage from Coogee Oval better even though it was naturally jerkier because the zoom was amped up more and then had to be lessened as play went elsewhere.

Doing a pan to the scoreboard after a score as at Coogee would have been a good idea at Viking Park because the ground announcer wasn't too audible.

I knew most of the players in the Coogee game but didn't know a lot of the local Perth and Canberra players; so a bit more zoom would have been appreciated so I could check numbers with the team lists.

Geez - I'm glad I'm not a betting man because I wouldn't have got too many right in Round 1.
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